Category: Review

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App Review and Giveaway: Speech Therapy for Apraxia – NACD Home Speech Therapist

Recently I got the opportunity to take a look at the “Speech Therapy for Apraxia – NACD Home Speech Therapist” by Blue Whale Apps.

According to the developer the app is applicable to

• SLPs with individuals with apraxia (both children and adults)
• Parents working with children with apraxia
• Traditional articulation practice (drills)

Developed by the National Association for Child Development (NACD) by an SLP, the Apraxia app provides choices of different phonemes to target and gradually increases the levels  of difficulty to improve motor planning for speech. Continue reading App Review and Giveaway: Speech Therapy for Apraxia – NACD Home Speech Therapist

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Gotta Love the RtI: Teacher Edition

RTI Language, Listening, and SpeakingI have written about Response to Intervention (RTI) to intervention before (HERE),  bemoaning the fact that it’s not currently utilized in my setting (outpatient specialized school in a psychiatric hospital) and how I was hoping to gradually incorporate it at work.

To summarize it briefly RtI is a 3 tiered approach to intervention that identifies children at risk for learning deficits and provides them with high quality instruction in order to separate the ones who just need a little extra help from children with true learning/language deficits. So you can tell that i am always on the looking for more RtI materials which is why I was very excited to come across Ms. Jocelyn’s RTI: Language, Listening & Speaking Packet. Continue reading Gotta Love the RtI: Teacher Edition

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And now on the Importance of Context Clues!

I am a huge fan of teaching children context clues to navigate text. Context clues are hints of information that help us figure out the meaning of unfamiliar words. Context clues are the words and sentences that surround a word and help explain the word’s meaning. Context clues are hugely important because their comprehension and effective usage leads to academic success. They can increase the child’s vocabulary, reading comprehension, and  make children better readers.

I am always looking for more materials to teach children how to interpret context clues which is why I was very excited when i got the opportunity to review Carrie’s of Carrie’s Speech Corner: “Out of This World! Context Clues“. This alien themed 21 page packet was created by Carrie to help students learn to use context clues by figuring out the meaning of nonsense words.

The premise is super cute and engaging. Student get to be the astronaut exploring a new planet who encounters aliens who speak a language similar to English, but with some very different words.  So her first set entitled “Context Clues Multiple Choice Cards” has  20  stories in color (which are also repeated in black and white) which have nonsense-words from the “alien language.” Based on the context of the story students need to figure out the meaning of the alien word.

The second activity is called “Out of this World Dictionary” in which students get to create a dictionary using the alien words they’ve  learned from the short stories. an answer key is provided of course.

The third activity involves matching English words to alien words by drawing a line, while the fourth activity is focused on making silly sentences with the alien words. There are two levels to this activity the first involving only one word while the second 2 words.

After  that is “Category Sort” in which students fill in the allotted boxes with the alien words that best fit into the categories (such as sports, colors, school subjects, etc.)

Finally, the last activity is super fun. Students get to figure out their alien name by using a cipher.

I love the fact that this packet is heavily focused on problem solving and critical thinking skills because so many of our students can benefit from an extra dose of that. Depending on the students abilities and cognitive levels the packet might be applicable with a wide variety of age levels ranging from early elementary through middle school.  You can find this packet in Carrie’s TPT Store HERE for a mere $2.50.

But that’s not all Carrie is doing a review of my Language Difference vs. Language Disorder Packet on her blog  so we decided to do a giveaway of our respective products.  She is doing a giveaway of my product I am doing a giveaway of hers, so enter my Rafflecopter giveaway below to win and don’t forget to head to Carrie’s Blog for an opportunity to maximize your chances to win both.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Focus on the common core

Today I am reviewing two products by Lindsey Swanson-Karol of the Word Nerd Speech Teach Blog related to the core curriculum: the Common Core Based Language Assessment as well as her Robot Phonological Awareness Pack.

Those of  you who follow my blog know that when I select materials, I always try to make sure that the materials are multipurpose, multi-functional, and curriculum embedded.

First up is the Common Core Based Language Assessment.  This 14 page informal language assessment is based on the common core for K-5 grade in the areas of the curriculum relevant to speech-language pathology. Continue reading Focus on the common core

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It’s all about RtI!

Today I am excited to review one of the latest products from Busy Bee Speech “Common Core Standards-Based RtI Packet for Language“.

So what is RtI or Response to Intervention?

Developed as an alternative to the ability–achievement “discrepancy model,” which requires children to show a discrepancy between their IQ and standardized tests/grades, RtI is a method of academic intervention aimed to provide early, systematic assistance to children who are having difficulty learning in order to prevent academic failure via the provision of early school based intervention, frequent progress measurement, and increasingly intensive research-based instructional interventions for children who continue to have difficulty learning.

In contrast to a number of schools in my state (New Jersey), RTI or Response to Intervention is currently not utilized in my unique setting (outpatient specialized school in a psychiatric hospital). Continue reading It’s all about RtI!

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Being Functional is APP-ealing!

apfun sampleIf you’ve been following my blog for a while ,then you know that I place a lot of emphasis on function. This is reflected in the assessments I select and the materials I choose. I want them to be practical, multifaceted, and useful for a wide variety of clients.  My caseload at the hospital and in private practice is pretty varied with diagnoses ranging from über verbal high functioning Asperger’s to non-verbal autistic clients.

It is for the latter clients that I am always in search of more materials, since it is much easier to find/adapt materials for the high functioning verbal students then for the low-functioning non-verbal ones. Especially because you want to make sure that whichever materials you select are not just educational and functional but also fun and easy to interact with.  That is why I was so excited when I got the opportunity to review Teach Speech 365 APP-ealing Functional Communication Packet. Continue reading Being Functional is APP-ealing!

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Can you keep it down? Voice Monsters on the Prowl!

So I have to admit, I don’t really like pediatric voice therapy. I don’t know why. I got A’s and loved all my voice classes and voice clients  in grad school. I voluntarily got some CEUs in pediatric voice therapy after college. But I never quite felt about it the same way I feel about language therapy. So needless to say I could always use some help when searching for materials for pediatric voice clients.  That’s why I was so excited when I got the opportunity to review the   “Voice Monsters” created by Rachel Osborn of The Queen’s Speech Blog.

Rachel has created this voice therapy techniques packet to target clients with vocal nodules. However, the materials in this packet are applicable to clients with a number of different voice diagnoses (e.g., vocal hyperfunction, functional dysphonia, etc) provided of course these clients have been seen by an otolaryngologist and have been cleared to receive vocal therapy).

So what does this 37 page packet contain?

Targeted for children ages 4 and above this packet provides explanation of voice disorders as well as tips on vocal hygiene for kids. Interestingly both the explanations on page 4 and the tips on vocal hygiene on pages 5 and 6 are actually a perfect way to present the information to parents. However, given the complexity of the language on the first two cards on page 4 (e.g., abnormal, characteristics, intensity, causes, inflammation) you might need to simplify this information for the students (especially for younger children) to adjust the language to their level.

The next set of cards explains the yawn sigh (pages 7-20) and the ‘buzzy voice’ (pages 20-30) techniques. The yawn sigh technique cards are very easy to understand and what I particularly like about them that they are arranged in a hierarchy of vowels, words, and sentences. I like the fact that Rachel included blank cards so you can create our own sentences. She does a similar hierarchy of sounds, phrases and sentences for the ‘buzzy voice’  technique as well.

I also like the fact that Rachel included some fun activities into her pack in addition to the exercises. There’s the quiz which reviews things that can hurt and help you voice, the voice detective game  for good and bad voice habits, as well as a voice thermometer to help students monitor their vocal volume. There is even a generic game board for practicing a variety of tasks.

Finally, I really like that fact that Rachel includes information on other voice exercises as well as links to videos and other useful resources.

There’s just so much you can do with these activities, and the adorable graphics make it both fun and functional for the children to participate in therapy.

The best part of me was that in addition to the materials being functional I didn’t have to spend any effort on “cutefying’ them for my clients, and that’s definitely a huge plus in my book. You can grab this cute and functional activity in Rachel’s TPT store for as little as $4.00.

For more information check out Rachel’s blog,  The Queen’s Speech  and don’t forget to follow her on Facebook!

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Language therapy for children with severe cognitive impairments: Focus on Function!

Print, laminate and cut out all cards. There are seven categories for sorting food pictures: DairyGrainsMeatsFruits VegetablesSweetsDrinks...Lately I’ve had a number of children on my caseload with marked cognitive limitations. While I always attempt to integrate curriculum concepts into their therapy sessions, I also focus extensively on doing functional activities with them. These are tasks that pertain to daily living such as ordering food in a restaurant, shopping in supermarket, performing household activities, or looking up information.  This is why I was very happy to come across Figuratively Speeching SLP’s activity: Bundled Supermarket Activities. Continue reading Language therapy for children with severe cognitive impairments: Focus on Function!

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To Speech Buddy or Not to Speech Buddy: That is the Question?

A few weeks ago I received my new gleaming set of Speech Buddies for the purposes of review.  So today I’ll be describing my experiences using speech buddies in speech therapy with several clients. My client’s ages were 3.5, 4.5, 8, and 9. Prior to initiating the use of the speech buddies I have posed a number of questions for myself including:

  1. Does the use of a particular speech buddy really shorten the time needed to attain sound mastery? (Since on their intro page a chart shows them to be twice as faster in eliciting correct sound production)
  2. How does the use of a speech buddy compare with the use of a “traditional” oral placement implements (e.g., bite block, tongue depressor, cotton tip applicator, etc)
  3. Do the speech buddies justify their cost? Continue reading To Speech Buddy or Not to Speech Buddy: That is the Question?
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In case you missed it: The importance of targeted assessments for school aged children

Last week I did a guest post for The Simply Speech Blog. In case you missed it,  below I offer an explanation why targeted speech language assessments are so important, as well as list helpful resources that will aid you in speech language assessment preparation.

In both my hospital based job and in private practice I do a lot of testing. During staff/caregiver interviews I used to get a laundry list of both specific and non-specific problems by the parents and teachers, which did not always accurately reflect the students true deficits.  Experience quickly taught me that administering general comprehensive language testing to every student simply did not work. Oftentimes the administration of such testing revealed one of two things: Continue reading In case you missed it: The importance of targeted assessments for school aged children