October is ADHD awareness month! I actually learned very little about ADHD’s effects on communication as a graduate student and it wasn’t until I began seeing lots of patients with ADHD that I started to wonder about the connection between the disorder and speech and langauge. Since then I’ve had the opportunity to work with …
Volume modulation is a common struggle for those with ADHD. I’ve found the best way to address it is with in-the-moment feedback from an outside source. The Too Loud app is my favorite way to accomplish this. This app is FREE and is customizable enough to change the sensitivity and dampening levels. I find that …
Toca Boca World is a FREE app beloved by many of the children I work. When I use it for following directions I give my in-person patients one of my iPads with Toca Boca World on it and then tell them what to do (mostly in single-step, but with some 2-step directions, too). For the …
In the fall of 2020, after 6 months of completing all 25 of my weekly appointments through telepractice/telehealth/video calls with my patients’ highest attendance rates recorded, I experienced my first ocular migraine. It was extremely unpleasant and I hoped it was just a fluke. When I had another a couple months later I immediately made …
I met my first therapy dog when I was volunteering at the New Mexico Preschool for the Deaf – the dog was named Jackson and he belonged to one of the audiologists at the preschool. This started my interest in using a therapy dog in my future treatment. The first thing to know about therapy …
A “weighted lap buddy” is like a small weighted blanket in the form of a stuffed animal. These help kids who have trouble sitting in their seats, kids who feel nervous, or even just kids who love stuffed animals! You can find weighted lap buddies for $40 – $50 on Amazon, but I wanted to …
I’m constantly looking for new and fun naturalistic activities. One of my favorite apps is Toca Pet Doctor. This app isn’t one of the free ones from Toca Boca – it costs $3.99, but my patients love it (many request it for their reward activity) and it’s quite versatile! Here are some more naturalistic activities for …
“If you listen to your body whisper you won’t have to hear it scream.” Self-care is one of those terms that’s thrown around a lot with a variety of meanings. I can’t say if any meaning is really “wrong,” but to me self-care is less about self-indulgence and more about self-nurturing or even self-regulation. Just …
As a private practice pediatric SLP I don’t often work on voice. However, I’ve recently had the opportunity to brush up on my voice skills when one of my patients started expressing concern about her “raspy” voice. In her case, it’s something that runs in the family and is exacerbated by poor vocal hygiene so …
I’m constantly looking for new and fun ways to work on following directions; especially for my patients who have Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, which is best treated by varying activities and tasks. One of my favorite apps to use for any and all speech and language treatment is Toca Pet Doctor. This app isn’t one of the …
