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 …
I had a terrible realization when I bought a tablet for work: most SLP apps are for iPad! I’d say around 95%! Maybe it just feels that way. For in-person appointments that’s fine now that I own an iPad, but what about telepractice/telehealth/online appointments? Since 50% of my families continue to request online appointments and …
I love the part of Terminator 3 when Claire Danes is making as much noise as possible in the back of her vet rescue truck (where she’s been imprisoned by the newest Arnold Schwarzenegger robot from the future) as a robot-battery-turned-bomb explodes outside and Arnold yells at Claire, “RELAX!” as he looks intensely towards the …
With this Zones of Regulation tool the child either uses 2 pillows and hits them together or hits a pillow against a bed, chair, or sofa. This tool is great for the red zone, which I’ve found is particularly challenging for kids who have witnessed domestic violence. These kids often fear their own anger, but …
As a private practice provider, I believe a huge part of my focus on functional skills is helping children use age-expected speech and langauge skills during conversation. For many of my patients, this means we work on them using correct grammar during conversation. To work on conversational grammar with Disney short videos I periodically pause …
