As children with social skills deficits try to navigate our highly-social world they must first learn the basics (eye contact, following eye-gaze, attending to others, etc.) and then learn to use those skills to identify others’ emotions, inference the cause of the emotions, and problem-solve the situations causing these emotions. To target these skills I …
Author: Amy
Play-Based Activities for Irregular Plural Nouns
One of my most common goals for patients is to master irregular plural nouns like fish (not fishes), shelves (not shelfs), sheep (not sheeps), and mice (not mouses). I always start this target with flash cards and use a least-to-most cueing hierarchy (unless the child needs a consistent level of support in which case I’ll …
Play-Based Activities for Irregular Past-Tense Verbs
One of my most common goals for patients is mastering irregular past-tense verbs like drove (instead of drived), swung (instead of swinged), flew (instead of flyed), and ate (instead of eated). I always start this target with flash cards and use a least-to-most cueing hierarchy (unless the child needs a consistent level of support in …
Regulation Tools: Bubbles & Pinwheels
I’m constantly reminded that bubbles and pinwheels are therapeutic. Not just because children love them, but also because both blowing bubbles and pinwheels and popping bubbles forces deep breathing and mindfulness. I love using bubbles with children who are having difficulty staying in the calm and ready-to-learn green zone. Since the pandemic started I’ve yet …
COVID-19 Update: Surge in Cases & Patients’ Vaccination Progress
At the time I wrote this post Bernalillo County and Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) were seeing an extreme surge in COVID-19 cases. I was especially concerned since the largest spike in cases in 2020 wasn’t reflected in APS’s numbers. This meant that we were seeing more cases of COVID-19 in Albuquerque children than ever; likely …
Brain Cells
“Brain Cells” is a game that my aunt, Jeanne Jurgensen, developed and generously gifted to me. Kids can bounce or throw koosh or ping-pong balls into the box, which is divided into “cells.” The word inside the box is the word we then work on by talking about its meaning, making a sentence with it, …
Using Toca Life World in Speech & Language Treatment
I started using Toca Life World when all my appointments were still on telehealth (until I got my first round of COVID shots). A year later I have patients who still request it during in-person appointments. This open-ended video game is packed with things to explore and it’s really useful for speech and langauge treatment. …
Regulation Tool: Quiet Tent & Remote-Controlled Light
I’m noticing that children who were born shortly before the pandemic are taking longer to warm up to me than the 2-year-olds I’ve seen prior to “these unprecedented times”. So I’m implementing the same rules I use for children who are demonstrating signs of anxiety, such as those with selective mutism: talking is rewarded, but …
Regulation Tools: Quiet Tent & Remote-Controlled Light
I’m noticing that children who were born shortly before the pandemic are taking longer to warm up to me than the 2-year-olds I’ve seen prior to “these unprecedented times”. So I’m implementing the same rules I use for children who are demonstrating signs of anxiety, such as those with selective mutism: talking is rewarded, but …
Using “Doggy Bags” for Articulation
I picked up this fun game as a great way to work on articulation. How the game works: The children (or the child and I) each get one of the two bags filled with plastic food. No one can look into their bag. When the first card is flipped over both participants race to find …