Build On The Child's Strengths

In the world of "therapy", "doctors" and often times "education" the professionals notice what your child cannot do.  I know when my children went to their well visit appointments with their pediatrician, the focus was on height, weight, and overall development.  I also remember that feeling in the pit of my stomach when I had to say "no".  "No, my child does not have 350 words; no, my baby is not rolling both ways; no, my child is not potty trained".  Oh no, my child's height and weight are only in the 25%!!  Somehow you felt that you must be responsible and your child was a bit less because of these observations.

The key to working with a family and small children is to build on what the child CAN do.  It's so simple.  When you build on what a child can do, there is more success.  The child realizes that you understand them and want them to do more things that they are good at.  They are more motivated because they are starting with things they like.  And the family is excited because you are pointing out all the wonderful things their child can do and what great parents they are.  Everyone is quickly on the same page and excited about the next success the child has.

Parents know what their children are good at and what their children struggle with.  And it makes them sad and sometimes they feel guilty, like they haven't done enough when we notice only the things the child cannot do.  As professionals, we don't need to remind them about what their child cannot do.  Parents need to feel like they can make the difference with their child and by building on the child's strengths, everyone wins.

So if you are a parent, make sure the people that deal with your child see all the wonderful things your child can do and encourage them to work with those strengths. And if you are a professional, be aware of the things that are difficult for the child and family but remember to share all the wonderful things you see the child doing.  Also, take a minute and mention all the wonderful things that the parents are doing too. 

"You Do Feeding In The Home?"

I presented at the Family Cafe in Orlando in June.  Family Cafe is a wonderful conference that is focused on families that have a family member with a special need.  It is a celebration of all people and a celebration of how we are the same much more than how we are different. 

During the presentation, a parent asked me the question, "You do feeding in the home ?!?!?"  She was amazed.  Apparently the Early Intervention Program that was supporting her family did not do this. 

Here is my puzzlement when it comes to working with families that have a child under the age of 3.  Our main goal should be to help the family and child have a meaningful relationship.  These parents need to be able to feel comfortable parenting their child.  They need to be able to feel that they can meet their childs needs.  And as a therapist, the focus should be on helping them learn any tools they need to support their child.  The worst thing we can do is swoop in with the intention of "fixing" their child.  It's not about us and all the knowledge and experience we may have.  It is about sharing and supporting the family so that they are empowered.

So, yes, I DO do feeding in the home.  But what that looks like is that I am showing the family specific things that they can do during their day that will help their child's feeding skills improve.  Then I come back and check out how things are going.  I may join in with the child and their family eating a snack or meal.  During that time I may see things that I can give them more hints about to help the child inch towards the next step.  Or I may just congratulate the family on the great progress that I see, it just all depends. 

If you are a parent of a child with a speech and language delay under the age of 3 please encourage any professional that you are working with to help you be the parent you want to be.  You need to ask questions, ask for support and then take the lead.  It may be scary but you are your sweet childs parent.  Enjoy your child, have fun with your child, interact with your child and love your child.  You can be the person that is the key to your child communicating better; eating better; sleeping better, walking better, etc. etc.   You can do this.

Temple Grandin

I had the privilege of attending a presentation by Dr. Temple Grandin this weekend. Dr. Grandin is an incredible woman that is internationally known for her work with Livestock Behavior; Design of Facilities and Humane Slaughter. But the most amazing thing about Dr. Grandin is that she has autism. And her gift to the families that I work with is that she gives us an insight as to how a person with an autism diagnosis thinks, learns, and feels. She also has fantastic suggestions and strategies for parents and educators on how to help children with autism succeed in life. I would suggest that you check out her website at http://templegrandin.com. I also would recommend that you see the HBO movie that was created about her life, it really gives you a wonderful insight into the world of a person with autism and how they can make their way, often times, very successfully in this world.

Dr. Grandin is funny, outspoken, passionate, very, very intelligent and an inspiration to all.

What she says that inspires me is her information that
1. Young children with autism need to be engaged 20 hours a week in turn taking activities and joining in with the world around them
2. These 20 hours do not need to be with a "therapist or specialist" but can be just as effective with a parent, grandparent; sibling; babysitter etc. She says that it is important that a specialist coach the family as to what strategies work well for their child and help them be successful.
3. The family should build activities around what the child likes. If a child is obsessed with trains, then use that interest to ease them into learning more based on trains. Start with what they like and are passionate about.
4. Understand what sensory integration is and respect that certain sensory stimulation is painful to the child and will interfere with learning and possibly eating, sleeping and social situations.
5. The family needs to help the child learn social rules so that they are able to function in the world. The children need to learn how to give other people what they want.
6. Use simple and clear directions with the child and use a neutral voice. Don't be demeaning but always respectful.

My favorite quotes of hers were: "Do not try to de-geek the geek". "Let's accept that there are different kinds of minds". "Eccentric is acceptable; being dirty and rude is not."

If you ever have a chance to attend one of her presentations, do it!! It will make a difference in your life.

Baby Babbling and Communicating with Dad

Hi Everyone,

I'm back :) As you can see, I have a new look. All the credit goes to Eliana Tardio, a coworker and dear friend!! Thank you so much.

I am now linked to my new facebook page and twitter, so hopefully I will be able to reach families with the technology they feel comfortable with.

My goal is to bring more media to the blog and share with you all kinds of information concerning communication. ENJOY!!

Check out this video and see true communication between a little girl and her dad. Notice how Dad is commenting and encouraging turn taking. Listen to the child's infections and body language. I know it will put a smile on your face.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/sDocL7AfIRo

October 2011

I have so many ideas of fun things to do in October to help your child "pop" language :)

1. LEAVES:
If you live where the leaves are falling there are so many things that you can do. You can rake them (and get your child their own little rake) and then "one, two, three, go" you can jump in them!!! You can toss them around and focus on words like "up, down". You can find a bunch of dry leaves and "crunch, crunch, crunch" them up. You can get paper and glue out and stick the leaves to the paper. You can go on a walk and find all the different colors of leaves or just find the trees that have leaves that are not green. You can march through the leaves; you can crunch the leaves with your shoes, you can shuffle in the leaves; you can hide your feet in the leaves, or your hand or your whole body!!! You can make a path through the leaves and walk down the path, or hop or crawl.

2. PUMPKINS:
One of the best suggestions that I am going to share is one that I learned from another early interventionist. You take a pumpkin, you take some colorful golf tees and find your childs little hammers from the pounding toys they have and you pound the tees into the pumpkin. "bang, bang, bang"; "more tees"; "in and out". Your child will enjoy this process so much. You pound the tees in and then you can take them out and do it again.

Of course taking the seeds out of the pumpkin is fun to explore. If your child has sensory issues this could be a hard one. Let them use a spoon, that might help. But if you have an explorer, let them pull the seeds out with their hands and you can scoop out the insides and put them in a bowl to explore. "Squishy, slippery, stringy" are all fun words that would apply. If they put some in their mouth, please don't say "yuck", let them decide if they like the taste or not (but be careful about choking on the seeds if your child is small).

And of course you can carve the pumpkin and roast the seeds. You can talk about the facial body parts that you are carving "should we cut out the nose or an eye?" and if you use a real candle you can play with having them blow it out several times in a row...great for breath control and to encourage your child to request "more please".

FOOD: YUM!!!! OK, there are caramel apples and caramel dip. There is a new milkshake at McDonalds that is an autumn shake which I would assume might be spicey. Milkshakes are great for improving the muscle strength in your childs mouth. There is pumpkin pie (and dipping the electric toothbrush in this mixture could be a good taste treat, plus wake up the mouth.) There are cakes and cookies and pies with cinnamon and ginger and nutmeg. Let them try apple cider or warm apple juice and maybe even add some cinnamon.

And what about the Halloween candy!?!?!? Licorace and gummy worms are good for muscle development....bite and pull on the sides as well as in front. Pixie stixs powder is one of my favorites to wake up the mouth. Their are that fun dip candy where you dip a hard candy into a powder. Keep your mind open as to ways to use some of the candy to stimulate your childs mouth. Remember, I'm not saying all day, every day. But a couple pixie stixs are not going to hurt your childs health or teeth.

HALLOWEEN: Words that will come easily for your child would be "boo" for ghost; "pumpin" for pumpkin; "cany" for candy. With the trick or treating and costumes realize that small children cannot always tell what is real and what isn't, so be sensitive and aware if your child might be scared. If you want them to participate, maybe let them help you hand out candy, or just ride in a wagon while someone else goes to the doors of the houses.

ART: A child's foot, painted white on the bottom and then pressed on a piece of dark colored paper will look like a ghost. You can add the eyes and open mouth. Or paint both feet and let your child walk across some black paper and you will have many ghosts :)

Give your child some markers to decorate their pumpkin or let them paint a pumpkin. You could dress your pumpkin with a hat and a tie for fun....let your imagination go.

Enjoy this time of year, we are heading into the holiday time; school has started and our lives shift into a different rhythm. Look for the fun in every day and share it with your child.

September 2011

Here I am!!! Sorry it's been a bit since I posted.

September.....school has started, fall has arrived, the weather is changing and what can we do to stimulate some language ???

I hope that you stocked up on school supplies when they went on sale. Crayons and glue sticks and paper and 3 ring binders...yup, I have ideas for all of these.

1. With the 3 ring binder (and some page protectors) I want you to make a "book" of your child's favorite things. Pull out some old magazines and cut out pictures of things and people your child likes. Check the ads in the magazines, you will find pictures of food that children like ( fish crackers; mac and cheese; juice boxes; cookies.) You will also find ad's for children's TV shows (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, for example). You will find pictures of cars and trucks and motorcycles and trains, if your child is into vehicles. Or you could cut out pictures of faces with different expressions (crying, laughing, smiling, yawning, etc.) And don't forget to put some pictures of actions like walking or jumping or swinging. Once your have found some pictures that are meaningful to your child, pull out the glue sticks and have your child help you glue them to construction paper. While you are gluing you can model "push" or "go go" when you are rubbing the glue on. You can talk about "up and down" when you rub the glue on the top and bottom. Then place the picture on the paper and "boom boom " or "pat pat" the picture onto the paper. Encourage your child to pat or hammer with their hand the picture on the paper. Then slide the picture into the page protector, put the pages into the 3 ring binder and "ta da" you have a wonderful book your child can "read" to others. They will take pride in their book as well as want to talk about the pictures.

2. Paper. A simple piece of paper can become a wonderful language stimulation tool. You can crunch it and make it into a "ball" that you throw; kick; "go up"; "go down"; etc. You can throw it "in and out" or you can make a basket with a laundry basket. You can make it into a paper airplane and "one, two, three, go" you can throw it inside and out. You can use this activity to take turns and build anticipation. There is a fantastic video on YouTube of a dad that holds a piece of paper out to his baby boy and the child rips the paper and basically falls over laughing. It's a wonderful example of turn taking and reading your child. Trying something that simple can "pop" language. You entice your child by holding out the paper. The child pulls the paper, it rips and the sound makes everyone laugh. Before the child gets to try it again (and they will want to try) wait for them to indicate, in some way that they want another turn. It can be by looking or reaching their hand out to get the paper. It can be looking at the paper and laughing. However your child shows you they want a turn, you accept that and then continue the turn (plus model a word or phrase to go with that turn.)

3. Crayons. I know that they can be messy, so set up the area where you are going to let your child color before you let them loose. Think about putting a big piece of paper on the garage wall and let them color on that. Or tape a big piece on the floor or on the driveway and color out there. Be aware of the questions that you want to ask but your child can't answer; "what color is that? What did you draw?" Remember to keep modelling instead of quizzing, "you are coloring with blue, round and round and round. I like how you went up, up up, with the color." Describe what they are doing and feeling more than expecting it to "be" a picture.

With so much focus on school during September, I want to share some important information about your young child. If your child is 3 or under (and sometimes 5 and under) you need to focus less on things that are basically academic (like colors, numbers, letters, shapes) and focus more on relationships with family and peers. When a child is young, they are not supposed to be able to tell you what color something is, or what shape something is or be able to count and do the alphabet. A baby should not read, honest :) I know that there is the program out there to convince you that your baby should be reading. Here's the problem I have with that. Even if your baby starts to recognize a word and can label it, for example "dog", do they understand "dogness???" For example, have they touched a dog, heard a dog bark, smelled a dog, smelled a wet dog, had a dog lick them, touched their fur, heard their nails click on the floor??? Once they have interacted with a dog they "get" what a dog is all about and then they can connect the word "dog" with the object. It is meaningful to them. But saying "dog" when the word is flashed on a screen is not the same as understanding all about dogs. To me it's skipping a bunch of developmental steps for your child.

Our society is pushing academics, earlier and earlier but that is not developmentally appropriate. Young children learn from playing with toys, interacting with people, exploring nature, trying new foods and having fun. Our job as the adults in their lives is to expose them to different things and activities and then let them explore it their way and build on their interests instead of worrying about academics. When a child is ready, the academics come easily and it's fun. But pushing a child to quickly will cause frustration and even delay those skills from developing because it's just too hard.

Remember to relax and enjoy your child for who they are and what their interests are. Build on that and you can't go wrong.

July 2011

July is almost over!! I hope that you all enjoyed the 4th of July celebrations with the yummy foods to try, the parades with the bands and firetrucks and the "boom!!" of the fireworks. All wonderful language popping experiences.

I know that family gatherings are things that we do in the summer. Hmmm, how does your child like family gatherings? Let me picture what a family gathering looks like to we adults. There are people laughing and hugging; there are people being loud; there are older people in chairs that are sitting back and watching the family members interact. There are the generation under that, probably getting drinks and focusing on the food. There are the children of that group, the 20's and teens having fun playing with Frisbees; volleyball; badminton, skiing on the lake; throwing eachother in the water; throwing water balloons and having fun. There are the little children; some are running around interacting with others; some are sitting on the adults lap and some are crying and trying to get out of there.

So, let's look at this from the view of the under 3 child. They are in an environment that is totally unpredictable. Strange people will walk up to them and talk to them and even try to hold them. There are lots of noises that surprise the child. There are so many things to look at and hear. There are so many things that the child might want to explore...the food, the yard, the house, and maybe even some of the people. And the child might have not been sleeping well because they are travelling to get to this gathering or they are sleeping in a hotel or in the house and maybe in a bed that isn't familiar to them.

When your child acts up during a family gathering, think about what they are feeling but may not be able to tell you. (Remember, behavior is a form of communication, so if your child is acting up, they are communicating with you.) Let's problem solve what you can do to make this all easier.

• How to deal with the people that want to hold your child, or ask them "what's your name, how old are you" and then look at you and say "why isn't he talking!" If your child is not feeling comfortable, going to a stranger will probably not help. You can explain to the loving adult that your child needs a little bit more time to warm up and you will let them know when your child might want to be held. Or, you and the loving adult can go to a quiet place, away from the crowd and interact without putting pressure on the child. Slowly the loving adult can interact a little bit at a time, and perhaps win over your child. Please don't force your child to be held by another person if they don't feel secure.

• How to deal with a too tired child. I would try to keep your child's sleep schedule as typical as possible. Maybe have a baby monitor and pack and play in a quiet bedroom and have a fan running for white noise that might help your child have a nap when needed. Fans or other sources of white noise are wonderful for situations where there is unexpected noises. You might need to rock your child or swaddle them a bit in a blanket to help them get organized if they get overtired or upset. Calmly reassure them, sing quietly a favorite song and help them find some time to get organized. There is nothing wrong with lying down with them for a bit to help them fall asleep.

• How to deal with new foods when you have a "picky eater"? I would bring favorite foods with me so that you can help your child feel comfortable. This is not the time to try new foods if it is upsetting to your child. Try to avoid the comments that well meaning adults might say like "you are spoiling your child"; or " just make them eat it". You are the expert on your child and as hard as it is to disagree with YOUR parents or grandparents, you need to stick up for your child if they need that support. It will make for a happier child which will make for a happier you.

• What to do when your child is having a melt down? The first thing I would do is for you and the child to remove yourself from what is happening. Find a quiet spot to calmly reassure your child and help them through their stress. Another idea is to have a stroller ready to take your child for a walk. This will distract them from what has them upset as well as give you both some time to connect. Once your child and you are feeling calm and relaxed, then you can rejoin the group. Often times the thought is to scold a child or punish them for their behavior when they melt down. Once again, I would look at what the trigger was for your child and help them through it. Punishing and scolding will just escalate the meltdown. And you need to stay calm too (if you can) because your child will feed off of your stress.

Now let's think, just for a minute about the wonderful things that may happen at this family gathering. You might be able to get a break from being the primary caregiver for your child because your child loves hanging out with Grandma or Grandpa or auntie and uncle. Your child is engaging with the extended family, giving kisses or high fives and snuggling on the laps of your loved ones. Your child may love trying the new foods, especially if there are other children around their age that are eating new foods too. Children love to imitate other children. Your child might sleep much better on a trip because they are more active and the new things tire them out. Sometimes children with sensory concerns do better when everything is different and they appear more easy going. You might fall in love all over again with these special people in your life because of how they interact so well with your child and praise you for raising such a wonderful little person.

Talk to you soon!!

June 13,2011

I have to say "hi" to all the families that I met at the Family Cafe in Orlando. Thank you so much for coming to our presentation and generating such good questions. What a wonderful experience!!!

It's not officially summer, but it seems that the whole US is having summer weather. There are so many things that we families can do to stimulate language during the summer months.

I know that you are all spending more time outside. I hope that you are getting your child into a swing ("push/go/more/all done/stop/high") and going down slides "up, down, 1,2,3 go,". Be sure to go down with your child if they aren't ready to do this independently. If your child is too young or frightened by swinging, you can sit on the swing and place your child facing you where your arms are around them and they feel supported and safe. Swinging is a great activity to stimulate language and the nervous system. If your child is bothered by the motion of swinging, try swinging them in a blanket that two adults hold "more/stop/go/all done/whee". This is a very fun activity.

Let's think about foods and drinks: Has anyone tried the frozen strawberry/lemonade at McDonald's? I found it to be very sour....it would be a fantastic way to stimulate your child's mouth. Or, just make lemonade from scratch....include all the siblings too. Make sure you buy extra lemons so that the children can taste them and make funny faces.

Making Popsicles from applesauce is yummy (use cinnamon applesauce to make it more tasty). Just pour some in a Dixie size cup and put a plastic spoon in the cup and freeze...yum. It's also a tricky way to get more fruit into your child's diet. Freeze the smoothie's that you are already making for your child to pull up through straws. Popsicles encourage sucking/licking and exploring a new temperature.

Grilling out brings a whole new flavor to food. And don't forget all the different rubs and BBQ sauces that are available. You can use those flavorings on vegetables and potatoes too.

I know that you are already outside playing in puddles and in the grass, but now we can probably bring out the kiddy pools, buckets, squirt guns and sprinklers. PLEASE ALWAYS BE WITH YOUR CHILD WHEN THERE IS WATER AROUND. A CHILD CAN DROWN IN JUST A SMALL AMOUNT OF WATER (LIKE ABOUT AN INCH)!!! Kiddy pools are fun for exploring water and putting in different toys to explore. And don't be shy, join them in the pool and play with them. Follow what they are doing, comment on what they are doing, feeling or thinking and watch the communication flow. If you have a child size plastic slide, you can put it so that the child lands in the water "splash!". Let your child play with the hose, let them help you wash the car...get wet "uh oh" and just have fun. And setting up a sprinkler for them to jump over, in, put their hands in, etc. is another really fun experience. And YES, they will put the hose in their mouths, or explore the sprinkler with their mouths and definitely explore the water in the pool. I would encourage you not to get mad or immediately say "no". My experience is that it's not going to hurt them... :)

And don't forget lakes, rivers, ponds and the ocean. Salt water is a true sensory experience :) Find crabs; fish...notice the smells "yuck!!, play in the waves; notice the different sounds; talk about the boats...there is so much happening in a natural environment.

Here's a book that I really liked: Disability is Natural by Kathie Snow (OK, have I listed this already ?!?!?!?) If you have a child that has a developmental delay you must read this book. It really gives you another side of things to think about.

Speaking of books, make sure that you are using your library to get books for your child to explore. They usually have a pretty good selection of board books and exploring paper pages books are fun, you just need to save those for times you will share with them so that they don't get ripped. Also, check what other things your library offers, there are usually children's programs; some lend toys; and there are always movies to rent. Picture snuggling together, watching a movie, maybe with some very flavorful snacks and just have fun being together after a day outside, playing in the water.

Have a wonderful June!!

Monday, May 23, 2011

"April showers bring May flowers". Is that true where you live? I also think that April showers bring May flowers and flowering trees and flowering bushes and pollen and allergies!!! I heard that the allergy season is horrible this year, so in addition to taking care of yourself, notice if your child is struggling with allergies. If you have allergies, you know how it feels: itchy eyes, burning nose, feeling like you have to sneeze and not sneezing OR sneezing over and over again. You might have junk dripping down the back of your throat which makes you clear your throat over and over....and then your throat feels sore. Plus more fluid in your head may cause ear issues. SO, please monitor your child's health and help them deal with the symptoms that may pop up.

When your child doesn't feel well, they will not be communicating as well....well, honestly they will be communicating but it may be more whining and crying and clinging and just acting miserable. This is not the time to push for new words popping, but it is a good time to interpret and validate the communication that they are giving you. Letting them know you understand should help decrease any frustration that is attached to the communication, but not the frustration attached to health.

May is a time to continue your explorations outside. Taking your child outside and sitting them in the grass or letting them walk barefoot is a great sensory/communication activity. If they like the feel of being barefoot you can talk about how your feet feel (because of course, you are barefoot too). You can talk about all the textures and temperatures that your feet are feeling "cold, hard, prickly, crunchy, soft" and watch their wonder as they walk from one texture to another. It feels very different walking on a sidewalk and then walking in the grass. If your child doesn't like this activity, I would encourage them to try a bit more by distracting them or demonstrating how much fun you are having. You can "jump, walk, skip, run, stop, go". To desensitize your child's feet so that they are more comfortable walking on different textures, you can rub their feet, firmly pat on their feet and then help them "jump" on the grass which won't make it feel so prickly. But remember, take baby steps, if your child REALLY doesn't like the changes in textures then you might want to try in the house, walking from tile to carpet or wood floors to carpet.

May foods: Start looking for seasonal fruits and vegetables....yum. Since I live in the south watermelon, corn on the cob and tomatoes seem to be plentiful. Up north you are far from when gardens are producing anything, but walk around the grocery store and try something new and tasty. Sometimes when you try something new as a family, everyone is more interested in trying. And don't forget dipping....that can really help.

You might want to plant a small "kid" garden and grow a food that they like. How fun would that be to dig in the dirt, throw in some seeds, water it and watch it grow? And the wonder of seeing a tomato or other food they think comes from the grocery store actually growing on their little plant is amazing. (What a fun way to add new words....dirt, seed, grow, sunny, water, more, yuck). And then to eat it when it's ready....we all know how "just picked" food tastes. Enjoy!

Another thought would be to throw an old vinyl tablecloth on the grass and have your snack outside. That might be a really good time to try a messier snack because you can just hose down the tablecloth and slip clothes off and throw them right into the washing machine. Encouraging independence with food decreases anxiety with trying new things and not worrying about mess also decreases anxiety, so this is a win/win situation.

Enjoy the outside, open the windows and listen to the new sounds, and explore the fun of changing from winter clothes to warmer weather clothes. All these are opportunities for your child to develop their communication skills.

As always, I look forward to hearing from you. Let me know what YOU want to chat about!

April 2011

Hello, happy almost Easter !!

First, a warning that I heard yesterday that I want to share with you. Be careful with the plastic Easter eggs that you can fill with goodies. The firemen in my area said that if a child puts that in their mouth with the pointy end in first, they cannot remove it!!! And another mother shared with me that if a marshmallow gets stuck in a child's throat, the Heimlich method doesn't work. So, please keep these thoughts in mind when you are shopping for your Easter goodies.

So now on to happier thoughts. April is a known for it's "showers" and I would encourage you to use that as a fun, sensory, language filled activity. You can do so many things with rain. You can listen for the thunder ("boom"); you can watch for the lightening ("wow"); and you can play in the rain. I mentioned this before, but if it's a nice, light rain with no thunder or lightening, going for a walk is a magical experience. You can put on your puddle boots, put up umbrellas; wear your rain coats (all lovely new words to learn) and take a walk. Listen to the sound the rain makes; feel the wind on your face; feel your face and hands get wet from the rain and talk about all those things. Walk through puddles and do some splashing. Look at the rain in the drains by the curbs and then look again when the sun is out and the water is gone. Put a bucket outside and catch the rain and bring it inside...play with it, taste it, splash in it. Float things in the water outside and inside "go,go go," "oh, no" "bye bye boat", etc. Float boats, leaves, twigs, let your imagination go. And of course, for the sensory child in your house, put on some old clothes or an old swimming suit and play in the rain and in the gutters. Splash in those puddles with your bare feet. FUN!!!

The other April joy is Easter. Think about including candy like pixie stixs; sour gummy worms; or beef jerkey in all kinds of flavors. There is also a dip candy where the child gets to dip a hard candy stick into a powdery sugar.

All of these are fantastic for oral motor stimulation. Easter egg hunts are great for language development: "egg, bunny, hop, where go?; under; up; down".

Color easter eggs as a family. If you don't like the mess of the dyes you can color them with markers or put stickers on them. Crayons will work too.

Eating hard boiled eggs can be a communication time also. Let your child break the shells (they REALLY like this) and then peel off the shell together. Talk about how the shell is "hard; crack; off; broken" and then you can taste. Lots of children do not like eggs but you could try dipping some of the egg in salad dressings; salsa or whatever. Don't avoid flavors that sound weird, like melted chocolate...how do we know if we like these things if we don't try them (Ok, I see you questioning that one :) Also take the egg apart and find the little, yellow ball inside.

If you have some spring/easter stuffed animals, put them in an easter basket and have it to play with. Model those sound effects "baa for the sheep; peep peep for chicks; quack for the ducks; and with the bunnies I use hop, hop and wiggling my nose for them to imitate". Don't forget to add those gestures/signs!! Find the tails on the animals; talk about the eyes...all of this is wonderful for body parts; and always, always, expanding that expressive and receptive language. You can hide the bunny or sheep and go on a hunt to find them "where go? bunny where are you?"

This is a fun time for art projects also. You can add cotton balls as tails to a premade bunny picture. You can finger paint with bright colors and then cut out big easter egg shapes from the paper. Let them squeeze some glue on them and let them shake glitter or put anything fun on them to stick. Talk about the process while you are doing this...remember, it's not about how it looks, it's how it feels to do it.

I went to a Pediatric Feeding conference that showed us how to address feeding within the DIR model. This is the Greenspan approach where every interaction is relationship based. Let me know if you want any more information about this......it's such a logical and respectful way to work on feeding when a child is anxious about feeding. Here is the new thing I learned that might be helpful. When you are exploring new foods, let the child have a cup to spit the food out in....and you have one too and show them how to spit things out. Once again, I see you all raising your eyebrows. But listen to the reasoning about this. If a child is anxious about putting new foods in their mouths, they are very against trying it. But, if they are allowed to spit it out, they are learning that they can control the food, at least well enough to spit it out. They are not being scolded for doing this activity, so there is less stress about having food in the mouth. And if the parents are doing it too, and let your child tell you to spit it out, the power is shared by the family, so stress is again, decreased. And finally, if a child is playing with a new food in their mouth, the activity is fun, they are tasting new tastes and might even swallow some because no one is demanding that they swallow the food. Plus, the ability to spit works on some oral muscles too. Let me know what you think!!!

Enough for today. Enjoy your holiday time!

March 2011

So here we are, almost done with March. Be sure to take advantage of all the mint, special treats that are offered during March (Shamrock Shakes; Mint Blizzard, etc.) These are perfect for oral motor stimulation and are yummy too.

The weather is heading towards spring in some places and in the south we are having perfect weather. So, it's time to get outside and explore. Look for flowers peaking out of the snow ("pretty"....it might sound like "pity"). You talk about flowers; you can sniff the flowers, you can pick the flowers and put them in a vase in your home. You can find flowers in books and pictures in your house. You can point out pictures that are Dora or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. You can find flowers on your clothes........see, just take thinking about one object/thing can expand your child's language. You could get some soil and a pot and plant some seeds and watch them grow.

Go on a listening walk and listen for the birds, listen to the ice melting off the roof, listen for the dogs barking, etc. Explore the puddles, put on old clothes and some rubber boots and splash, touch, float things in the puddles. Bring out a cup or other things to dip in the puddles.

Since the focus is St. Patricks Day and green....think about finding and talking about "green" which will sound like "geen". Paint with green, color cool whip green, eat green food, find green clothes and have a green day. It isn't that important that they understand "green" but just the joy of interacting with green things and you commenting on green will help the child understand "green".

Books: Find books about spring and talk about the pictures; flowers; grass; clouds; blue sky; running; jumping; skipping, etc. Then go out and do those things with your child....enjoy the changing season, the unpredictable weather, and each other.

February 2011

This entry is all about empowering families!! I am running into so many families that feel that they do not have the skills to make change in their child's life and it bothers me. As the parents/caregivers, you have ALL the power to help your child. Let me expand on this.

When your child is being seen by "specialists" like speech therapists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, special teachers, tutors, medical staff and even school teachers, it takes some of your power away. You may feel inadequate or that you do not have the skills to help your child. It is understandable that you will feel that these "professionals" know best for your child and that you need to do what they say. But I want you to realize something else.

You are the person that cares the most about your child; understands your child the best; reads your child the best; enjoys your child the best and loves your child the most. You are the center of your child's universe and that makes you the one with the most power. (even if you don't feel that way).

When you are dealing with professionals, try to remember that. Ask questions, have them explain anything that you don't understand; don't sign anything that you don't agree with; ask them for more time if you need to think things over. It doesn't always feel like it, but you make the decisions about what you think is best for you and your child. It's scary to stand up for yourself with professionals, but you can do it and you will feel so much better if you understand and agree with what is going on.

Also, remember that the things that you do with your child when they are not in school or special programs is the meaningful, fun part of their lives and will help their development as much as the special programs. This will tie again into making your child's life, your family's life, rich in experiences that are joyful which will lend itself to overall development of communication; motor skills; behavior concerns; cognition, etc. etc......it goes on and on.

So, look at your day. Think of including your child in some of your daily activities and don't look at the clock. Just enjoy the process. If it's cooking, let your child help and talk about what you are doing and let them stir and measure and pour and push the button on the blender. Delight in their joy in trying new things. Incorporate the hints on popping language and words. If there are motor issues, get suggestions from your therapist on how to best position them so that they can participate.

Think of all the daily "chores/routine" that you get tired of doing yourself and let your child help once in awhile and make it a language time. Sweeping, turning on the vacuum, letting them help push the vaccum; sorting clothes; bath time; taking a walk, etc. Everything you do during your day can be changed out a bit to incorporate your child.

Remember, you have the power!

January 2011

Happy New Years!!! I hope that you all have a year that is filled with joy and balance and lots of communication :)

I am from the Midwest, so when I think of January, I think of very cold weather and lots of snow. And even in the south we get "colder" days than usual. So, let's think about what we can focus on, to pop language for the month of January.


Words to focus on this month might include:

1. "cold", "brr" continue as good ones to focus on. Include the motion of "shivering" by shivering your arms when you say "cold" or "brr" to make it easier for your child to imitate, as well as make this more fun.

2. You can talk about the extra clothing that you might be wearing "coat, hat, boots, mittens, scarf" and concepts like "on and off" when it comes to that clothing. Remember to mix things up and maybe put the hat on your child's foot and just look expectantly to see if they react to the "mistake". Or give your child a choice..."do you want your hat or your mittens next" and show them each item and let them pick, label, point or say their choice.

3. "snow, snowman, snowflake, shovel, snowplow, snowball, ice, ice skates, etc. etc." Even if you live in the south you should let your child be exposed to these words. It will expand both the vocabulary of words they understand as well as the words they say.

4. Don't forget to add gestures or signs in addition to the words to help your child communicate even quicker.

5. Remember that the words may not sound exact when your child first tries them. But that's OK!! So, cold might sound like ko; and brrr might sound like bu; and snow might sound like no; and coat might sound like tote; and snowball might sound like nobaw, but give your child the credit and get excited about these approximations. Praise them and say, "yes, snowball".

Oral motor and food ideas:
1. So, bring some of that snow inside and taste it, or if you are worried about dirty snow you can crush some ice cubes and make your own snow. You can put flavors on the snow and taste them. Some flavoring might even freeze into a solid piece on top of the snow and would be fun to crunch. Have your child use their tongue to taste (even a snowcone would be great) or use a straw. Let your imagination go.

2. Hot chocolate is a wonderful taste in January. Try hot chocolate with peppermint flavoring or vanilla flavoring. Float some marshmallows in the hot chocolate to taste. If you are worried about it being too hot, make the instant with warm water from the tap. There are even recipes for frozen hot chocolate online. Yum!

3. Soups and stews are common when the weather gets cold so trying tastes of these might be fun too. Don't forget to float some fish crackers or crunch up different flavors to top them off. You can drink soup through a straw if it's creamy and doesn't have chunks. If you have a child that doesn't like vegetables you can always puree a vegetable soup and then add lots of noodles (kids usually like noodles) and there you go. Serve the soup in a cup for a different experience or in a fun snowman mug. Also, don't forget chili for the children that crave a more intense, spicy flavor in their mouths.

4. Speaking of vegetables, try serving frozen peas right from the bag. Most children don't see this as a vegetable, you can talk about the "cold/brr" food and maybe some more vegetables will get into your child's mouth.

5. Buy those snowball Hostess cakes and "make" a snowman by putting three on the plate or just talking about snowballs and then eating them up.

6. If it is snowing, go outside and stick out your tongue and catch snowflakes...this is great fun and good oral motor practice.

Continue including your child in the preparation of the food which makes tasting more tempting.

Creative Ideas:
1. Get outside, in the snow and play. Make snowmen, snow angels, snow mountains to climb, etc. Dress the snowmen with hats and scarves...another opportunity to talk about clothing items. Also talk about the body parts, eyes, nose, mouth, head and tummy too. Put water and food coloring into squirt bottles and "paint" your snow creations. Make a snow animal and let your child sit on it...."on, off" will be practiced over and over.

2. If you are in the south try making snowmen out of sand at the beach or even in your sandbox. They don't have to be big to be fun.

3. Bring a bucket of snow into the house (or make your own) and pour into the sink, put on mittens and play with the snow. Add little figurines or trucks to plow the snow, hide in the snow, etc. Talk about the actions your child is doing "pushing, patting, making; etc." in addition to labeling the creations that they are making.

4. Play "stick the hat on the snowman". Draw a snowman's head on a piece of paper, add eyes, nose, mouth and then make a hat out of black paper. Have your child stick the hat on the snowman's head by putting tape on the back of the hat. More vocabulary practice "hat, up, oh no, pretty, etc".

5. This idea can be under food and creative. Cover your table with a plastic tablecloth or put a protective tablecloth under your child's chair; put a bib on your child or remove their shirt and bring out some coolwhip....yes, it looks just like snow. You can taste it, of course, but you can also drive your cars through it like snowplows, or they can get "stuck" in the snow. You can hide frozen peas in it and find them and eat them. You can make roads through it, or just squish it with your hands or take a lick of it. You can sprinkle pixie stixs powder on it (snowing) and taste that too. Let your imagination go.

Book suggestion: The Snowman is a book that has no words. It would be fun to talk about together. Maybe look for a board book version so you don't have to worry about ripped pages.

Movie night out suggestion for mom and dad: The movie "The King's Speech" is really well done and is about stuttering. My husband loved the movie, so it's not just for people interested in speech therapy :)

December 2010

Hi Everyone,
Here I am, back after a very lengthy break. I needed to balance out my life with a new job and resolve a health issue but now I am back and committed to posting every month.

Since I have given you so many tools and strategies to stimulate your child's language and shared lots of information I am going to change my format a bit for the next 12 months. I am going to focus on specific suggestions you can use during each month as well as add ideas for books that might be helpful; music you might want to listen to or creative ideas of things to make and information that I find that will help you and your child improve their communication skills.

Also, I encourage you to email me with any specific questions that you might have. I would address them through the blog (because we all know that if one of us has a question there are many more people with the same question.) I will keep the questions anonymous so that you can ask me with no concerns about anyone knowing who you are. My email address is: jeremi_g@yahoo.com.

So here we are in the midst of holiday time. This is a fantastic time to pop language but it's also a time where it's hard to find time to focus on the children when you are busy with holiday planning. So remember the 5-10 minute suggestion: if you can take 5-10 minutes every day to slow down and focus on your child, progress will continue.

Words to focus on in December:
1. "Ho Ho" instead of Santa Claus....ho ho is much easier for a child to produce.
2. "Yum, Num" any easy word to express our delight with the holiday treats that we are bound to be eating.
3. "Lights", it might come out like "yites" but I bet your child like the lights on the tree and all the ones we see all around town.
4. "Hey" when you are singing Jingle Bells. The song will probably be too hard to sing all the words but when we take a pause and say "hey" your child will be able to join in.
5. "Cold" is a great word for you that live where it snows and is cold...even in the south we are having some weather that is "cold" :)


Songs that will be fun to try:
1. What does Santa say, "ho ho ho ho"
What does Santa say, "ho ho ho ho"
What does Santa say, "ho ho ho ho"
Santa says "ho ho" all the day.
(Those ho ho's should be pretty easy to say"

2. Jingle Bells (focus on the "hey!" part) and be sure to have actual jingle bells to ring.


Food/oral motor thoughts:

1. With so many different foods to try you should have no trouble finding new tastes and textures to sample or try on the electric toothbrush.

• I would encourage tasting these for sure: peppermint candy canes...messy, yes, but oh so yummy (and minty). Don't forget to stick them in some other flavor to make it even more fun, maybe Nutella, or peanut butter or chocolate frosting.
• Mashed or pureed veggies like squash; potatoes; carrots will stick on toothbrushes :) You can add some brown sugar to sweeten them if needed.
• Gravies and sauces
• Cheese spreads, dips, salsas.
• Don't forget about dipping :)

2. Things to try through a straw:

• Eggnog (non alcoholic of course)
• Fresh squeezed orange juice
• Warm apple cider with yummy spices like cinnamon
• Applesauce
• Peppermint milk shake

3. I would encourage you to do some baking with your child. Now you might not even really get many of the cookies or whatever you bake actually baked but the touching and tasting of ingredients as well as the mixing and squeezing and forming balls of dough can be so good for sensory issues, feeding issues AND it is a wonderful activity to pop some language.

4. If you are focusing on the religious part of Christmas you can bake baby Jesus a birthday cake, sing Happy Birthday and blow out the candles.

Creative Activities:

1. Making wrapping paper. Go to a newspaper company and buy an end roll of newsprint or use any other non printed paper and decorate it, let it dry and use it to wrap presents for friends and family.

• Finger paint with red and green or blue and white. Let your child explore the paint and model words like "go go go"(describing what your child is doing); "more paint" (requesting and commenting); "all done paint" (requesting and commenting); "up up up" (while describing what your child is doing), etc.
• Here's a more sensory based activity for wrapping paper. Put about a cup of sand in the bottom or a knee high nylon and make a knot above the ball of sand. Have your paper out on a plastic tablecloth on the floor to control mess. Have different colored paints in trays, let your child hold the nylon by the end, let them drop it in paint and then let them plop it on the paper. It makes a fireworks/star sort of shape and the heaviness of the sand in the nylon is a fun sensory activity.

2. Gifts for grandparents, aunts and uncles:

• This will involve painting your child's hand and if they don't like that sensation I would prepare their hands first by clapping; rubbing; giving firm "high fives" to get their hands ready for the paint. Paint with green paint and arrange in a circle on a piece of paper (creating a wreath), add some red berries by painting a fingertip red and dotting on the wreath. It comes out very pretty. You could do this with fabric paint and put it on a sweatshirt or bag too.
• You could vary how you arrange the hand prints and make a tree shape, starting with 5 or so hand prints on the bottom and doing less every row to end up with 1 print for the top of the tree. Once again you can "decorate" the tree with fingerprint ornaments/lights by painting the fingertips with different colors.
• Have your child make a fist and paint the bottom edge of the fist brown. Place in the middle of a piece of paper. Then paint both hands brown (do one hand at a time to decrease mess) and place the right hand to the top right of the fist and the left to the left side, on the top. This will make a reindeer, the fist being the face and the hand prints being the antlers. If it's Rudolph you can use a red fingerprint to make his nose. You add the eyes and any other features you feel are needed.
• Cut or the shape of a star and let your child squeeze glue and shake glitter on it. Yes, it may have to dry awhile but it will be so pretty hung somewhere in your house or as a special gift.

Book Ideas for the Holidays:

• Find books that have few words. Remember, don't "read" the book but explore the book with your child, commenting on what you are seeing and pointing fun things out. Follow your child's lead when they point or vocalize.
• Books with favorite characters are fun (Dora; Diego) but this is also a fantastic time to add new vocabulary. I mentioned some easy Christmas words but also talk about all the fun things (Rudolph; reindeer; Santa; cookies; Christmas tree; ornaments; lights; stockings; baby Jesus; cow, angel, star, sheep, etc.)
• Remember if you can find little figures of the actual things in the book, it will make the activity even more fun for your child.

I focused mostly on the Santa part of Christmas but if your beliefs are different I am sure that you are doing some special baking or celebrating different traditions of some sort and think of words and experiences that you can focus on during those activities; the foods that you use; the drinks you have, etc.

Enjoy this holiday time with your family. I wish you all a Happy Holiday time!!

Week 28 Why Is My Child Not Talking??

"Why doesn't my child talk? Why can't I understand what my child says? Why doesn't my child talk like his sister/cousin/neighbor?" This question is one that I am asked many times and today I am going to give you some reasons why a child might be delayed in starting to talk.

Let's first look at your child's health. There are many health issues that children experience that can interfere with the development of communication. One of the most important is if they have ear infections. Does your child have an occasional ear infection or do they have ear infections that seem to last forever and don't resolve after one round of antibiotics? When I hear that a child has had many ear infections and especially the ones that are hard to get rid of, that raises a red flag in my mind. Having ear infections can really interfere with learning language. I want you to take a minute and put a finger in each of your ears, wiggle them around and try to listen to the TV or someone talking to you. How well did you understand what was being heard? How well did you hear the individual sounds that were being produced? That is pretty much what it sounds like when you have ear infections or fluid in your ears!!! Now imagine that you are trying to learn language but for several months out of the year you are hearing the world through muffled ears.....not an easy job at all.

So, I need you to keep an eye on your child's ear health. Look for your child rubbing or pulling on their ears; or ears that are red; of course be aware if there is a fever; or if you notice that your child doesn't seem to respond as well as they normally do. Some children can have an ear infection or fluid in their ear and have no pain or indication that there is a problem. These are the ones that are tricky to catch. But if your child's language isn't progressing well it never hurts to have their ears checked for infections or fluid.

Since we are talking about ears, if you have your child's hearing evaluated be sure to go to an audiologist that specializes in working with children. They will be more fun for your child and are used to working with children so should be able to get good results.

Another thing to be aware of is the size of your child's tonsils and adenoids. Children with large tonsils and adenoids can have trouble with eating, sleeping, saying sounds, and breathing. Does your child have their mouth open alot? Do they snore? These are some signs of large tonsils and adenoids. If the tonsils and adenoids are large enough they can almost close off the back of the child's throat. The child then protects that area by eating small bites and may struggle with coordinating breathing and swallowing. This can effect how well sounds are produced as well as the quality of their voices. Large tonsils and adenoids can also interfere with a child's quality of sleep which then affects the child's whole day.

We already talked about oral motor skills affecting language so I'm not going to go over that again, but just remember that it is important that your child is moving their tongue all over their mouth and all over their lips, up and down and back and forth. They need to pucker; they need to lift their tongue up to the top of their mouths, inside and be able to wiggle it all around.

Sometimes I see a child that isn't talking yet and they are the youngest in a house of several or more children :) These children don't have a reason to use language, someone is always problem solving for them or talking for them. This can also happen in a house where the child is alone with mom and dad and they are anticipating the child's needs so they don't have to use their language.

And sometimes you have to look at what your child is very good at. Right at this moment, what does your child do best?? If they have just started walking or love the active, motor driven activities, they may not be interested in talking right now. They are focused on moving!!!! When a child learns to walk you often times will see language development slow down because they are so busy practicing walking and moving and are not practicing language. So look at the sister/cousins/neighbors that you are comparing your child to and see what your child does better than them. Is your child the one that can climb up anything? Is your child fantastic at fine motor activities like puzzles, play dough? Children develop at their own speed and so you normally see a difference in when different skills come in.

As always feel free to contact me with any comments or questions.

August

Hi Everyone,
I am going to be taking the month of August off...time to spend time with my family and do some travelling. I will be back posting in September.

Enjoy the rest of the summer.

Week 27 Communication and International Adoptions

Yes, I kind of switched gears today...not a summertime entry but an interesting one nonetheless :)

In our family, one of our children was born in Korea and joined our family at 5 1/2 months of age. Working in a birth to three environment I have worked with children born in many different countries and between work and my own family experience, there are some thoughts that I would like to share with you.

Once again, I put myself in the child's position when I think about interacting with a child. So, here is this child that is coming from a different country, a different culture. If the child is several months old, they were already familiar with their birth country.

1. Sounds: The baby/child is used to how the language of that country sounds. They are used to the music that might have played in the house and the sounds on the TV.

2. Smells: The baby/child is used to the smells of that country. They might be from cooking, they might be from soap, shampoo or cleaning supplies.

3. Routines: Some countries have everyone sleep on a big futon on the floor and sit, play and eat on the floor. Some families have all people share a bedroom.

4. Tastes: The baby/child is used to the formula and the water that it was mixed with. Babies in Russia drink tea from a cup. Other babies have tastes of food earlier than American babies do.

5. Touch: Based on the country the child is coming from will depend on if the child was swaddled or not. Maybe they were worn all day long in a sling sort of device. Or maybe they were not touched or held much. Some children are bathed often and some are oiled and bathed only occasionally.

And to top it all off, they are arriving in this country after a very long airplane ride!!! They arrive in a country where nothing sounds familiar, looks familiar (even the people), smell familiar, etc. WOW, what a hard experience for a baby or young child!!!

So what can we do to help this little person adjust? Think of how you would like to be treated after travelling many hours on a plane into a country that is foreign to you.

Remember when I chatted about sensory integration and issues?? Well this is where some of those things might help us.

Try to watch and see what soothes your child...does he like rocking or swaddling or certain music?

Try to let the child sleep when they are tired and slowly change that schedule to one that fits into your family better.

Don't change their food intake quickly if possible. Try to use the foods they are used to and slowly change it to what you would like them to eat and drink.

Try to limit the amount of new people and experiences they have at first. Let them get used to their new environment and the people in it before bombarding them with loving extended family and friends.

Try all the tricks that I have been sharing about language development. If you speak the language of the country that your child is from, then teaching them to speak both English and the other language. It might take them a bit longer to grasp the two languages but they will :)

If you have concerns about your child's development be sure to contact your local early intervention, or birth to three or Early Steps agency and ask for a developmental evaluation. They can give you lots of tips of how to help your child get to the next step. And if there is a delay they will provide educational specialists, occupational therapists, physical therapists and speech therapists.


And here is just something I really want people to think about before adopting from another country. Many parents go into an adoption thinking that with all the love they have they will be able to have a wonderful relationship with their child. Do your homework about the country you are adopting from and how they treat the children before you adopt them. Some children can be very deprived of touch and put in cribs for long periods of time. At times these children have trouble attaching to the families that love them and that is a very sad situation.

Obviously I totally believe in adopting children from other countries and it's one of the best things we ever did for our family. But we did lots of "homework" about all the different countries that were possible for us and decided on the one that worked best for us.

If anyone wants to chat more about this, just email me.

Week 26 Summer Treats

Let's chat about all the yummy foods and treats that we have during the summer time. Why???

Because we are going to look at the choices out there and see how they:

1. Will stimulate your child's oral area to produce clearer sounds.
2. Will stimulate your child's language development.
3. Will maybe even help your child try some new tastes and eat a wider variety of foods.

Before I go on: NEVER GIVE YOUR CHILD ANYTHING THAT YOU WOULD WORRY THAT THEY WOULD CHOKE ON. You know your child best and I am speaking to parents from infants to young children, so please use your best judgement before giving your child any of these suggestions.

So, it's summer, a time full of yummy foods and drinks. When you think of summertime and food what do you think of? Grilled food (chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs, ribs), salads, watermelon, popsicles, ice cream cones, corn on the cob, tomatoes, lots of garden veggies (I lived in the Midwest most of my life so I am basing my choices on our summers). I now live in Florida and so many of these choices are available year round...so think of what are your special foods during the summer time and add them to my list.

-Meat cooked on the grill. OK, I know that meat can be hard for children, especially if you have some low tone in your mouth. But what I want you to think of is the different tastes that grilled meat can give you. It's a more intense flavor from the grilling plus often times we add a marinade that intensifies the flavors. Plus, ribs can be cooked until they almost melt in your mouth so might work for the child that chewing is difficult. Hot dogs are yummy and can be diced up finely if need be. Add different toppings, pickle relish, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, salsa, horseradish!! Yes, I want you to make a party in your child's mouth. Often times parents think that young children cannot tolerate more intense flavors but you will be surprised once you play around with this. Some children crave those intense flavors and by letting them have them they will eat more quantity and different options.

-Encourage your child to "dip" their food into different flavors. This is a tricky way to get them to eat anything they don't like. By "dipping" it into a flavor they like they may eat more variety. They also may just lick off the dip, but that's OK too. So, think of all the different flavored salad dressings out there to use as a dip......now think of the actual dips (onion, ranch, salsa, guacamole, caramel).....now how about condiments that you can dip in (ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise) and of course I'm now going to push you out of your comfort level and think about other options like........yogurt, chocolate sauce, lemon juice, pickle juice, lemon curd, Nutella, peanut butter, jelly, pixie stick powder), yes, pretty much anything that will stick on food can be used as a dip.

OK, now take a breath and go with me on one more thought....(no I am not crazy, this really works!!!) Think of your child's favorite flavor and use that as the dip for anything else. Some examples: carrots dipped in chocolate sauce, apples dipped in salsa, chicken dipped in caramel sauce, are you seeing where I am going???? If you have a child that you would say is a "picky eater" then this tip is going to be the one for you. There is always one flavor that your child likes and by dipping new foods or foods we "don't like" into that food, they just might eat the food they didn't like. Do not make a face or comment how yucky that seems to you!! Your child will pick up on the fact that you think it's yucky and that will stop all new food exploration.

-Drinks and frozen treats: Experiment with flavor and thickness when it comes to drinks. Try different flavors of smoothies with all the fruit that is now in season and different sized straws. Try making very intense lemonade. Try tomato juice or spicy V-8. Popsicles are really just frozen juice, so play with those. There are popsicles that are very sour or extreme flavors, there are Italian ices that are sour. You can freeze applesauce in small dixie cups with a plastic spoon inside and you have made a healthy popsicle. Some kids don't like the texture of applesauce but will eat it when it's frozen. Freeze "Go Gurts" yogurt or just containers of yogurt...yum. Try eating frozen peas right from the bag, or frozen strawberries.

-Vegetables: There are children that will not eat vegetables but when the bean is picked from the garden in front of the child and just given to them to chew on or take bites, a magical thing might happen and they like them that way. Fresh picked fruit and vegetables taste sweeter and are warm and crunchy and very different from the foods that you get out of a can or from the freezer department. This is another time to try the dipping suggestion.

With all these suggestions try to include your child as much in the preparation as possible. Have the child help you make the smoothie and talk about it....there is your language opportunity. Have them pick which fruit or fruits to use; let them put the ingredients in the blender; let them push the button to make it "go"; "noisy"....so many words to model and opportunities for your child to imitate or use to request or comment.

Also, if you can eat these foods with your child, modelling how yummy you think they taste and modelling the language that your child can use, makes this a perfect activity for your child. If you are eating something they are much more apt that they will want to try it to.

If you are worried about your child choking there is an item in the stores that is like a little mesh bag with a handle that you can put food in and the child chews on the bag but no pieces get through the bag.

Relax and explore and enjoy this activity. I think I need to head for the kitchen, all this talk about food has made me hungry :)

Have a great week!!

Week 25 Toys to Help Your Child Communicate

HA!! The title to this post is a joke, there are no specific toys that will help your child talk. Many, many parents have asked me this question, especially around Christmas and birthday time, so I thought we will chat about toys today.

It seems that the family of a child with a language delay love to buy toys that "talk". Books that you push a button and it "talks"; "educational DVD's"; "educational" programs for your computer; dolls that talk; kitchen sets that talk.

Here is my secret, your child will develop communication with any toy that they love and especially if it's a toy that involves another person they love being with. So, it can be an empty box, an empty paper towel tube that you roll small cars through, a doll, a stuffed animal, a piece of string, ANYTHING can be a toy and can help your child communicate.

Here is my best example of this. I was meeting a child for the first time and they were a bit shy and mom and dad were worried that I wouldn't get anything out of the child. Here is what caught the child's interest....a piece of kleenex :) I threw the Kleenex up in the air and said "up"; I ripped off some small pieces of the kleenex and the child watched me blow them off the open palm of my hand, we made small balls from the kleenex and put them in a truck and drove them around; oh, and before we began ripping it up we were playing peek a boo with it. It wasn't the kleenex that kept the child engaged, it was the novel lady that used the fun voice and did all these crazy things with the kleenex and then invited the child to join in.

Now, I'm all for having toys in the house and buying toys and getting toys from grandparents. But I would suggest you stop worrying about the educational value behind a toy or if a toy will help your child talk. Instead I would look at a toy for all the joy that it will bring your child and your family.

One more thing about the "talking" and singing toys out there. If you listen, they are not modelling easy to repeat phrases for your child; they usually talk too fast; they can become annoying; and the batteries get expensive. If you need an electronic toy, buy them an electric toothbrush, it will stimulate their oral area, keep their teeth clean, help them explore new tastes and improve their communication :)

Have a great week!!

Week 24 Walks and Exploring the Outside

I just started a full time job so will be probably posting on the weekends and not Thursday's anymore :) Back to Early Intervention for me!!

Let's go on a walk and think about how we can build your child's communication skills at the same time. I'm going to go through a scenario as if I am walking with a child and try to share what I would say and do.

Still inside the house:

"Do you want to go outside?" (happy voice). How would your child take their turn? Nod their head; run to the door; say "yes, ya, outside or some variation of that?

"We need to find your shoes...shoes where are you?" (looking around the house or even standing right by the shoes and looking). What would your child's turn be? Pick up the shoes and hand them to you? Take a shoe and try to put it on their foot? Say "shoe?". "You found your shoes!" Take a shoe, child sits down on the floor. "Shoe on", singing "put your shoe on your foot, on your foot, put your shoe on your foot, on your foot, put your shoe on your foot, put your shoe on your foot, put your shoe on your foot, on your foot." And if your child wears socks you can change the song to "put your sock on your foot" and then a second song of "put your shoe on your sock".

Now, let's just think for a minute. You worry about not being able to squeeze time in your day to help your child communicate better. I bet the activity above took at least 5 minutes and you haven't even gotten out the door but your child has had the opportunity to label, to request, to expand his vocabulary; to try new words; to follow directions; etc. etc. WOW!!

Now to the door...of course I wouldn't open the door right away but I might pull on the knob and go "open!" and wait to see what my child would do for their turn. I would probably model "open door", or "oh no"; or "stuck" whatever felt right. After a couple turns back and forth with my child we would get that door open and out we would go.

Think of all the vocabulary you are exposed to on a walk, and all the senses that can be used. You are looking, you are listening, you are smelling, you are touching and yes, you might even be tasting. Each experience gives you a chance to build communication. Look around your neighborhood, or park or wherever you like to walk and think about what you might comment about. Trees, flowers, cars, bikes, kids, swings, sand, grass, clouds, sun, dog, leaves, worms, lizards. Descriptive words like hot, wet, cold, yucky, icky, muddy, dirty, warm, yummy, colors, fast, slow, up, down, in, out, under, over, etc. etc. Think of action words like jump, walk, swing, slide, go, stop, fly, beep beep, swim, wag, sniff, pet, touch, don't touch :), etc. etc.

I really want you to look at the things that you are already doing and then think about how you can incorporate the skills you have learned about waiting, commenting, less questions, building on what your child is saying, turn taking, etc. By looking at helping your child in this manner it's easy and effortless and fun and your child will get lots of opportunities during their day to become a more confident communicator.

Have a fun 4th of July, hmmmmm think of all the experiences your child will have this weekend. New foods and tastes (watermelon, lemonade, think intense flavors or trying new flavors); new vocabulary and experiences (parades; swimming; fireworks; extended family visiting) !!!!!