When people find out I’m a speech therapist, one of the first things they ask about is the ages of my patients. Most people are surprised to learn that speech therapists work with people of all ages, including babies and the elderly. People specifically ask about working with babies and toddlers, incorrectly assuming they are too young…
During the last four months (and counting!) of no school, opportunities for handwriting practice in the classroom disappeared. Virtual learning became the norm and will continue to be for many children, so it’s easy to neglect the essential skill of handwriting. Children need to continue handwriting practice so they don’t lose any progress they may…
If you’ve ever seen a child wearing headphones at a therapy clinic, there’s a good chance they were using a “listening program” as part of their therapy treatment. Listening programs, such as Integrated Listening System (iLs), are used to re-train the brain and enhance neuroplasticity. This treatment method is used to increase brain functioning and…
Although many “official” fireworks displays have been canceled for 2020, some remain. It’s hard to give up a tradition that’s long been associated with a national holiday, so even if your favorite show has been canceled, some families may choose to host their own neighborhood fireworks show at home this year. Fireworks can be an…
Looking for free, fun, and educational entertainment this summer? Paper Trail Designs has many free “I Spy” printables that can be used to work on your child’s speech and language goals, while also channeling your child’s inner creativity. Many of us are familiar with the traditional guessing game “I Spy” played as a car game (“I…
Kid’s Creek began offering teletherapy to OT and speech patients back in early 2019. Little did we know that just over a year later, a new virus called COVID-19 would push teletherapy to the forefront, and would allow us to begin offering teletherapy to PT patients, as well. Most insurance plans currently cover teletherapy, which…
In the first week that our clinic was closed, I conducted more teletherapy sessions than I have in my entire career. Although Kid’s Creek introduced teletherapy as an option over a year ago, most of my clients still came to the office, so providing teletherapy was a big adjustment for me. Sometimes novel ways of…
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, we have temporarily closed our clinic doors for our typical face-to-face therapy sessions, but Kid’s Creek has been offering teletherapy since early 2019.
Autism, sensory processing disorder, migraine, and fibromyalgia are among a number conditions which can cause sensory sensitivity to noise in both adults and children, and in these cases, ear protection can help the user better cope.
Should children with language and/or developmental disorders be exposed to learning multiple languages?
Early developmental skills are like building a house. The foundation needs to be poured before the framing for the walls goes up, and the first-floor structure must be built before you can add a second floor. Also just like a house, not everything will go perfectly.
Using “therapist eyes,” we see the many ways toys can target the skills children are working on in therapy.
Crafts enable children to be creative and gain a sense of achievement, while also working on important speech, language, and motor skills. Incorporate skills learned in therapy using this Paper Jack O’ Lantern craft idea.
There are lots of great ways to incorporate working on speech and language skills all while enjoying the great outdoors during the fall months.
Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to continue to form new pathways throughout our lives. One way to retrain the brain is through listening therapy.
Would you believe 80% of people with sensory processing difficulties have anxiety? It’s not uncommon for children to be diagnosed with anxiety disorder, only to have their parents wonder why the medication they were prescribed doesn’t seem to help. Not all children with anxiety have sensory issues, of course. But it is nearly impossible to…
Cooking can be a fun, family bonding activity, as well as an opportunity to practice important speech and language skills. Plus, you get rewarded with a tasty treat in the end! What could be better?
Summer brings some great opportunities to work on speech and language skills. The following are some simple, fun (and maybe slightly messy) ideas to make speech and language exciting for kids.
People with sensory issues do not have efficient pathways to absorb, process, and then generate an appropriate response based on the information they received from the environment. As a result, they may have to absorb, process, and generate a response for one system at a time instead of all of the senses at once.
Babies possess a unique set of reflexes – known as primitive reflexes – that gradually are replaced by higher level reflexes. If these reflexes persist, they are called retained primitive reflexes.
When you read books to a young child, it encourages bonding, may calm your child, and promotes communication and longer attention span. Young children who are exposed to reading early often love learning and do well in school later. Books can also help children make sense of new and unfamiliar situations.
Many parents have concerns about, and spend hours battling with their children over, screen time – and for good reason.
My relationship with my autistic brother is a challenge, but I’ve learned so much from him, and I’m eager to watch his life transform.
Spring is here and now is a great time to take your kids outside. Outdoor activities encourage your child to take risks, solve problems, and explore independently, and promote sensory, social, cognitive, and motor challenges.
Is grocery shopping with your child a challenge? With so many products competing for the shopper’s attention, the grocery store is a full-on assault of color, noise, and confusion. It can be a challenge for kids with sensory issues to navigate this environment. In recent years, grocery pickup and delivery have become available, and for…
What Exactly IS Stimming? An easy way to understand stimming is as an action that people use in order to either make themselves have more energy or to calm down. The more accurate explanation is that the connections in our brain work best when we are able to organize the information sent from our environment…
Have you heard about teletherapy? Teletherapy is simply therapy, over the internet, through a live video connection. The treatment is very similar to what a child receives in person; it’s just done using a computer. If you’ve ever used FaceTime or Skype you’ve used the same type of technology that teletherapy uses. Teletherapy can be used with…
Play-dough has been around for ages and is a near-universal childhood toy. As an adult, even I love to knead and roll the stuff! But as much fun as play-dough is, it’s also a great choice for kids with delays and disabilities. Following are a few ways play-dough can help kids with special needs: Stress…
At the end of each session, your child’s speech-language pathologist (SLP) recommends take-home activities for you to complete before your next session. You’re probably thinking, “Sure, let me get right on that after I prepare multiple meals for my entire family, bathe the children, get the children ready for bed, tackle household chores, prepare for…
A few weeks ago, I shared some guidelines for how to recognize if your baby may benefit from occupational therapy, and in that post I explained that a person’s “occupation” doesn’t have anything to do with a job (at least not in the therapy sense), but actually encompasses what a person needs or wants to do…
With Thanksgiving in the rearview mirror, it’s full steam ahead for the Christmas season. Our routines change, activity ramps up, and often our children are exposed to new and unfamiliar people, places, smells, tastes, and experiences. Some kids love the excitement of the holidays, but for others it can be stressful (heck, it’s stressful for…
When most people hear the word “occupation” they think of jobs or other activities that adults engage in, but actually occupation is defined as what a person needs or wants to do that is appropriate for his or her age or life stage. Occupational therapy (OT) can help people reach their maximum independence level for all…
Does your child use an AAC or communication device? Halloween is a popular holiday for many children, and there’s no reason why kids with AAC devices can’t participate fully in the fun! First, you’ll want to program some key Halloween words and phrases into the AAC device. Some devices actually come programmed with a Halloween…
Many parents whose children skip the crawling phase believe that their children are not only developing typically but are actually advanced. When parents report that their child has skipped crawling, the pediatrician may (or may not) indicate that it’s an issue. So is it important for a child to crawl? The short answer is yes,…
“Why does my child often seem disorganized? I told him the same thing five times and he still did not remember! He has trouble planning and checking his work…It is difficult for him to switch from one activity to another or one thought to another. It is even difficult for my child to get started…
We all know how frustrating it feels to try to communicate with someone who is not paying attention. We have something important to say, but our conversation partner is checking her phone, looking everywhere but us, and when we ask a question, the response is “Huh?” None (or very little) of the information we were…
Kid’s Creek Therapy recently hosted the LAMP conference, an event where SLPs, OTs, teachers, paraprofessionals, ABA therapists, and parents gathered to learn more about the LAMP approach to augmentative alternative communication (AAC). All of our SLPs, in addition to one of our OTs, attended the conference and were trained on the LAMP principles. In today’s…
Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are known by many different titles. The most common are speech therapist, SLP, or speech teacher. Many specialties encompass the field (language, articulation, fluency, voice, swallowing, pediatrics, geriatrics, aphasia) and within each specialty there are more areas of focus related to work environments or diagnoses. Speech-language pathology is a career which offers…
Did you know that 11% of children ages 3–6 have a speech, language, voice, or swallowing disorder and almost 15% of school-age children experience some degree of hearing loss? Communication disorders are among the most common disabilities in children nationwide. May is Better Hearing & Speech Month – a perfect time to help families learn…
Many people equate the word “occupation” with a 9-to-5 job, clocking in and out, putting food on the table and a roof over their family’s heads, so sometimes people are confused when we say that their child could benefit from occupational therapy! No matter where we are in the lifespan, from infancy to older adulthood, we…
It may sometimes seem like a difficult task to think of language activities to play with your child, but it doesn’t have to be! You can use everyday moments and activities to encourage language and communication skills and also incorporate quick and easy language games into your everyday life. Setting aside time in your days…
The term “oral motor skills” refers to the function and use of the lips, tongue, cheeks, jaw, and hard and soft palates in swallowing and in speaking. Oral motor development actually begins in utero and continues for the first several years of a child’s life. Sometimes, children show weaknesses in oral motor skills which can…
Although it doesn’t feel that way for most of us, speaking with someone else is a complex activity. You have to be able to listen, interpret, and decide on a response, and then your brain coordinates what muscles need to move to say the sounds required to form the words. It is a lot of…
Many of my clients have great attendance to occupational therapy. I will see them for either one or two sessions per week, depending on their needs. Since occupational therapy is a client-centered profession, each session is individually tailored with two things in mind: first, the client’s immediate needs (such as their current sensory processing ability);…
Disorders of the muscles of the face and mouth in children can cause issues with breastfeeding, facial skeletal growth and development, chewing, swallowing, speech, breathing, sleep, dental alignment, oral hygiene, and even social interactions (due to open mouth breathing, drooling, and/or holding the tongue out of the mouth). Myofunctional therapy (also known as orofacial myology)…
Remember the story of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer? As a child I used to love watching the movie—the one where Burl Ives, starring as Sam the Snowman, narrates Rudolph’s journey to the Island of Misfit Toys and back—but I always remember wishing the other reindeer would just let Rudolph join in their games. My…
A few months ago, my children and I were visiting my mom for a few days. The daughter of my mom’s best friend (I’ll call her J) had just moved back to our hometown with her daughter, so my mom invited them all over for lunch. J and I have known each other since we…
A friend of mine approached me recently, concerned because her 5-year-old son’s teacher had suggested he needed to be evaluated by a psychiatrist for ADHD. The teacher colorfully described him as “inattentive” and “highly distractible” but “very smart.” Knowing that I work in pediatrics, my friend was desperate for a second opinion. I knew some…
A lone parent stands in the grocery store, her child kicking, screaming, biting, shouting, and turning into someone she barely recognizes. “All this over candy?” she thinks. “Is this because of his special needs?” she wonders. Other parents and bystanders appear to be staring in judgement as she gazes in horror and debates what to…
We all know how a good (or bad) night of sleep can make or break everything we do the next day – and even for days to come. Sleep allows our brains and bodies a chance to recharge and to be ready for the activities of the day ahead. Insufficient sleep can affect attention, cognition,…
When assessing a child who has a potential language delay, therapists consider several factors. How many words is the child using? Does he understand different types of directions? Is he using words purposefully or functionally? For a child who is typically developing, these skills are often easy to obtain and develop without conscious effort. However,…
Starting out in the field of pediatrics, I was incredibly fortunate to work with and learn from a phenomenal Physical Therapist, Pamela Hansford. Through many years of practical experience, she developed a theoretical explanation of how apparently “minor problems” may have a significant effect on a child’s life. Even the most subtle degree of postural…
Recently, we featured a four-part series on feeding issues in children. We thought it might be helpful for some of our parents to hear from one of our patients (now an adult) who has faced this kind of struggle with food. In today’s guest post, an eighteen year old young lady and Kid’s Creek patient…
This summer, we’re publishing a series of blog posts with a focus on issues related to feeding – how to know what’s normal for your infant and toddler or when to seek help. This week’s installment focuses on picky eaters. Our earlier covered bottle and breast feeding troubles, reflux and spoon feeding, and pacifiers and sippy cups.…
This summer, we’re publishing a series of blog posts with a focus on issues related to feeding – how to know what’s normal for your infant and toddler or when to seek help. This week’s installment focuses on pacifiers and sippy cups. Our two earlier posts were on bottle and breast feeding troubles and reflux…
For the next few weeks, we’ll be publishing a series of blog posts with a focus on issues related to feeding – how to know what’s normal for your infant and toddler or when to seek help. This week’s installment focuses on reflux and spoon feeding. Last week’s post was on bottle and breast feeding…
For the next few weeks, we’ll be publishing a series of blog posts with a focus on issues related to feeding – how to know what’s normal for your infant and toddler or when to seek help. This week’s installment focuses on bottle and breast feeding. Future posts will discuss reflux and spoon feeding readiness,…
The author of today’s post, Dr. Frederica Kennedy, will be joining our staff later this month as a pediatric occupational therapist. Dr. Kennedy has 17 years of experience, specializing in pediatrics, with particular emphasis in the areas of autism, developmental disabilities and sensory processing disorders. She has treated all ages of pediatric patients in hospital, outpatient,…
Today, we share with you a post provided by a Kid’s Creek parent; we hope that the suggestions she provides will be helpful to other parents. Out of respect for the child’s privacy we are withholding the author’s name. I still remember the first time it happened. It was in the second semester of first…
An augmentative alternative communication (AAC) device can be anything that is used to help a person communicate; it can be as simple as a communication board or book or as high-tech as a speech-generating device (SGD). These communication systems are meant to help children or adults who have difficulty communicating verbally. A few weeks ago, Jessie…
As a speech therapist, I’ve found that I can connect with some children right away. These children want to please me and work really hard – maybe we even make some progress in that first session! These sessions make me feel like I am the best speech therapist that has ever existed. This has happened to me…
Childhood apraxia of speech is a motor speech disorder – the child knows what he or she wants to say, but the brain is unable to move the body parts needed to say the sounds, syllables, and words needed for speech. This Sunday, May 14, is Apraxia Awareness Day, so we asked one of our Kid’s…
As summer quickly approaches, I know everyone is looking for fun and easy ways to keep your kids occupied. Today we’re sharing a few quick and simple ideas for sensory play disguised as fun! Slimy Rainbow Spaghetti Visit Laughing Kids Learn for details on how to make rainbow spaghetti for play, as well as some great ideas for how…
For most people, the ability to talk is taken for granted. Unless you have struggled with speech yourself or have a family member who has struggled with it, you don’t necessarily understand the hardship involved. When a person can’t communicate in a way others understand, there is frustration… on both ends. If a mode of communication is never…
Not only is April Occupational Therapy Month, but 2017 is occupational therapy’s 100th birthday! Today, Kid’s Creek OT Claire Whatley shares a brief history of occupational therapy, how OT is used to treat children, and some information about a little-known aspect (her favorite!) of OT. A Brief History of Occupational Therapy (OT) Many people believe…
On Tuesday, we shared with you a blog written by Kid’s Creek Therapy alum Daniel Harper, a college student who has autism, as part of National Autism Awareness Month. Today, we share some thoughts from his parents, Doug and Jane Harper, about what it was like parenting Daniel. If you missed Daniel’s post, you can…
April is National Autism Awareness Month! Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) now affects one in every 68 children in the US, and activities this month promote autism awareness, inclusion and self-determination for all. This week we welcome Daniel Harper, an “alum” of Kid’s Creek – now an adult and a college student! Daniel has Asperger’s Syndrome, a form…
As many of you probably remember, last summer I went to China with Operation Smile. In January, I had the opportunity to travel across the world again….this time to the Philippines. This time, I went with the International Children’s Surgical Foundation (ICSF), which was a much smaller group, though no less effective. Two other therapists and I spent…
Last weekend, I stopped at my local grocery store to buy some needed items for dinner. As I was checking out, I noticed a boy crying in a grocery cart. He appeared quite upset as he screamed and hit the cart with his hands. As I finished my shopping and headed home, I thought about…
I talk about milestones on a near-daily basis with my patients and their families, but I’m also watching out for early milestones with my own son who was born in August – especially since he was born prematurely. As a parent, we hear a lot about early milestones from so many sources—our pediatrician, grandparents, friends,…
While eating is second nature to most of us and our biggest concern regarding food is when/what we will eat next, it is not that straightforward for many kiddos. The act of eating involves many different components that go unnoticed by most of us – things like the surrounding environment, what the plate looks like,…
Around this time of year, I get a lot of parents who ask “what kind of gift is best for my child?” Being a occupational therapist with a passion for children, I always try to give a gift that is both educational and engaging. Here are my top four picks for gifts, based on age group:…
Cue the music: It’s the most wonderful time of the year! But for some families with special needs children, the holidays can bring anxiety and uncertainty, especially when confronted with large family gatherings either at home or away from home in new environments. Questions arise, like: How am I going to keep her busy for…
Recently, I shared how you can turn almost any game you have at home into a language game, often without your child even realizing what you’re doing! The example I provided used the game “Pop the Pig” and I thought it would be helpful to actually show you via video what this looks like. Click the video…
Why isn’t my child talking? Although you may think this question is only for a speech therapist, occupational therapy may provide some answers, as well. I frequently notice a child start to babble and talk more as I work with them in the gym and on the swings. Why does this happen? Occupational therapists help children find their optimal…
Often, parents ask me about the best games to develop language. I have my favorites, of course, but the truth is most any game can be turned into a language game – the best part about using games you already have at home is that your child may not even realize what you’ve done! “Pop the Pig” is one of my…
New situations can cause anxiety for some children, causing them to behave inappropriately. Many parents have asked me for help because their child wouldn’t stay buckled in the car, would behave appropriately in a store, or struggled at a birthday party. One of the first things I suggest in these cases is a social story. A social story…
Why isn’t my child talking? I get asked this question a lot as a speech therapist. Sometimes the answer is easy and sometimes the answer is complex. Some children have language delays which impede their ability to talk, but other children have the ability to communicate but don’t or won’t do so. Sometimes the actions…
When children come to see me for speech therapy, it’s pretty common for me to ask, “What did you do today?” Although the responses vary, this summer (when school was out) many of them responded, “watched TV” or “played video games”. It’s no secret that electronic devices have become immensely popular over the last decade and…
We celebrated Superheroes Week at Kid’s Creek earlier this month! Watch this video for some great highlights from Kids’ Creek Superhero Week 2016!
I used to be a little jealous of physical and occupational therapists. If you can’t get a patient to move her arm, you can move it for her. If you can’t get a patient to hold a pencil correctly, you can move her fingers into the correct grasp. Even if a patient is unable (or unwilling) to cooperate, you…
As I send my youngest child, Adam, off to college, I remember my first days as a pediatric occupational therapist when he was one and barely walking. I spent those early years learning how to treat young children, watching my son obtain milestones that other children struggled to achieve. Now as a “seasoned” therapist, I have the…
Kid’s Creek has partnered with our local Johns Creek Kroger store to help promote community integration with our teens. The Leaders in Training experience promotes real life engagements in a safe and controlled environment. Three teenagers from the Kid’s Creek family recently completed the week long program. Every day they learned something new. Their final task was…
There are many things to love about traveling to another country. Learning about different cultures is very exciting, because there is always something new to discover. Yet, what I like more is identifying the similarities – it is always fascinating to find out about what makes us the same across different cultures. I recently had…
What comes to mind when you hear the phrase “speech therapy”? Many people think first of children who stutter or mispronounce words (like when “sister” becomes “thith-ter”), and may imagine that speech therapy involves hours and hours of word repetition until they get it “right” and graduate. But in truth, speech therapy is much more.…
Things I love about my profession include getting to hear a child’s first word, seeing the “light bulb moment” when a child has figured out how to do something that was really difficult for them, or being able to dismiss a child because they have mastered all goals (even though it makes me sad at the same time). These are…
A version of this post by Melanie McGriff originally ran on the Kid’s Creek blog back in 2013. There was a single moment when I “fell in love” with being a therapist. I was in college, working with my very first patient. He was two years old and had very few words. I had been given family pictures to…
Do you have a picky eater (or problem feeder)? Does thinking about sitting around the Thanksgiving table with family stress you out due to your child’s food choices? Do you wish that family and friends better understood your child’s individual needs related to their struggles with food? Well, I’m right there with you! For all the…
Have you ever gotten a “crick” in your neck (or back)? If you have, then you probably noticed that though the pain and restricted movement may have been specific to one small area, it affected your body in other ways. – you may have walked differently or been more careful about turning your body. When…
Have you ever seen children wearing headphones in a therapy clinic? Did you wonder what they were doing? There’s a good chance they were using a “listening” (or “sound”) program as part of their occupational therapy. Listening programs are used in treating autism, addressing sensory, learning, and attention deficiencies, and optimizing performance. What is a “listening program?”…
One of the most common questions I hear from parents is “How do I respond to my child that stutters?” Many parents worry that if they attract attention to their child’s stutter it may get worse. Let me put your mind at ease: stuttering is neurologically based and does not develop from an outside influence, so you…
Do you ever feel like there is a missing piece in your child’s language development, especially in the areas of reading and listening comprehension? Have you been unable to find the key to unlock the mystery of why he continues to experience difficulty despite therapy, extra help, and tutoring? If so, then keep reading –…
Several years ago, I attended a continuing education program to give me more insight into treating children with a very limited diet. It totally changed my perspective on treating the “picky eater”. The Sequential Oral Sensory (SOS) treatment method uses a systematic desensitization approach to address the feeding/eating skills of a child, and it takes the family into account, as well.…
You’ve received a referral from your doctor, filled out all the forms, and scheduled your first appointment at the therapy office. Everything’s all set, but you may be a little nervous because you don’t know exactly what to expect. You’ve probably seen adults receiving therapy in movies, but a little voice inside your head wonders…
You’ve received a referral from your doctor, filled out all the forms, and scheduled your first appointment at the therapy office. Everything’s all set, but you may be a little nervous because you don’t know exactly what to expect. You’ve probably seen adults receiving therapy in movies, but a little voice inside your head wonders how…
You’ve received a referral from your doctor, filled out all the forms, and scheduled your first appointment at the therapy office. Everything’s all set, but you may be a little nervous because you don’t know exactly what to expect. You’ve probably seen adults receiving therapy in movies – you may have even done it yourself…
Can you believe it’s almost time for school to start? With the first day looming, we thought it would be a good time to discuss concerns physical therapists have about school backpacks. Every day, children use backpacks to carry books and supplies back and forth from school and between classes. Many children carry very heavy packs,…
If you have a young child, you almost certainly have seen developmental charts in books or on the internet – you may have even spent a great deal of time comparing their recommendations to your child’s abilities. These charts detail expected speech and language milestones, gross motor milestones, fine motor milestones, feeding milestones, and so many others to…
Although many “official” fireworks displays have been canceled for 2020, some remain. It’s hard to give up a tradition that’s long been associated with a national holiday, so even if your favorite show has been canceled, some families may choose to host their own neighborhood fireworks show at home this year. Fireworks can be an…
Often, parents want to know what the difference is between occupational therapy and physical therapy. Should your child see an OT, a PT, or both, and if so, why? I’m here today to help clarify how they are similar, but more importantly, how they are different! It can seem confusing at times, because the roles…
Now that school’s out for the summer for most children in our area, opportunities for handwriting practice in the classroom are on hiatus, but don’t let the more laid back days of summer lead to an absence of practicing handwriting skills. As with most skills, practice makes perfect, so be sure children continue writing during the summer…
Has your dentist or orthodontist mentioned that your child or teen might have a “tongue thrust?” Has your child been in speech therapy for some time with little gains toward increasing ability to make new sounds/words or increase intelligibility of speech? Does your child produce a lot of speech sounds with their tongue too far…
The benefits of most of the tools that physical therapists use are easy to see. It’s obvious that stretching and strengthening exercises are intended to, well, stretch and strengthen a child’s muscles, and it’s often easy to see an immediate positive change in a child’s ambulation when he gets a new pair of ankle-foot orthotics…
First of all, take a deep breath. You are not alone! In fact, approximately five percent of all children have been noted to experience periods of stuttering and in the United States, over three million Americans stutter. Many well-known personalities such as Emily Blunt, John Stossel, Winston Churchill, Marilyn Monroe, and King George VI have all experienced stuttering in their…
Springtime has arrived, which means more opportunities to get outside and enjoy what our world has to offer: dirt, mud, water, grass, leaves, trees, vines, mountains, hills, beaches, rocks, sticks, worms, insects, and endless other forms of life and experience. For some children, this is exciting news, and they can’t wait to hit the ground…
Is your family affected by autism? Are you often rushing your child with autism from school, back home, and then off to therapies that are costing you monumental amounts of money per year? Do you feel inundated with information from school, speech, occupational Therapy, ABA therapy, hippotherapy, doctors, and many others, all giving you advice on what to…
When the original Nintendo Wii was released just over eight years ago, it revolutionized gaming as the first motion-control gaming console on the market. A few years later, Microsoft released its own motion-control gaming device for Xbox 360, Kinect. Both the Wii and Kinect detect player movement and incorporate it into the game, albeit in…
Most people think of sign language as a method of communication for people who are deaf, but sign language for hearing children has become quite popular, especially among parents of children with special needs, such as Down syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy, and other conditions which are often accompanied by speech delay. Some parents are wary,…
We all have known at least one kid – and sometimes that kid was us! – who was a picky eater: the one who insists on chicken fingers instead of a hamburger, or who loves fruit but won’t touch a vegetable. Maybe you’ve got a picky eater on your hands and when you asked advice of…
I’m taking a few days off this week, keeping my two-year old granddaughter occupied while her mom and newborn sister try to rest and dad’s at work. Being with my newborn granddaughter has gotten me to thinking about the babies I see at Kid’s Creek Therapy, some of whom I treat for infant torticollis. In today’s post I’m sharing…
Our philosophy here at Kid’s Creek Therapy is that parents and patients will find compassion, direction and be treated like family. One way we do that is to provide tips and ideas which are both fun for your child and support his or her therapy goals. Following are ideas for seven DIY speech therapy activities we love that…
The following post was originally posted on Jake’s Journey. We have been given permission to repost it here in its entirety. Wondering how to pick just the right toy for your little one? Allow me to share some of my favorites as well as give you some insight into my thought process regarding choosing therapy…
Recently, during the course of a physical therapy session, I asked the patient’s mom how they spend their day at home with baby. She told me that he has started doing more “tummy time,” which most pediatricians highly recommend for development. She also told me how much he loves his “exersaucer” and spends a lot of time…
While doing your holiday shopping, have you ever wondered what toys your speech therapist would recommend? Hmmm…maybe not. But with just a little bit of forethought, Santa and his elves can be sure to deliver toys that are both fun and therapeutic for children with speech delay. First, let’s talk about electronics, particularly tablets. I…
What Is Normal? Speech and Language Milestones from 18 months through 5 years old As a parent of a toddler, I am constantly amazed at the things my son understands and how his speech is developing. I find myself saying, “Wow! I didn’t know he knew that!” This may or may not have ANYTHING to…
Wow! I have to say I was quite impressed with my first experience of CASANA’s 10th Annual National Conference on Childhood Apraxia of Speech in Nashville, TN recently. What a delightful mix of parent- and professional-friendly sessions! All aspects of the conference were timely and organized, and the organizers/presenters exemplified heartfelt service with a desire…
“She broke her toe when she got up from W-sitting on the floor while she was reading a book!” That was the opener as a mom and her daughter came in for a scheduled physical therapy session. What is W-sitting, what’s wrong with W-sitting, and what to do about it? Let’s start with what is…
As a speech therapist, there was a moment when I “fell in love” with being a therapist. I was in college and was working with my very first patient. He was two years old, but had very few words. I had been given family pictures to work with, so along with other words I worked…
Our Food Explorers program integrates sensory, motor, oral, behavioral/learning, medical and nutritional factors and approaches in order to comprehensively evaluate and manage children with feeding/growth problems. It is based on, and grounded philosophically in, the “normal” developmental steps, stages and skills of feeding found in typically developing children. The treatment component of the program utilizes…