Category: Language and Learning Disorders

Gift Ideas to Encourage Speech & Language Development

December 10, 2016Early Language Delay, Language and Learning Disorders Leave a comment

We are fortunate in our line of work to have lots of playtime.   We love toys that don’t make all the noises and sounds.  The less the toy is talking, the more opportunities you and your child will have to use speech and language. Here are some of our favorites for foster speech and language development.

Mr. Potato Head is one of our favorites! Look for a Mr. Potato Head set with different colors and choices for shoes, hats, eyes, etc. Many Potato Head sets are interchangeable so you can always add more pieces and more opportunities for using describing words.

A play farm is a regular therapy item at our office.  It works great for everything from identifying/ labeling animals to forming sentences with action words, and even pretend play.

Playing kitchen is another great way to practice everything from vocabulary to more complex language skills.  You don’t need the whole kitchen either.  Some basic play food and dishes is all you need!

Books are the ultimate gift for speech and language.  In addition to reading the book, don’t forget to describe the pictures and ask questions about the story.

Although we don’t get to use this one around the office, a wagon is a great way to encourage speech and language skills.  Real life experience are the best way to encourage speech and language skills, so get outdoors and start talking!

Name that Tune

November 10, 2016Articulation, Early Language Delay, Language and Learning Disorders Leave a comment

Singing is a wonderful way to encourage language! Remember how you learned the alphabet?  I bet it would be hard to say the letters without humming the tune, “A, B, C, D…”. Language is processed on the left side of the brain, and music is processed on the right. Combining language and music is a great way to integrate both hemispheres of your child’s brain.  An added bonus is that songs are repetitive.  Therefore, children can predict which words will come next after they have heard the lyrics enough times. When singing to young children, add movements and hand gestures to the song which will encourages them to be engaged in the activity.  Some examples of favorite songs are “Itsy, Bitsy Spider”, “Wheels on the Bus”, “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”, and “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes”.  A great song for fall is “The Leaves Are Falling Down” sung to the tune of the “London Bridges Falling Down”.  Be creative and have fun!!!   We would love to hear your stories about the magic of music.fall-leaves

November is the start of our Coats for Kids drive.  Please bring any donations you have to the clinic.  We appreciate your generosity!

Almost Halloween

October 13, 2016Articulation, Early Language Delay, Early Literacy Issues, Language and Learning Disorders, Social Language Skills Leave a comment

witchWell, it’s almost Halloween folks. We are starting a list of proposed costumes from our friends. So far we have some super heroes, zombies, ninjas (human and turtles), some food items (hot dog, pizza and toast…), a “winter cat fairy” and ” a guy with fluffy feet and a raccoon friend.” We even have one special friend who plans to be Peggy Schuyler from the hit Broadway show “Hamilton.” Wow. We can’t wait to see photos. No doubt this list will get expanded as it gets closer to the big day. We love to use seasonal topics to address all areas of concern. Incorporating games and activities that are seasonal gives us an opportunity to expand vocabulary, generate and sequence personal narratives and new words for practicing articulation errors. We welcome any suggestions parents may have for incorporating their family’s own traditions for Halloween and any of the upcoming holidays.super-hero

 

A Fresh Start

September 27, 2016Articulation, Central Auditory Processing, Early Language Delay, Early Literacy Issues, Hearing Impairment, Language and Learning Disorders, Oral Motor Impairments, Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Social Language Skills, Tongue Thrust/Swallowing, , Leave a comment

Sharpener [Converted]

Welcome to the newly redesigned Austin Area Speech & Language website! We hope that you find the information useful and that it is presented in a way that makes sense but doesn’t overwhelm with facts and figures. We have designed the site to be easily navigated and fun to look at. We will do our best to stay current with the blog and the AASLS therapists will alternate writing the posts on a monthly basis so each therapist’s different perspective and area of interest will be highlighted. As always, please contact us if you have any questions, concerns or comments about what is written in the blog section of our site. We always welcome feedback including “likes” on our Facebook page and reviews on Yelp. Our fancy web designer has included direct links to Facebook and Yelp at the bottom of each page. (Who knew that little rocket logo was a direct link to Yelp? Not us. ) We have been careful to edit and fix things as they have come up in the design process but please let us know if anything doesn’t work or takes you to some dead end. The last thing we want is to frustrate anyone seeking help, advice, information, etc.

Best, Susanne