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Articulation/Phonology
Asperger Syndrome
Autism Spectrum Disorders
Cerebral Palsy
Down Syndrome
Dyspraxia
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Language Delay
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20 Responses to “Ask a question”
General question: How many hours of speech therapy has your child received this year?
By Jeanie on Nov 22, 2007
General Question: What is meant by sensory integration?
By Robert on Nov 30, 2007
What is the best way to teach a child with High functioning autism or Aspergers NOT to comment on certain characteristics about another person. When mixing with groups of mixed special needs such as at Special Olympics; my friend’s son is inclined to comment loudly on aspects of the other children’s disability. He has a loud voice and his poor mother is mortified and fears it causes genuine distress to the parents of kids with physical disabilities with distinct facial characteristics. I sympathise with her as my kids classic autism makes them pretty well oblivious to anyone who isn’t going to do something for them. But I also empathise with her son as I too have that tendency to want to point out the guy with the toupee, or a girl with badly applied fake tan, which is an elephant in the room as far as my perception is concerned.
My husband taught me to tap my nose when I see something I feeled compelled to comment on, so I can acknowledge that I am noticing this but not cause offence to the party or their loved ones. But I feel fit to burst, like that episode of Seinfeld where Elaine is supposed to be visiting an elderly lady with a goitre and is doing her best not to notice it.
Are there any succesful techniques used by parents or therapists out there?
xx
By hammie on Dec 6, 2007
Autism and Sensory Integration
A concerned friend has asked me what to do about stimming. They agree with my post “S is for Stim” that the child should be allowed to do a certain amount of it but want to help replace the stims with something more appropriate that serves the same sensory need.
They have sought an O.T.s opinion but need more “user friendly” help from a good communicator like your goodself Jenny. To be honest I found the report a little overwhelmingly long, and full of generalisations that did not seem to suit the local/home environment.
This friend wants to know what 3 things they could be doing right now to help help their child.
The child goes through patches of stimming, it can get worse when they have a cold or infection.
Do you think kids stim more than usual when ill?
And Have you or your collegues any suggestions for replacing hand flapping, finger flicking, spinning and seeking deep pressure sensations (constant climbing etc) with something that does the same thing but is more appropriate?
Many Thanks Hammie
http://hammie-hammiesays.blogspot.com/2008/02/s-is-for-stim.html
By hammie on Mar 15, 2008
How do you explain the concept “pretend” to kids with language delay? They can take things literally and not be able to tell (visually or spatially) when something is real, or pretend.
Dressing up as a superhero wouldn’t give the right message - how would you teach the difference between “real” and “pretend”?
Many thanks
Caroline
By Caroline Carswell on Aug 12, 2008
Hi Caroline,
Sorry for the late response, I only just saw your question.
I suppose it would really depend on the age of the child- as with any other language concepts (big/small, first/last, hot/cold etc) the concept of pretend versus real develops at its own pace in typically developing children. I certainly wouldn’t expect any child under four to understand these concepts as they can be quite a difficult one to grasp, even for children without any language delay. Having said that, if the child is older than four (and there are no co-occurring learning disabilities which may also have their own impact), I would say make the concepts as concrete as possible- you could try sorting toys and real objects into “pretend” and “real” piles, e.g. a small plastic doll’s teapot and a real teapot, a pretend box of cornflakes and a real one, you could draw comparisons between a dollhouse and the house you (or the child) lives in. Try focusing on the more concrete items first before moving on to the more abstract concepts like superheroes. You could also introduce the concepts in daily routines, e.g. “Now we’re pretending to have dinner” (as you play with a toy tea-set or even no toys at all) and “Now we’re having our real dinner” (as you sit down at the dinner table).
Hopefully that goes some way towards answering your question!
Anna
By Anna on Sep 2, 2008
Hello,
My son is turning 7 years old he is in 2nd grade. He is smart but has alot of energy. The teacher told me in 1 st grade the his reading was very good but that they were keeping him at a lower level due to understanding of what he read. He also had some trouble following directions. So i deceided to ask to school district for eval of auditory lang and processing. He tested within normal range. The speech therapist advised me that he could benefit from some pragmatic language skills. So at my meeting I fought and they gave me speech in a group 1x a week. Here’s my problem my son always spoke beautiful no articualtion problems never. The group they placed my son in has 2 other boys and 1 girl with all articulation problems, no pragmatic issues. What is my son going to get from this group??? I feel it is waste on time if he is not with other children to work on his issues. How is he going to benefit from this??? I also advised the school district that the right fit of kids is just as important as the services other wise it is a waste of time before he was placed in that group. They also had to let go a speech teacher so this teacher I believe is from the high school picking up the slack of the extra kids. I am really unhappy about the situation I know all of the 3 other kids in his group and there problems are articulation!!! Help explain to me if articulation children should be placed with pragmatic speech kids and why????? Very confused Thanks in advance for help you may advise Regards Dawn
By Dawn on Sep 23, 2008
Hi Dawn,
I completely understand where you’re coming from. Working in the TX school system for 5 years, and now in a private group therapy model, I’ve been around the block when it comes to scheduling appropriate groups for speech therapy. Pairing children with as similar communication needs is important, but often, children can get what they need when working with children with different needs. As long as your son’s SLP is making sure his goals are being met, then the group is appropriate. Just because the other children have a different need, doesn’t mean she’s ignoring your son’s pragmatic goals. Would a group of children with just social skills needs be better for your son? Maybe. Will he make progress in the group which he’s been assigned to? Possibly. The US law states that each child is entitled to Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). If a child is making progress, then the education is considered “appropriate,” even if he’s not in the MOST ideal situation. The fact of the matter is, if the school doesn’t have a population of children who have the same pragmatics goals, how can they put him in a group of such children? Answer is, they can’t, but they will try to put him in the best group possible.
My suggestion would be to ask his current SLP to meet with you, and to present your concerns to her. Ask her how she is addressing your son’s pragmatic goals within that group setting. Try to be as calm as you can. The school based SLP’s are often overworked and are doing the best they can with the resources they’ve been given.
There’s still an ongoing debate in the speech and language therapy world about grouping children with others with similar vs different communication needs. But the fact of the matter is, children CAN make progress with their specific goals as long as the SLP working with the group plans the activities to address each child’s needs. I’m a big fan of the “open ended game” which allows each child to work on their own goals, while playing the same game.
I hope this information is helpful for you. Feel free to ask any more questions you may have.
Best,
Jennifer
By Jennifer on Sep 23, 2008
Hi,
I am a mother of a three year old little boy who I thought spoke relatively well until we went “TWICK OR TWEETING!”
I’ve since noticed his toungue protrudes during all “s” sounds and “r” is always a “w” sound.
What can I do to help him along?
I have heard from some parents in my mother baby group that said it’s because he uses a soother at night…???
By Eoin's Mom on Dec 4, 2008
Hi Eoin’s Mom,
Not to fear! The R and S sounds take a bit longer to develop than three years! Most kids will have a good handle on R and S between 5-6 years of age. The fact that he’s putting the W in place of the R means he’s aware that a sound needs to be there, he just can’t make the R sound quite yet.
As for protruding his tongue when saying the S sound, that would be typical for a three year old. The best thing you can do is to continue to model the adult form of these sounds in words.
Regarding soothers, research is showing that the AMOUNT of time a child uses a soother per day can affect a child’s production of sibiliant sounds, such as S and Z. If he’s using a soother more than an hour a day, I would recommend encouraging him to trade it in for a “big boy toy.” But if it’s just at night, take a peek in once he’s asleep to make sure the soother has fallen out, and if it hasn’t, then go ahead and take it out of his mouth so he doesn’t leave it in the entire night.
By Jennifer on Dec 4, 2008
To Jenny
I’ve been said that you have a recipe for making lava lamps. Apologies if this is the incorrect method of communication as I can’t seem to find your email anywhere else on the site.
Thanking you in advance
By Halfrabbit on Dec 7, 2008
Hi Halfrabbit!
I do have a recipe for lava bottles (not really lamps). My email is jennifergrundulis at release dot ie (helps to prevent spam to write email this way). I’d be happy to send you the recipe.
Best,
Jen
By Jennifer on Dec 8, 2008
My little boy is 3 next week and isn’t putting 2 works together, he has words but very limited, what do ye think is this common, I am worried he is autistic etc
By majella on Dec 15, 2008
Hi Majella,
It is encouraging that your son does use words, but by the age of three, many children will be putting two to three word phrases together, and will be naming many things. A good hub of information for parents is on the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA)’s website at: http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/chart.htm
If you are concerned for his language development, I would strongly suggest taking him for a speech and language evaluation. If you are in Ireland, you can contact your local HSE for a public appointment, or contact the Irish Association of Speech Language Therapists in Private Practice (www.iasltpp.com), or call Release for a private evaluation.
I would also highly recommend having him seen by an audiologist to assess his hearing. I would be happy to give you some names of audiologists in Ireland.
Also, if you are concerned your son has autism, please don’t wait to get him assessed. The sooner professionals can identify his needs, they can help you get to work on focusing on what services he should receive. Early intervention is KEY! A good autism assessment should be completed by a multidisciplinary team, consisting at LEAST of a clinical psychologist, speech and language therapist and usually an occupational therapist. Other teams would also have a social worker, educational psychologist, pediatrician, etc as well. In the US school districts many ASD evaluation teams also have a teacher of children with autism.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us and we’ll be happy to give you whatever direction we can.
Best,
Jen
By Jennifer on Dec 16, 2008
I always had and still have a stammer but i can handle it ok, now my two year old son start to stammer what can i do to help him or is it normal for two year old to stammer
By padraic on Jan 22, 2009
Hi Padraic,
Many two year olds stammer, and the majority of them will spontaneously recover from this stammering. I would suggest, though, that since you have a history of stammering, that you have your son evaluated by a speech and language therapist who can help determine the severity of the stammering. In the meantime, provide your son a model for slow, relaxed speaking, allow him to finish his own sentences whilst waiting patiently, and give everyone in the household the opportunity to say what they want without being talked over. If he does continue to stammer, it is important that he not begin to feel stressed over his stammering.
Best,
Jen
By Jennifer on Jan 26, 2009
Hi Padraic,
The website www.stammering.org has lots of good information for parents if you are interested, you might particularly want to check out the Under 5s Section.
Hope that’s of some use to you,
Anna
By Anna on Jan 27, 2009
Hi Padraic - A good article to look at here:
http://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/kuster/Parents/ramigparents.html
the warning signs part of the article is helpful to see how “severe” your son’s stammering is right now. A researcher in Illinois completed several studies to help find out who recovers from stuttering and who continues to stutter. A greater percentage of boys continue to stutter over girls and if a parent stutters, but didn’t recover, then it’s a greater chance that the child will continue to stutter. Now, the recovering percentage is still high regardless. For instance, I continue to stutter and my 2 year old boy (at the time) went through a month of severe stuttering. He’s now 7 and completely fluent. So, read as much as you can at the BSA website from Anna and the Stutteringhomepage.com website.
By Andy on Jan 29, 2009
I am looking for recommendations for people with down syndrome. Can you help me?
By Katie on Mar 30, 2009
Katie,
What kind of recommendations are you looking for? If you are looking for support, then Down Syndrome Ireland (www.downsyndrome.ie) is a good place to start. If you are looking for speech and language therapy, you can always ring us at 01-853-1578 or contact the IASLT at www.iaslt.com. There’s also Down Syndrome Education International at www.downsed.org . If you need more help and would like to talk to someone about what you’re looking for, please feel free to give us a bell.
By Jennifer on Mar 31, 2009