Exercises to help a stuttering child | These stuttering therapy techniques and activities will help a child become more fluent.

Are you a speech-language pathologist looking for speech therapy activities for preschoolers? This article contains tons of effective activities and speech therapy ideas that will motivate young children to work on a variety of goals. It includes tips for engaging preschoolers during speech therapy sessions, as well as ideas for movement, sensory play, and recommended

As a Pediatric Speech Therapist, these toys are at the top of my Speech Therapy Wish List this Christmas Season! (Yes, I ask for toys for Christmas!)Have you ever caught yourself thinking, “what should I buy the 2 year old on my Christmas List” or “what toys can I use with the 3 year olds on my caseload”. Well, I have included a mega list of toys that can be used in speech therapy with preschoolers (and even early elementary students ) or played with at home all year long!Even if you don’t snag

Speech therapy resources and guides for children stuttering and cluttering. Therapy ideas and strategies to improve fluency in children.

Marketing ploys make false claims that there's a cure to stuttering. There isn't, but you can still be a confident and successful communicator

Hands-On Therapy ideas to build Speech and Language using LEGOs to target following directions, basic concepts, attributes and more!

Potato Head has many uses in speech therapy, from following and giving directions to articulation. See some of my favorites!

Check out this ultimate list of over 200 free speech therapy materials for all of your needs! Save your money for what really matters!

This post originally appeared as a guest post for Smart Speech Therapy, LLC. I am reposting because I am bringing you a week dedicated to Augmentative Alternative Communication and Assistive Technology. I hope you enjoy! Across the country, school department budgets are shrinking. Because of this, many schools are choosing to create classrooms and accommodate the IEPs of students with severe special needs rather than contracting out to “Day School” programs. As a result, SLPs are finding more and more children with challenging disabilities on their caseloads. My district is no different. In 2007, I found myself working in a preschool classroom for children with severe special needs. The terminology for this type of classroom varies across the nation, but the dynamics are pretty similar: small class size, smaller student to teacher ratio, children with multiple impairments, and a great deal of related services. In the five years I spent working in this classroom, I saw children with many different disabilities: Autism, Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Myotonic Dystrophy, Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum, Chromosome Deletion Syndromes, William Syndrome, etc. Most of the students’ IEPs specified speech and language services several times per week. What does that therapy look like? Clearly therapeutic objectives and methods will vary based on the child’s presentation and speech and language needs. However, I have found a total communication approach to be most beneficial overall. Some students responded better to ASL, others responded better to PECS, and some became verbal communicators. You never know which approach a child will gravitate toward until you try them all! Facilitating a total communication approach can be time consuming…learning ASL signs (if you don’t already know a lot), creating picture symbols, creating overlays for communication devices, setting up assistive technology on the classroom computer, dealing with switches and switch access. This type of approach really does not work unless the staff works together! I was very fortunate to be able to work with PTs, OTs, and a classroom teacher who were more than willing to collaborate. What are some total communication approaches that can be used in the classroom? 1. American Sign Language: One of the simplest augmentative/alternative means of communication is ASL. This is partly because it does not require anything extra…no extra resources, materials, or cost. Using this form of communication to supplement language development is common practice for SLPs working in early childhood settings. However, it does presuppose adequate motor abilities, so it will not be sufficient for all students in this type of classroom. Some ASL/Hearing Loss resources: · ASL Browser (Michigan State University): Video ASL dictionary · Hear My Hands ASL Blog: Load of information and resources! · Handspeak: ASL dictionary, resources, and research. 2. Pictures/Picture Symbols: Pictures and picture symbols can be used for a variety of reasons/activities. You can use them as part of a communication system (see #3), for scheduling purposes, for social stories, and to support literature (to name just a few). I like to use a combination of real photos and picture symbols. Some kids will need the concrete nature of the photographs, and others will pick up the abstract drawings without difficulty. In all honesty, many times I use photographs because I can’t find a picture symbol that adequately illustrates the item I want to represent. Pictures of toys I commonly use in therapy. If I’m creating a whole page of picture symbols, I’ll use the feature of my photo printing software that creates small wallet-sized prints. If I have one or two, I’ll add them in with picture symbols. Where do you get picture symbols? Here are the most common resources: Boardmaker Software Family (http://www.mayer-johnson.com/boardmaker-software/) The possibilities are endless with this traditional program by Mayer Johnson featuring PCS. LessonPix Custom Learning Materials (http://lessonpix.com/) This is a web-based program that allows users to create picture symbols and a large variety of other materials for learning. I often get asked about the difference between LessonPix and Boardmaker. My short answer is this: Boardmaker requires a top-down design (create your board, add your images), while LessonPix is bottom-up (select your images, choose your design template). With LessonPix, you cannot create your own board designs, but they offer a ton of pre-made activities. Pics for PECS (http://www.pecsproducts.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=148&osCsid=d20b446270cbfe8e1cfb03e1a724cbe7) This is a CD that contains nearly 3000 images that you can add to MS Powerpoint, MS Word, or just about any other program. Picto4me Communication Board Editor - Free communication board creator/editor that works with Google Drive. 3. Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) Ok, so this is probably should be numbered 2.5 since it utilizes pictures and picture symbols! I have used this program with much success with many of the students in the severe special needs classroom! PECS by Pyramid Educational Consultants is a six-step process of learning how to use an “exchange” method to communicate. Here are some of the picture symbols I use for favored PECS reinforcers (to find out why they’re in a box lid, you can read my blog post HERE). Some PECS resources: · The Autism Society has an article that's a great overview of the PECS process. · This run-down from DePaul University outlines the six phases in a simple and clear manner. Perfect for printing and keeping in your room! · There's even a Wikipedia article on PECS! 4. Low(er) Tech Assistive Technology: In this type of classroom, you may run across children who do not have sufficient motor skills to pick up picture symbols and pass them to an adult. For these students, I have utilized both pointing/tapping the desired picture symbol and eye gaze methods. Here are some display options I’ve used for eye gaze: Acrylic frames: These stand up on their own (horizontally or vertically) and are great for providing a limited number of choices. I used this with a child who needed to be fed. He could let me know if he wanted a bite of food or a sip of his juice. Large eye-gaze board: This was a fixture in the classroom in which I worked. It’s made out of acrylic and is very easy to see through. Because of this, you can monitor the student’s eye gaze quite easily. The problem is that it’s cumbersome and not portable. Activity specific eye gaze boards: Smaller and more portable than the version above, I created these in Boardmaker by creating a 9-square grid and deleting four of the cells. Once printed, I cut out the center square, laminated, and re-cut the center. For this option, you can peek through the center at the child, ask them to look at the option they want, then look back at you to confirm their response. The boards I have here are for selecting a song during circle time, blowing bubbles, and indicating emotion. You can see, I kept a blank board as well. Because these are small, I can store them in a folder and bring them with me to different classrooms, I can also store them in areas where they are most likely to be utilized (e.g., song board in the circle area of the classroom). Recordable Voice Output Switches: There are so many different types of switches that you can use. I love the ones that you can record easily and use in any activity so that all children can participate…Record the chorus of favorite songs so that the child can fill in (e.g., “E-I-E-I-O” during “Old MacDonald”). These are the ones I use. You can add icons to the clear plastic sleeves. 5. High(er) Tech Assistive Technology: These resources are technically the most expensive and more difficult to come by in a school setting. However, these can be extremely beneficial to students in a severe special needs classroom. Here are some of the activities I have used: Switch Activated Toys: These may seem simple, but they are great for teaching cause/effect, a necessary precursor for using switches for communicative means! I couldn’t find the digital files for these photos, but these are the picture symbols I created for some of the switch toys we used in the classroom: Intellikeys: Intellikeys is an alternative keyboard. You can create your own overlays and program them to use on your classroom computer. The Intellitools site also has an activity exchange section where you can access pre-made materials. Powerpoint: You can easily set up slide shows on Powerpoint to be switch activated. Set up your slide show to have forward advancing buttons. Place the cursor over the advance button and allow the child to advance pages using a switch. You scan story book pages, add them to slides, and record yourself reading. Create your own versions of popular stories! I did a “Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, Who Do You See?” featuring all the children and staff in the classroom. The iPad and Communication Devices: I’m not going to go into detail on these since it could take a whole book! Some AT resources: Click HERE to see a step by step tutorial for creating Powerpoint talking books. Try these free downloads from Children's Hospital Boston. Scroll down a bit and check out the Dynamic Display Examples! I had a student who absolutely LOVED the "Chase Me" activity! Tar Heel Reader: Create and read switch-compatible stories (written by other students/teachers) Tumblebooks Library: This is a subscription service, but my local library has access through its website. It’s worth a shot to see if yours does as well! I hope this post provided you with some new information regarding servicing students with severe special needs in the school setting! Stay tunes for some more information on AAC and AT later this week!

If you're anything like me, I felt like I had no idea what I was doing as a Speech-Language Pathologist for a LONG TIME. Thirteen years later, I can tell you one thing - I should have given myself more credit and you should, too! During my career, I have had some really good first sessions, and some really bad first sessions. (kids running away, toys with missing pieces, parents yelling - I've seen it all). These "stand out sessions" always left me self-reflecting about how I can improve. Thin

Looking for a cheap, easy to use therapy material? How about paper bags? I love using paper bags for a variety of activities. Here are some simple ways I have incorporated paper bags into my therapy sessions. 1. Puppets My students love to use puppets to "eat" their articulation cards or other target cards. They also love to use them to tell stories. Making puppets from paper bags is a great, inexpensive way to engage your students in a variety of activities! You can easily make a puppet to match any book or story that you are using. Be creative- your kids will love it! I made these monster puppets with my son this week. They were so easy to make! We used a little paint, glue, and card stock with our paper bags. I found the idea for these cute monsters from this pin: Paper Bag Monster Puppets 2. Describe It To Me This activity is also super easy. I throw a bunch of items into a bag. My students reach in and grab something (no peeking!) to describe. The students remove the object and then describe it using a variety of descriptors. This is a great way to incorporate your Expanding Expression Tool (EET) with describing real objects. Sometimes I will even get really small, cheap objects that the students can keep if they give me a description using all of the beads on the EET. 3. What is in the bag? This is a great activity to work on a student's deductive reasoning skills. I put an object into the bag (students do not see- again, no peeking). Students need to ask questions about my object. This is similar to the game Headbanz. 4. Categories Place pictures of categories on the bag and collect items or pictures to place in each category. I used pictures from my Category Sorting activity. I like to put a piece of Velcro on each bag so that I can interchange the categories without having to get a new bag each time. 5. Collect in a bag Put any kind of card into the bag. My students love to decorate a bag and then collect their cards. 6. Paper bag books You can use two paper bags to make a book that will have two pockets. Simply fold two bags in half and then put the two openings touching each other to make two pockets for a book. Staple together, and done! You have a paper bag book that you can use to target a variety of goals. I used this one to put some of my new sequencing cards in for a student to take home. I have also made these Articulation Paper Bag Books. These are so fun to make with students and send home! Here is a link to a freebie that contains blank frames to use on your paper bags, as well as labels for What is in the bag? and Describe It To Me. Have fun using your paper bags!

I've been slacking on my usual posts about activities with low incidence populations, so now I'm playing catchup. Here's what I've done with my intellectually disabled group for the past three weeks. I live in a suburb of Washington, DC, so the Cherry Blossoms are a big thing. When I saw this on Pinterest, I

There’s a global pandemic and suddenly we’re thrown into distance learning and teletherapy! Preschoolers are difficult enough to engage in person, and doing preschool speech therapy across a screen seems downright impossible. But, we’re doing it! I know so many therapists who are killing it in teletherapy and doing amazing things. I’m slowly but surely […]

Circle or whole-group activities can be challenging for SLPs. Here are five easy to prep, highly engaging activities for preschoolers.

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My articulation and language screener are quick tools to help determine if a student may need further assessment or where a teacher can begin interventions in the classroom.

Play based speech therapy activities for speech language pathologists. Toys and games perfect for play based speech sessions.

Hey Friends! I’m swinging by the blog today to share another goodie that can be found in my free resource library! My newsletter subscribers have exclusive access to this library. If you’re interested in receiving weekly emails from me about blog updates, sales, new resources, ideas, and more then you can sign up by clicking ... Read More about Free Camping Themed Dot Pages!

Easily BUILD meaningful speech and language activities with the help of building-bricks! Grab a free guide while you're here!

Teaching basic concepts in speech therapy - critical to a student’s academic success, being able to comprehend, communicate, and read.

Toddlers, preschoolers, and elementary students alike love using games for speech therapy! Lucky for us SLPs we often have a collection of games for speech therapy that we use. Over the years, I have collected a variety of speech therapy games and I have compiled a list of the best games for speech therapy.These games are all quick turn taking games and can be used to get a tonne of trials while targeting a variety of speech therapy goals, such as: articulation, phonology, apraxia of speech, gra

I needed more NO PREP speech therapy ideas to get me through this season. Therapy in April and May can feel redundant and... boring (*gasp* I said it!). Blue ta

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Not quite sure how to use play-based speech therapy activities with your speech therapy caseload? All your questions are answered here!

One of the most frequent questions I get from Speech-Language Pathologists is how I do inclusion speech therapy in Preschool. I've done inclusion speech therapy in 9/10 of the years I've been an SLP. In

Toy cars are great for developing early language skills. I've shared 5 ways you can use toy cars to support early language in your therapy sessions.

Seasonal + Simple = Success! Sometimes the most magical therapy moments are hidden within the simplest of items. Today I’m hoping you just might fall in love with my ideas for using baby pumpkins, gourds and leaves in your sessions. (As a bonus, I’m also sharing my favorite fall books because who doesn’t love using […]

Check out this blog post for tips and ideas for using a "what's in the bag?" activity to support early language skills in your EI sessions.

A summary of free digital materials for speech and language that can be used by teletherapists or brick and mortar SLPs.

Interactive books are an amazing tool to use in speech therapy! Read about what they are, why to use them, some ideas, and grab a FREE one!

Biggest hit in therapy so far this semester? Elephant and Piggie books! And it’s no surprise! These books are great. Wanna know why? Read on. 1) Kids LOVE these books. In my experience, they request them over almost all other books. 2) Elephant and Piggie books are easy to read. There are few words per […]

Feel confident you're delivering effective early intervention and parent coaching sessions with the Early Intervention Handbook.

That's something I've heard a lot in speech and language groups lately. Let's face it, sometimes keeping kids engaged with you when you are a picture on their

I love pragmatic language evals. I even like to write the reports. Don't judge me, because I want to share my pragmatic language evaluation tools with you.

It's no secret that I love toys and including play into my therapy sessions. If you haven't already downloaded my FREE Play-Based Speech Therapy Homework you can download it HERE! One toy that I use often but have never really included is a shape sorter. Sometimes this one may seem a little "babyish" but I am always surprised by my kiddos who want to play with it. This toy can be used to target many language goals and I thought I'd put together a little list of ten goals you can target with a shape sorter. I usually bring it out with my Pre-K-Kinder population or my younger students who have autism. Please know these are just general ideas, really the possibilities are endless and you may need to adjust to what your student needs. Here are some ideas of how to use a shape sorter to target language skills! First is obvious, naming or identifying colors. Now with this particular sorter, I am limited to five colors but usually, that is a good number to start with. You can give directions such as "Give me a purple block." or ask questions "What color is the triangle?" to target this goal. Next is requesting! This is a goal I work on often, many of my kiddos enjoy independent or parallel play and are used to grabbing what they want. But often I want to encourage cooperative play where they acknowledge a partner playing with them, not just next to them. I will hold the sorter bucket with the blocks and put the top in front of the student. Or I may hold all the blocks but give them the bucket with the top. Then prompt them to request what they want using as much detail as possible. My end goal would be for them to verbalize "I want a red square please!" or "Can I have the purple circle?" but we will work up to that with maybe just verbalizing or signing "more" or "please" at first. You may have to use some more structure when playing to target following directions by withholding some of the blocks. You could maybe give your student half the blocks and you keep half. Give them directions while handing one of your blocks such as "Put this block in the bucket" or "Stack this block on the star". Understanding quantities can be tricky for my younger kiddos. With the blocks, you can work on understanding "more", "some", "all" and "none". You can sort the blocks into two unequal groups and ask which group has more. You can instruct the student to put all the blocks in the bucket. You can ask the student to give you "some" blocks. You can show them an empty bucket and ask how many are inside. This one can go hand-in-hand with following directions. Prompt the student to give you a block with negation. For example "Find a block that is NOT red" or "Give me a block that is NOT round". You can use the top of sorter to match or you can put a set of blocks in a row and encourage your student to match them up with another set of blocks as shown in the picture. Positional Words, Spatial Concepts, or prepositions...whatever you call them they are all essentially the same and you can use the sorter to target them! The easiest positional words to target with the sorter are "in", "out", "on", "off", "under" and "over". You can either have the student follow your direction "Put the square on the triangle" or answer a question "Where is the orange block?" while holding it over or under another object/block. Take turns putting the blocks in, taking them out, requesting, lining them up, naming them, counting them...any of the skills you are working with! Count the blocks, it may be easiest to put them all in a straight line to help work on one-to-one correspondence when counting. For older students (end of kinder, 1st grade), you can use the blocks to count by 5's or 10's. And last but not least you can work on naming or identifying the shapes. Ask the student "What shape is this?" while pointing to the block. Request a block by naming the shape such as "Can I have a star?". If your student is good with naming/identifying the basic shapes work on the attributes instead. For example "What shape has three points?" or "Give me a shape that has four sides". That's it! One little toy and so many possibilities!

Are you constantly recreating your speech therapy goals, or looking for speech therapy goals for vocabulary, or looking for goals for autism? Look no...

Digital and printable camping themed activities and freebies for speech and language therapy!