Don't we all want to give a synopsis of our kiddos for their teacher/s at the beginning of the school year? Basically give them a resume of likes/dislikes/what works and doesn't? Well, you are NOT alone! We made this handy PDF to fill in the blanks and even add a photo of your child.  When you meet the teacher/s, aides, therapists, or even babysitters just hand them this "All About Me" page so they are sure to know all about your kiddo.  Download is available for FREE, just click the Download File button below and start filling in the blanks!

Therapy Center of Buda Summer Fun Theme Weeks

                Summer has come and the staff at Therapy Center of Buda is ready to celebrate! Each week in July will be a theme week, where therapy activities will revolve around a summertime theme.

Themes for the month include:
July 3rd- 7th – 4th Of July Celebration
July 10th- 14th – Ocean Adventures
July 17th-21st – Amusement Park Fun
July 24th-28th – Summer Fun Activities
          
      The first week will kick off with a bang on July 3rd- with a 4th of July themed celebration. During this week the therapy gym will be decked out in red, white, and blue for a fun 4th of July Scavenger Hunt. Come and enjoy other activities such as making your own confetti poppers, painting fireworks, Pop Rock Goop, and much more! We can’t wait to celebrate summer fun with you all month long!

Meet the newest addition to my therapy room… WATER BEADS! They are squishy, bouncy, and great for playful learning. There are so many ways to use water beads in order to develop speech and language. I created a sensory bin with my water beads and I wanted to share my ideas with you!

1. Place your child’s favorite toys in the sensory bin to target requesting, spatial concepts, following directions, identifying, answering questions, and labeling. “Can you find the cow? Where does a cow live? What does a cow say? Can you put the cow at the bottom?”
 
2. It is so easy to target articulation goals with a sensory bin. Place laminated flashcards inside and have children say the word using their “good sounds” when they find it. This is much more fun than sitting at a table and doing boring homework. :-)

3. Let your child explore! Teach verbs (digging, pouring, mixing), adjectives (slimy, bouncy, squishy, wet), colors, and sizes. Use kitchen utensils for pretend play. Get creative and have fun!

I purchased a package of water beads on Amazon, a container from Dollar Tree, and used flashcards and toys we have around the clinic. This is an inexpensive project that can make targeting speech and language goals more fun and engaging. I hope you enjoy the water beads as much as I do!

Meagan Milligan, B.S., SLP-A

By: Laura Smith

I was a practicing speech-language pathologist for five years before my daughter was born. I worked primarily at the elementary and middle-school levels. I took professional development workshops on childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) and treated it successfully in three kiddos from my caseload. Perhaps that’s why I was bewildered, angry and utterly devastated when I missed those very signs in my own child.
I hadn’t yet worked in early intervention, so I missed what seem like obvious signs to me now that I specialize in the disorder. I urge all SLPs to learn more about CAS, because the disorder requires a specialized approach different from other commonly used treatments for speech and language delays.
In addition, ASHA denotes that the qualified professional to diagnose CAS is an SLP with specialized knowledge in motor learning theory and skills with differential diagnosis in childhood motor speech disorder, not a neurologist or other medical practitioner. It’s important to know the signs, but also to refer your client to a qualified SLP for differential diagnosis if you suspect childhood apraxia of speech.
Here are 10 early signs and symptoms of childhood apraxia of speech:

• Limited babbling, or variation within babbling
• Limited phonetic diversity
• Inconsistent errors
• Increased errors or difficulty with longer or more complex syllable and word shapes
• Omissions, particularly in word initial syllable shapes
• Vowel errors/distortions
• Excessive, equal stress
• Loss of previously produced words
• More difficulty with volitional versus automatic speech responses
• Predominant use of simple syllable shapes

Other non-speech “soft signs” that may be present include:

• Impaired volitional oral movements (oral apraxia)
  • Difficulty with volitional “smiling” “kissing” “puckering”
• Delays with fine/gross motor skills
• Feeding difficulties that include choking and/or poor manipulation of food
• General awkwardness or clumsiness

These are early signs, but many overlap with other phonologic and language delays, so it’s important to keep in mind that differential diagnosis is critical, as over-diagnosis of CAS remains problematic. It’s still a relatively rare disorder; however, there are resources that can help if you suspect it.
You can tap the below resources to learn more about childhood apraxia of speech.

• Apraxia-kids.org (CASANA):
  • Offers a growing library of on-demand webinars for professionals and parents.
  • Maintains a list of SLPs nationwide who are CASANA-recognized with advanced training and expertise and who are available for consult.
• ASHA.org:
  • Recently developed a practice portal for childhood apraxia of speech.
  • Compiled a comprehensive technical report.

Laura Smith, MA, CCC-SLP, is a school-based and private clinician in the Denver metro area specializing in childhood apraxia of speech. She’s CASANA-certified for advanced training and clinical expertise in Childhood Apraxia of Speech and often speaks at conferences and consults for school districts or other professionals.
Original blog: http://blog.asha.org/2015/04/09/10-early-signs-and-symptoms-for-childhood-apraxia-of-speech/

Talking to our kiddos about their day at school is important.  “Did you have a good day?” seems to be the automatic question we all ask, but it is important as parents to elicit more of a response.  We want kiddos to learn to tell us about things, not just answer questions with one word (close ended questions).  Let’s find some open ended questions that get our kids communicating with us! 

Read on for some sample questions.

Halloween is a really fun time…for most kiddos. But for those having difficulty with communicating, trick-or-treating can be very difficult task and so stressful that some will exclude themselves from enjoying such an activity.  We truly believe that although we all may have differences these are simply that and we must find different ways to include all children that would like to participate.  One of our therapists came up with this simple craft you can do at home WITH your child to help give him/her a voice to be included in trick-or-treating. 

It’s no secret to my families that I am not a fan of sippy cups.  I get that they are a matter of convenience, but there are reasons why we should just skip over the sippy and head straight to open and straw cups.  Let’s check out the pros and cons from a speech-language pathologist’s (and oral cavity) perspective.

Did you know that Therapy Center of Buda offers Autism Testing?  Our Certified Autism Specialist and your pediatrician work together to collect all necessary data to identify if your child is on the Autism Spectrum. 

We will provide you a comprehensive report and explain the outcomes. If needed, our specialist will personally provide you with recommendations and access to local, state, and federal resources that may help your child. Call us today for more information!

What you should know:

1. We utilize the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS-2) a well know diagnostic tool to identify Autism in children and adolescents.
2. Before we administer the ADOS we conduct a comprehensive speech-language evaluation.
3. Testing is conducted over 2 consecutive days.
4. Parents remain in the room and participate in data gathering!
5. We bill your insurance!
6. We test individuals 12 months to 21 years old.
7. Your pediatrician must support the testing (meaning if you are utilizing your insurance benefits they must send a prescription indicating ADOS testing is recommended).
8. Not only will you get a comprehensive report following your visit/s, but our specialist will personally provide you with recommendations and access to local, state, and federal resources that may help your child.

Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) is a motor speech disorder.  CAS is a relatively uncommon disorder (1-2 children per 1,000= 0.1-0.2%) and  one of the lesser known disorders treated by Speech-Language Pathologists.  There are some identified causes of CAS (e.g., stroke, trauma, chromosomal abnormalities) but we are not truly sure of all of the causes. 

We are excited to announce our very own summer camps!  Check out what is available below.  Your child does not need to receive treatment with us or have a diagnosis.  These camps are for all children!  Don't forget to tell a friend or two, we can only hold the camps with enough registered attendees.  

We had a great time last weekend at the Egg Hunt! Thank you to all of the families (past and present) who stopped by to say hi, we love you all.  We met new friends too and we all had fun making bunnies.

Come see us on Saturday March 26, 2016 from 9-11:30am at the Buda Sportsplex for the egg hunt and family FUN!  

 We've all heard about Zika Virus spreading in South America. It's important for us to remain up to date with accurate information. The Virus is NOT contagious through interactions with another person infected, rather it spreads to people through mosquito bites, from mother to fetus, and in rare instances through sexual contact. Follow this link for all of the up to date information:

http://www.cdc.gov/zika/

We always want to minimize the likelihood of developmental impairments. Stay informed,  protect our littles!