Hi all,
As a therapist, I was wondering about what kind of hobbies you enjoy. Are they related to your work or are they more For entertainment purposes? Post your responses. I would love to hear from all of you.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
New Autism Information
I read an article today proposing the possibility that Tylenol may play a role in causing autism. The article was based on a survey so I don't want to state that it was a medical study of any kind but researchers are looking at this possibility through survey results. Apparently, pregnant women who took Tylenol regularly ( at least once a week) had children who displayed autism-like behaviors, poor communication skills, and weak motor skills. I'm not saying there is anything credible to this but I did want to share this information since a lot of studies have been conducted stating Tylenol may not be as safe as we thought, pregnant or not. If anyone knows anymore about these findings, comment and share.
Monday, November 25, 2013
Only 5 Days Left!
Hi all,
There's only 5 days left to win a free Christmas activity. Just follow my blog to win! Contest ends December 1st.
There's only 5 days left to win a free Christmas activity. Just follow my blog to win! Contest ends December 1st.
Friday, November 22, 2013
Thanksgiving Activities in TPT Store
If you're looking for last minute language ideas for therapy targeting Thanksgiving, check out my Mini Language Unit focusing on pronouns, categories, following directions, and sequencing. I also have a "Thankful for Verbs" worksheet targeting present progressive verbs. Click on the link "Teachers Pay Teachers" on my blog for quick access into my store. Enjoy!
The Holidays are Coming!
With the cold air moving in and the holidays right around the corner, it's the perfect time to help your children improve their category skills. Take them shopping with you whether it's food shopping for the holidays or shopping for presents.
One of the ways you can really increase these skills is have the child separate the items into categories:
- If at the grocery store, let the child put items in the basket or cart. They should put all the vegetables together, the fruit, drinks, meat, etc. or they can tell you where they belong in the cart.
- If shopping for toys, use the same model...things that bounce in one section of the cart, dolls, puzzles, etc.
- If shopping for clothes, have the child hold all the things that go on your feet like socks or shoes. Use this model for all clothing items so the child can learn what clothing item goes where on the body.
One of the most important parts of speech therapy is parent involvement. The more parents are involved, the better their prognosis will be.
One of the ways you can really increase these skills is have the child separate the items into categories:
- If at the grocery store, let the child put items in the basket or cart. They should put all the vegetables together, the fruit, drinks, meat, etc. or they can tell you where they belong in the cart.
- If shopping for toys, use the same model...things that bounce in one section of the cart, dolls, puzzles, etc.
- If shopping for clothes, have the child hold all the things that go on your feet like socks or shoes. Use this model for all clothing items so the child can learn what clothing item goes where on the body.
One of the most important parts of speech therapy is parent involvement. The more parents are involved, the better their prognosis will be.
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Don't Forget to Follow Me!
Don't forget to follow my blog to win a Speech and Language Christmas Activity. The first ten followers will win the activity. Hurry while the offer lasts. Contest ends December 1st!
Working with Occupational Therapists
As speech therapists, we come across clients and students who may or may not need occupational therapy. Throughout the course of my career so far, I've seen countless kids who needed OT but were not receiving those services because parents and speech therapists don't really know what to look for. Here are some tips I have learned from two occupational therapists that I have had the privilege of working with...Hi all,
- Incorporate a coloring activity in your session and monitor how the child holds the crayon. If the child is holding the crayon with for example, with a closed fist, it may signify weak fine motor skills.
- Take notice of how the child is actually coloring. Is the child coloring the picture completely or are there lots of white spaces showing the child did not complete the picture even though he/she thinks it's finished? This too may also demonstrate a fine motor weakness.
- Take notice of switching hands. If the child is switching back and forth between right and left hands, it may indicate that the child does not have a dominant hand or difficulty with both, again signifying weak fine motor skills.
- I noticed that one of my kids could not color while sitting in a chair. He needed to be standing in order to color a picture. I brought this to an occupational therapists attention and she said it may be an issue with proprioreceptive skills.
- Watch the child actually color. Does it appear that the child is moving his/her entire arm to color the picture or are they using their hand? Again, another sign of potential weaknesses.
Keep a look out for all of these things while working with your client/student. Of course we are not the experts in classifying delays in these areas but these issues to watch for may help the child obtain services he/she needs. Even if your not sure about what it is you're noticing, always ask an OT who could better point you in the right direction.
Monday, November 18, 2013
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Hey everyone,
I'm posting my new Thanksgiving product: Thanksgiving mini language unit...http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Thanksgiving-A-Mini-Language-Unit-949287.
Check it out
I'm posting my new Thanksgiving product: Thanksgiving mini language unit...http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Thanksgiving-A-Mini-Language-Unit-949287.
Check it out
Subjects
Grade Levels
PreK, Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd
Resource Types
PDF (Acrobat) Document File
Be sure that you have an application to open this file type before downloading and/or purchasing.
1.45 MB | 17 pages
Be sure that you have an application to open this file type before downloading and/or purchasing.
1.45 MB | 17 pages
Friday, October 25, 2013
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
My story
I was like so many high school graduates. I started college not having a clue as to what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I took class after class hoping there would be something I found interesting enough to turn into a career. I was getting some pressure from my family to major in education. I think teaching is a wonderful profession but it just wasn't for me.
During my second semester in college, the man who was really like a grandfather to me, Bob, had a stroke. My mother had called me when I was out that day telling me my grandmother was concerned because he hadn't moved his car in a few days, which was very unlike him (he and my grandmother lived in the same apartment building). So I took a ride out to Brooklyn to see if I could get him to answer the door. When I knocked, he yelled "go away." When I informed him of who it was, he began mumbling and immediately I knew something was wrong.
My Grandmother called 911 and also called a good friend of his to help me break the door down. Once we were able to get inside, we found him on the kitchen floor, the place where he had been for days.
At the hospital, Bob was lucid but couldn't speak clearly. His speech was slurred and I couldn't understand a word he said. I could tell he understood what I was saying through head nods and shakes (I learned much later on he had Broca's Aphasia). I just remembered saying to myself "How can we get him to talk better?" I had never heard of speech therapy other than in passing. I didn't really know at the time that he needed a speech therapist. But I never had the opportunity to help him since he passed away a week later from another stroke. This was one of the hardest moments of my life.
A few semesters later, as luck would have it, I was declared an English major and it was required that I take some sort of English related course other than a literature one. So I enrolled in a linguistics course. I was only enrolled for two weeks in that course because I had to be home in time for my little sister. Those two weeks were life changing.
I found those few linguistics classes fascinating but really didn't know what I could do with it professionally. During one of the classes, a fellow student had mentioned that she was taking this course as a prerequisite for Speech Pathology and was hoping to transfer the credits to a college that had the major (College of Staten Island does not have a speech program in case anyone needs to know). And there it was, in front of my face.
I started researching and asking a lot of questions so I could determine whether or not this really was what I wanted and I needed to know fast since I was going into my 5th semester and would need to transfer. Another professor of mine recommended Kean University in New Jersey. Within a week, I had an appointment with the head of the Speech Pathology Undergraduate Department. A semester later, I was accepted into the program and continued at Kean through graduate school where I earned my Master's Degree.
It was really a twist of fate given what had happened to Bob and how I always said that I wish there was something I could've done to help him talk more clearly so I could at least understand him. If I'm being honest, a part of me did it for him (well, more than just part of me).
I was like so many high school graduates. I started college not having a clue as to what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I took class after class hoping there would be something I found interesting enough to turn into a career. I was getting some pressure from my family to major in education. I think teaching is a wonderful profession but it just wasn't for me.
During my second semester in college, the man who was really like a grandfather to me, Bob, had a stroke. My mother had called me when I was out that day telling me my grandmother was concerned because he hadn't moved his car in a few days, which was very unlike him (he and my grandmother lived in the same apartment building). So I took a ride out to Brooklyn to see if I could get him to answer the door. When I knocked, he yelled "go away." When I informed him of who it was, he began mumbling and immediately I knew something was wrong.
My Grandmother called 911 and also called a good friend of his to help me break the door down. Once we were able to get inside, we found him on the kitchen floor, the place where he had been for days.
At the hospital, Bob was lucid but couldn't speak clearly. His speech was slurred and I couldn't understand a word he said. I could tell he understood what I was saying through head nods and shakes (I learned much later on he had Broca's Aphasia). I just remembered saying to myself "How can we get him to talk better?" I had never heard of speech therapy other than in passing. I didn't really know at the time that he needed a speech therapist. But I never had the opportunity to help him since he passed away a week later from another stroke. This was one of the hardest moments of my life.
A few semesters later, as luck would have it, I was declared an English major and it was required that I take some sort of English related course other than a literature one. So I enrolled in a linguistics course. I was only enrolled for two weeks in that course because I had to be home in time for my little sister. Those two weeks were life changing.
I found those few linguistics classes fascinating but really didn't know what I could do with it professionally. During one of the classes, a fellow student had mentioned that she was taking this course as a prerequisite for Speech Pathology and was hoping to transfer the credits to a college that had the major (College of Staten Island does not have a speech program in case anyone needs to know). And there it was, in front of my face.
I started researching and asking a lot of questions so I could determine whether or not this really was what I wanted and I needed to know fast since I was going into my 5th semester and would need to transfer. Another professor of mine recommended Kean University in New Jersey. Within a week, I had an appointment with the head of the Speech Pathology Undergraduate Department. A semester later, I was accepted into the program and continued at Kean through graduate school where I earned my Master's Degree.
It was really a twist of fate given what had happened to Bob and how I always said that I wish there was something I could've done to help him talk more clearly so I could at least understand him. If I'm being honest, a part of me did it for him (well, more than just part of me).
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Christmas is coming!
Hi everyone,
I know it's only October but all the stores started selling Christmas stuff a few weeks ago. It made me get a jump on a new Christmas activity. It's almost done so look out for it. It's never too early to start getting ready for Christmas!
Lauren
I know it's only October but all the stores started selling Christmas stuff a few weeks ago. It made me get a jump on a new Christmas activity. It's almost done so look out for it. It's never too early to start getting ready for Christmas!
Lauren
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Therapy Made Easy
Thank you all for checking out my posts. More posts and activities to come so keep on the look out!
Another following directions activity
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Leaves-Leaves-and-More-Leaves-Following-Directions-919124
Leaves, Leaves, and More Leaves: Following Directions
Subjects
Grade Levels
PreK, Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd
Resource Types
PDF (Acrobat) Document File
Be sure that you have an application to open this file type before downloading and/or purchasing.
0.12 MB | 1 pages
Be sure that you have an application to open this file type before downloading and/or purchasing.
0.12 MB | 1 pages
A Fall Freebie
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Falling-for-Verbs-917612
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
This fun fall worksheet targets present progressive verbs related to fall activities. It also promotes sentence structure and completion as well as vocabulary skills.
Halloween Following Directions
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Halloween-Following-Directions-Worksheet-927511
Halloween Following Directions Worksheet
Subjects
Grade Levels
Resource Types
PDF (Acrobat) Document File
Be sure that you have an application to open this file type before downloading and/or purchasing.
0.47 MB | 2 pages
Be sure that you have an application to open this file type before downloading and/or purchasing.
0.47 MB | 2 pages
Category Task Cards!
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Category-Task-Cards-927423
Category Task Cards
Grade Levels
Resource Types
PDF (Acrobat) Document File
Be sure that you have an application to open this file type before downloading and/or purchasing.
2.63 MB | 18 pages
Be sure that you have an application to open this file type before downloading and/or purchasing.
2.63 MB | 18 pages
Autumn Vocabulary!
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Autumn-Vocabulary-919095
Autumn Vocabulary
Subjects
Grade Levels
PreK, Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd
Resource Types
PDF (Acrobat) Document File
Be sure that you have an application to open this file type before downloading and/or purchasing.
1.39 MB | 6 pages
Be sure that you have an application to open this file type before downloading and/or purchasing.
1.39 MB | 6 pages
More Materials
Resource Types
Common Core Standards
L.3.1
PDF (Acrobat) Document File
Be sure that you have an application to open this file type before downloading and/or purchasing.
1.04 MB | 9 pages
Be sure that you have an application to open this file type before downloading and/or purchasing.
1.04 MB | 9 pages
WH bingo!
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/WH-Fall-Bingo-917906
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
This fun, interactive, fall themed activity is a great way to target responding to "WH" questions and creating opportunities to introduce new vocabulary. Words and pictures are present on the boards in order to promote reading and picture/identification. Comes with 6 boards as well as question cards. This is great for a classroom lesson with multiple winners as well as during speech and language therapy.
"WH" Fall Bingo
Subjects
Resource Types
PDF (Acrobat) Document File
Be sure that you have an application to open this file type before downloading and/or purchasing.
3.19 MB | 9 pages
Be sure that you have an application to open this file type before downloading and/or purchasing.
3.19 MB | 9 pages
Hi everyone. My name is Lauren Metz and I welcome you to my blog Therapy Made Easy. I have a Master's degree from Kean University in speech pathology and currently work for a private agency in Staten Island, NY. On here, you will find speech therapy materials currently for sale at teacherspayteachers.com. If you happen to visit my store, give me feedback of the materials or leave comments about your experiences as a speech pathologist.
Lauren
Lauren
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