Diving into Pool Groups

It's time for all of you land lovers to get in the water and experience a sensory, social, and language-enriched adventure. The pool is the place to be, especially this summer!

I have been practicing speech and language pathology for nearly 25 years and implementing speech and language pool groups through an early intervention and my private practice: Naperville Therapediatrics for the last 15 years.  Last week, I launched my summer pool sessions with over seven children aged 3-15 years old and it rejuvenated me!!  We laughed, vocalized, sang, took turns, made comments, answered questions, socialized, and bonded all in the matter of 30 minutes.  Many of my pool group clients also work with me in my home office and I swear they skipped into clinic sessions following that pool group. 

Those of you who follow me on social media may have noticed some recent posts about my first book publication available on Amazon!  We Talk on Water is a guide book primarily for speech pathologists, but also useful for occupational/ physical therapists and parents/caregivers wanting to enhance overall communication with a pediatric population at the pool. 

If you're interested in learning more about stimulating your children in a water environment, take a peek at my newly released guide book (I just love saying that!) which is divided into four parts:

1. Background information on finding the right location and asking the right questions; documenting sessions; advertising; and billing/ insurance for speech and language pool groups.  
2. Seventeen lesson plans for 2-5 years old.
3. Seven lesson plans for 6-9 years old.
4. Sample documentation (SOAP note, augmentative communication board, list of developmental targets addressed at the pool, registration paperwork)

For more details, you can follow this link to the Table of Contents.  I will be back soon to talk about why pool group is such a great medium for speech, language, and social development and how it helps establish trust with my clients.