WOW!!! Has it really been two months since I posted something? I feel like I blinked at Halloween and wound up here, a week before Christmas. Having said that, I am excited to be back and ready to share some of the popular gifts that I have been recommending for my private practice clients this season. My humble caseload of about 25 clients between the ages of four and twelve years old ranges from children with oral motor/ feeding needs to augmentative and alternative communication supports. I have also been treating clients with childhood apraxia of speech, articulation errors, phonological delays, and autism. With that in mind, below are some of the products/tools that I recommend for these populations. Please note that this post contains affiliate links.
THIS has been my favorite book of all times! If you are familiar with
Turkey Trouble, then you will immediately recognize Turkey as he continues his quest for safety. I love this story for blending sounds like /kl/ in "Claus" and targeting seasonal vocabulary. You can also work on comprehension questions, spatial concepts, and much more with this one story.
This adorable toy was something that I picked up to use in my sessions and my families loved it so much that a couple of them purchased a set for home. We have been using it to work on identifying objects in fields of three. First, the client opens a mini box; takes out the object; and then I label it several times while placing it down on a picture of number one. This continues until we get to three total choices. Finally, I ask clients to "get/give me" a targeted object. This super cute set has been fun for my 4-6 year old clients. You can even target pronouns by using a baby doll and practicing, "She wants a purple gift."
Up next are some oral motor tools for "waking up" the mouth in preparation for feeding and speech practice. These are very handy for my clients with low tone needing more awareness around their mouths before practicing the hard stuff. I have the elephant one in my tool box and I use
medically based Clorox wipes for keeping things clean and sanitary. HINT: If you find that the parts separate easily, superglue the animal head to the base and you will be good to go!
THIS IS A GAME CHANGER for those of you developing a picture exchange communication system (PECS) for your clients/children. It is well worth the price for a book with color coded sentence strips and over 200 pictures!! One of my families bought a few of these, one for home and others for grandparent's houses.
A newfound friend and talented colleague wrote this educational book for children with apraxia of speech. PERFECT for clients, siblings, and preschool-aged peers, it teaches self advocacy and compassion to youngsters. The author also wrote another book for speech pathologists and families. Both are available on Amazon.
Still looking for something special for the speech pathologist in your life? This guidebook contains 20 lesson plans for engaging activities using water play. I am proud to say that I authored this book and launched it on Amazon this past June. A portion of the proceeds will go towards
Alex's Smile: a fund dedicated to the sweet angel who inspired me to orchestrate and implement speech and language pool group sessions. The fund keeps a pool at Alex's former school in Rhode Island operational for many to enjoy.