I have had two meetings in the last two days, representing families of children who are being considered for special education services within the public schools or Birth-Three programs. It occurred to me that having sat on both sides of the table (I worked for 20 plus years in the public schools and am now in private practice), I could offer some help to parents navigating the system of special education.
- Know the program you are pursuing and what qualifies a child to be included. If you are pursuing Birth-Three services, understand what kinds of services they provide (social work, speech therapy, occupational therapy, etc.) and what the guidelines are for qualification (such as a child scoring two standard deviations below the mean in one area of development, or 1 1/2 SD’s below the mean in two areas).
- Be prepared with copies of any prior testing on your child that will help in the next assessment. Bring copies of past evaluations to the meeting.
- Write out specific examples of your child’s functioning in different settings–home, school, playing with a friend or in a group. This is immensely helpful to the evaluators. Since they don’t know your child and you know her best, this gives them a head start. Be specific such as, “During a play date, Emma plays by herself, talking to herself and not seeming aware of the other child’s requests.” When the kids started playing tag, they were running around her while she seemed unaware of their game.” When parents give me specific descriptions of how their child reacted or what they specifically said, I can be a better diagnostician and ultimately be more helpful in planning a program to help their child. Give your written examples of behaviors, sentences, or sounds that your child typically uses to the evaluators. (Give a list of sounds your child uses, and examples of words she mispronounces if you are concerned about her articulation.)
- If applicable, have written reports from other professionals or teachers who work with your child.
As with several children I work with, they often perform very differently at school versus home, or one-on-one versus in a group. Have the teachers or therapist again give specific examples from their venue. One teacher this week told me, “He doesn’t enter into a group play activity unless he is prompted and only greets each child by name, rather than talk to them during play.” - Ask the professional what the sequence of events and likely timeline will be for evaluating and possibly placing your child in the program. This week one mom found that her school district does not begin the process of assessing children in the summer, even if they turn 3 over the summer. That mom started making alternate plans for her child to receive the services he needed while waiting for the school program to kick in in September.
Introduce your child to Playmobil’s “Wildlife Care Station” and you’ll lose them to great creative play involving compassion and care for the injured animals. Two wildlife workers have the tools to round up the hurt animals in the fenced yard or padlock them into the crate for safety as they recover. With plenty of sticky bandages and re-usable casts, your little veterinarians can feed the baby leopards from a bottle or offer their parents some delicious grass or carrots. This little playhouse in the jungle offers lots of places to move the people and animals to change the action. Turn the station around and the wildlife workers tend to their paper work on the laptop computer on their desk or get a little sleep after pulling down the murphy bed from the wall. Lots of shelves can hold their supplies–rope, maps, or medicine. My little play partner spent hours spinning stories as different animals approached the station and the workers took over. The band-aids were especially interesting as the rhino ended up covered from head to toe. Apparently her recovered because today they are gone!
The opinions expressed in this review are solely those of the author. “Wildlife Care Center” was provided for review by Playmobil.
Spring break and I headed to the North Carolina beach. After spending the last few months analyzing the new toys from the International Toy Fair 2010, I sort of forgot what kids naturally invent at the beach.
It began with Will thrilled with an ant crawling from armpit to armpit. Ben chased hermit crabs until they disappeared into a hole. We gathered up shells with just the right sized opening to string onto a stick for our “jingle sticks.” What started out as digging for buried treasure, soon turned into making a huge hole to hide in with Daddy. Let’s not forget the pure fun of racing into the waves, giggling and running back, even if the water was freezing according to us adults.
Next week I will be attending Time to Play Magazine’s Spring Showcase in New York City where they kick off the warm weather season announcing the hottest toys for outdoor play.
Maybe right now I will be happy just letting the warm sand sift through my fingers and call it play.
I’m a fan of “Snappy Books” because I like the big bold drawings, pop-ups and rhymes. In their newest addition, Snappy Builder Noah’s Ark, your little one, 3 years old and up, can hear the story and then make her own ark, complete with animals. The story moves from Noah drawing his plans for the ark, through Mrs.Noah checking in the animals, two by two, the rain falling for forty days and forty nights, Noah sending out the dove in search of land, to the promise of the rainbow.
I read the story with my 3 year-old friend who then proceeded to punch out the thick cardboard pieces. We gathered the animals first who had clever printed fronts and backs, and then began assembling the ark. With clearly illustrated instructions, kids can be the leader, as they put the boat together piece by piece. Lots of slots are provided on the ark floor to insert animals around the cabin and change the scene.
Proud of his finished project, my little friend started to sail the ark and brought in a favorite pirate ship to add to the action. 3-D interaction reinforces the story and gives kids a launching point for adding to the story. Noah can go in the cabin to sleep, other animals from play might join him or boats sharing the sea can come along side the ark. Pretend play has begun.
The opinions expressed in this review are solely those of the author. “Snappy Builder Noah’s Ark” was provided for review by Silver Dolphin Books.
Cuddle up with a good picture book, add a plush character from the story and you have literacy plus play! I introduced Opal from Toot and Puddle: The One and Only, by Holly Hobbie to little Caroline. She immediately tucked sparkly Opal, in her double pleated voile tutu, under her arm in anticipation of the story.
Bubbles seems to think everything Opal does is peachy. Her admiration comes in the form of mimicry as she copies Opal’s every move. If imitation is the highest form of flattery then why protest, but Opal’s friend, Daphne can’t stand it! Finally there is something that Bubbles can’t copy–the dance steps for their “May Extravaganza.” Opal must save the day and teach Bubbles the steps. In the end, everyone knows that Opal is the only “one and only!”
Leading the reader through the holidays, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Valentine’s day, the author delights children with her drawings of piggies dressed up in costumes and Opal and Bubbles drawing a “Cupig” for Valentines Day. Two year-old Caroline loved the humor in a silly word that is close, but off target. But her favorite scene was where Opal taught Bubbles the dance steps to “Hop, step and kick.” chiming in with the dance directions, Caroline activated her Opal doll to the chant of, “Hop, step, kick!”
Kids love a stuffed toy and better yet when it is a character in the story who they can relate to. Children act out parts of the story with their figure and then extend the story by inviting their Opal to a tea party with other friends or taking a nap with favorite stuffed animals. Using the toy to carry on conversations builds language skills and encourages turn taking while talking. When Opal steps out of the book, she becomes real. Wouldn’t any little girl want her name embroidered in pink on her ballet tutu?
The opinions expressed in this review are solely those of the author. “The One and Only” and Opal were provided for review by Yottoy.
Summer vacation never looked so good. Load your family of four into their SUV, hook up the boat trailer, pack a picnic and grab the sand toys. This new Playmobil adventure set highlights the company’s incredible engineering and attention to detail in their props for pretend play.
When you arrive at the beach, unwind the winch and watch the speed boat lowered off the trailer to launch into the water. Mindful of engaging accessories, the creators have provided life jackets, flip flops, hats and sunscreen for the kids, as well as a bucket, sand screener, pitcher, shovel, rake and sailboat for play. Mom and Dad have a roller suitcase to hold their belongings as well as a duffel bag. Cups and a picnic basket transport lunch on the boat. After a day on the water, just hook up the boat and watch it slide back onto the trailer.
The fun in the sun theme appeals to both girls and boys who played with this set. With each added accessory, a child’s pretend play was extended–a water bottle for a drink, a suitcase to plan packing for a trip, cups to create a meal, sand toys to cast in the beach, and a dog to add to the mix. Kids invented rich stories with these props, and were mesmerized with each new action or participant.
We floated our boat in the water but my next move is to get the Playmobil motor to attach to the boat so we can take our story on the water.
Sherry Artemenko, MA-CCC, is a speech-language pathologist with more than 35 years experience and founder of Playonwords.com. The opinions expressed in this review are solely those of the author. “Family Van with Boat and Trialer” was provided for review by Playmobil.
Now that temperatures in the northeast have gone from the 50’s to the 70’s in one week, it is time to take speech therapy outside–spring is here!
This week I commented to a mom that it was so sunny on her front steps. She asked if I would like to work with James outside. Sure. We read our books, played with our props and then he took off playing hide and seek with his crocodile, asking me to count with my turtle. (We are working on pragmatic language skills through play). After hide and seek, I suggested we take our animals on a trip. We looked for a fitting airplane among the sticks and yard debris and came up with a hollowed out branch. I couldn’t have done better at the toy store. I asked him where he was going and he replied that he was going south. We chose Florida. We flew into the back yard, planning our trip as we approached his swing set. A bit ditracted, he set down “the plane” and started to swing. I said, “Wait a minute, what about the animals?” He cleverly referred to where he had ditched the animals and replied, “That’s their swinging place!”
The outdoors is a great backdrop for pretend play. Leaves can become boats, sticks can become airplanes and grass can be seaweed if you are in the ocean. Take advantage of props from outside and bring them into the therapy room if you can’t take your students outside. Fortunately, I deliver services at the child’s home, so I can utilize the great outdoors.
How do you use the outside as a backdrop for therapy? Let me know through the comments below.
A good language enhancing toy will spark a child’s imaginative play. It is a delight to watch them build on their story as they take a prop and change the action, surroundings and storyline.
Yesterday, I made a “Silly Roller” critter with my little four year-old friend, Duncan. Choosing from the three roller options–a pineapple, ladybug or elephant, Duncan chose the pineapple car to make, complete with a banana for headlights, grapes for the exhaust, a pear man to drive and a blueberry girl as passenger. The double-sided cardboard shape, made by Alex Toys, came with lots of stickers and punch-outs to assemble the car, as well as a set of wheels to pop on the completed vehicle. Assembling the car was just the beginning of the language fun. Talking about where the pieces go, what their function was and asking for the next piece spurred on 
conversation. When Duncan’s pineapple car was complete, I sat back and watched him enter a land of imagination for an hour.
He stepped outside and sat down with his car. He rolled it across the patio, through puddles to make tracks, down steps to the grass, over sticks, down the slide and past a rock. Grabbing a piece of blue chalk, he started drawing a line on the big rock, declaring it a road for the pineapple car which then navigated the craggy rock. Back down the rock, the pineapple car rolled across the lawn to more puddles.
When it was time for me to leave, Duncan was asking for the glue so he could add some small sticks to decorate his pineapple car. More ideas–more action to come.
Mix a little art and creativity and you’ve got a great language learning and 
play day.
The opinions expressed in this review are solely those of the author. “Silly Rollers” were provided for review by Alex Toys.
I am often asked this question. Parents call up concerned about their preschooler who can’t say an “s” or “r” correctly. I often reassure them with norms and tell them to call back if it is still an issue in 2 years. Norms vary but it seems that /r/ and /s/ should be established by about age 6-8 years of age. Some of the norms I have used as reference are:
- Iowa-Nebraska Articulation Norms Project
- Templin, 1957
- Sound Aquisition: Single Word Responses from the Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, November 1990
Certain books make it easier to teach language. Give me beautiful, clear illustrations, a simple but engaging story and I can use it to work on many different language goals.
The Very Greedy Bee by Steve Smallman is the story of a not so nice bee who spends his time “gobbling pollen and guzzling nectar!” Landing in a meadow of juicy flowers, he declares them his own, with no intention of sharing. As the day progresses he gets fatter and fatter and fatter until he falls fast asleep. Awakened in the dark, he found it impossible to fly home due his rotund tummy. Two friendly fireflies came to his rescue to lead him home, only to encounter another obstacle where the greedy bee had to rely on helpful friends. This turnaround story ends with a honey party and a not so greedy bee!
I used this story with kids on the autism spectrum as well as typical kids working on their articulation skills. The following language goals can be addressed:
- answering wh-questions-How did the fireflies help with the leaf” “What did the ants do?”
- completing statements– “The bee couldn’t fly because…
- talking about emotions and descriptive adjectives: happy, sad, disappointed, greedy, helpful, sharing
- prediction–”What do you think the lights are? A monster?”
- descriptions–tell what you see happening on a page
- beginning, middle and end–tell what changed as the story progressed
- application–When are you greedy? When do you share? How does that make you feel?
- preliteracy–point out the fun words in bold print that get kids laughing like “Slurp! Slurp! Burp!”
