Remember when I told you that my friend and fellow SLP, Jan Schwanke, was going to start a blog on Word-Finding for kids? Well it’s up and I am so excited that she is going to share her expertise in an area that is much needed! Her first two posts deal with “Getting started in Word-finding therapy” and “Awareness of vague words.” Already she has challenged me to go back a bit with some of my students to further work on awareness.
Jan has presented at ISHA, has worked with Diane German, collaborating on research and is an adjunct instructor in Special Education (language development classes, of course!) at National-Louis University in Wheeling, Illinois.
Her desire is to use her blog to inform therapists and parents and serve as a meeting place where we can all share therapy ideas that work with kids with word-finding difficulties.
This week I consulted with a first grade teacher and her aide regarding a child I work with who has word-retrieval issues. In explaining how it impacts the child’s language, I read a re-tell of a story book that I had transcribed as the student told me the story. “He went to the first one”/ first classroom, “and couldn’t do it”/ Do what? The teacher nodded and saw what I was trying to demonstrate and said, “It’s so subtle!” She’s right but she got it.
I am reminded how important it is to confer with the teachers so they can make accommodations in the classroom and help their student do his best.
Check it out: www.wordfindingforkids.com
