When to tell a grown up:

1.  If someone is sick  



2.If someone is hurt 

 

3.If you tried to solve the problem and it didn’t work
__________________________
You may have other rules or guidelines that could be helpful for your child.  This framework has helped many people. Give it a try!

When should I be concerned and get help for my child?  http://identifythesigns.org/

One app that I have found to be very user friendly, fun, and a great learning tool is Story Maker by Super Duper.  It's a great way to practice speech or language skills.  Also great for spelling, reading, vocabulary, typing, following directions, and so much more!  I have even used this to create social stories for kids with Autism.  Another wonderful feature is that you can print what you have made!  Opportunity for creativity!

What is the most difficult speech sound? The r sound.  And it is one of the most frequently occurring sounds in the English Language! This is why it is very noticeable when an individual cannot say it correctly. It is also the latest sound to develop for most typically developing kids--up until age 9!

Difficult because... It cannot be seen in the mouth.  There are variations in placement for correct production. Often times, individuals receive therapy for producing it correctly but are not trained to recognize it in words or to discriminate correct and incorrect productions--then they have difficulty carrying it over into conversation for life experiences.  But unfortunately when this happens, they are sometimes dismissed from services--just because they can "say it the right way in therapy." Do you know someone who has difficulty correctly producing that tricky r sound? Help is available!

As adults, we initiate and participate freely in conversations all day long, with many people, in multiple environments--AND QUICKLY!  We think about others.  We monitor their body language and facial expressions.  We listen to what they say.  We think of our own messages. We formulate speech sounds into words and words into sentences to convey our thoughts and needs or to respond to someone's thoughts and needs. We use our vocal intonation to alter our messages. We give cues to others about our interest level on topics and receive their cues about their interest levels. If the person signals that he doesn't quite understand, we give more information for clarification purposes.  We manage our emotions and monitor others' emotions. We recognize when a speaking partner pauses, we can take a turn in a conversation.  We know that we must allow others to have turns, as well. We sense when our talking turn is lasting too long because of the nonverbal signals we see happening with our partner. We also monitor our environment as this is all happening. Often times, we need to filter out the "not-so-important" parts of the environment, such as background noise. All of these things cycle around throughout the conversation, often several times.  Then, when we are finished we can give or receive a cue that the interaction is coming to an end.  We often will use our bodies and our words to do this. A simple wave or smile and it is done.  Easy! Right? Not so much.  We often take communication for granted. Many children struggle with these skills.  These children deserve our guidance and support.  Some children need to be directly taught how to do these things.  Everyone deserves to be a successful communicator!

Many kids are having problems with social skills--not just kids diagnosed with spectrum disorders.  We are seeing more and more of this.  Why? Professionals have shared lots of ideas such as increased "screen-time" (tv, computer, iPod, gaming systems), less family structure, being over-scheduled, less neighborhood playtime----to name a few.  It is happening.  What can we do?  Here's a link to a great blog by Dr. Michele Borba.  Take a look!     http://micheleborba.com/blog/teaching-kids-friendship-making-skills/