Mainland Speech Language Pathology Inc.

If you’re looking for a neat AAC Christmas gift, camera straps work great for iPad cases and these are beautiful ones made by a talented friend.

When helping preverbal or minimally verbal toddlers find their voice, there is a tendency for providers to talk too much during early intervention sessions. As... a speech-language pathologist, I can attest to the fact that many in my profession (including me at times!) have an illness that sneaks up on us every now and then...this illness is called verbal diarrhea. Sometimes we talk and talk and talk and all that language stimulation may be having the opposite effect we desireit may be pushing the young child away. If a child avoids interacting with us, then we need to identify and remove the stressors and focus on building a connection with him or her before building spoken language skills. Sometimes silence is the best strategy. During these periods of intermittent silence, parallel play is the strategy to focus on. Play alongside the child without any demands and watch the relationship blossom. This low pressure behavior demonstrates respect for the child’s sensory needs. Now we can focus on connecting with the childon building the relationship. . . . #cariebertseminars #slpsofinstagram #instaslp #speechtherapy #speechpathology #earlyintervention #earlyinterventionspeech #slppeeps #speechies #speechlanguagepathology

I hear this A LOT from parents who are frustrated with their child’s slow progress. A parent can be a huge game changer when they are on board with communicatio...n intervention - but sometimes the BEST parents (even SLPs with their own kids!) can do all the things- and the child does not talk or continues to make slow progress. But, defeated as we may feel, and as hard on ourselves as we tend to be, it’s important to not give up! Consider other communication methods (which honestly this shouldn’t ever be a last resort- do this EARLY ON!) and keep on keeping on! See more

"He just plays with that device." "That's not really what she wants." I hear statements like this so frequently when introducing robust AAC to a learner. Our m...indset about a learner's early AAC use has a big impact. Our responses to their selections shape their understanding of their AAC system and themselves as communicators. If we look at their use through the lens that they are actively learning, our responses to them are more likely to provide feedback that will further their learning. Image description: Bitmoji at bottom left, pointing to her head. Text reads: AAC: Your Mindset Matter Initial reaction: He doesn't use that AAC system intentionally. She didn't mean to say that. He's just plays with it. He only stims on it. Reframed perspective: This system is new. She must be exploring it to see what it can do! I can't read his mind, so I don't really know if he meant to say that or not! When children learn to speak, they babble. She's just doing that in a different way. If I respond to what he is saying, I can help him learn the power he has as a communicator and what the words mean in context. She needs time and models to learn how to use this system. I needed to explore to figure this AAC system out. It would be even trickier if I couldn't read yet.