Sometimes I feel a bit late to the party.  The most recent party I have become aware of is Podcasts!  I know I may not be the only one who has joined into the auditory fiesta of podcasts, and the buffet is overwhelming with choices of what to tune into.  As someone who collects data as part of my job, I collected some polling data from special educators across the country to find what they are listening to.

Tonsils are often overlooked, often undiagnosed, often troublesome part of the human body.  A visual look at a patient’s tonsils should be included in all oral mechanism evaluations done by speech therapists because enlarged tonsils can cause a variety of speech-related issues such as unintelligible speech, uncontrollable drooling, restless sleeping, or untimely eating. Tonsils are located above the “throat” where the trachea leads to your lungs and your esophagus to your stomach.  The tonsils hang out way in the back of the mouth, one positioned on each side of the uvula, which hangs in the “middle” and back part of your mouth. Tonsils are supposed to be minimally visible when a mouth is opened widely and the tongue is down (think--say “ahhhh”), but they do swell with infection and contact to germs because it’s their job to stop the germs from getting further into the body.  

Many of our speech and language students are as ready to shift into summer gear as we are. They’ve worked hard during the school year: Abided by a structured routine, woken up early, rushed out the door, and actively engaged in mental activities for seven hours out of the day. It’s time for them to relax and reap the benefits of the hot summer sun, later alarm clocks, and spontaneous play. Unfortunately, the end of the school year also means the end of specialized services for many of our students that have speech and language delays. Continuity and follow-through are important, especially with the facilitation of these skills. Below are some ideas and activities to send with your students on the last day of school:

You’ve made it to the end of the school year.  You can finally reap the rewards of working in a school and cash in that summer freedom.  Time to pack up, check out, and go, right?  WRONG!  Didn’t you read the title of this blog post?  Before you take a summer-long breather, I challenge you to delay your exit by 10 minutes (maximum 30 minutes) and set 3-5 goals for next school year.  Here’s why I think now is the time:

As therapists, we know preparation is king. Summer is around the corner, but before we go, we always want to wrap up the loose ends so we can rest easy during the break and make the transition back in the Fall is as easy as possible.

This and every April 22, many of us will recognize Earth Day without really understanding the reason. There are lots of wonderful things to celebrate about the Earth: the fact that it gives life to us and every creature familiar to us, for starters. But why exactly celebrate Earth Day?

As April rings in the end of the school year and the days start to get warmer, we have the opportunity to incorporate all things green and growing into our therapy units.  This year Earth Day falls on Monday, April 22 and makes for the perfect kick-off to a week of sessions focusing on how to keep our amazing planet a beautiful place to live. Use these activities to start planning a “green week” for your students!

The number of students with autism on our caseloads is rising. It can be difficult to manage all of the different students that present in many different ways with different needs. This is why a whole team approach is critical in treating children with autism. For anyone who regularly treats children with autism we have all had those cases where we feel stuck. We feel like we are not making adequate progress and feel frustrated. Being in regular communication with all members of the IEP team can help us from this feeling of getting stuck and can also help us to a faster solution and faster carryover to all settings.

If your caseload is anything like mine, your students might shout out, “Christmas!” or “Wednesday!” when you ask them what the season is. For this reason, I always reinforce seasonal concepts throughout the school year. I change out my speech room décor, keep the same visual cue visible for reference, and plan therapy units to continuously target the seasons. Spring break is the perfect opportunity to discuss the exciting transition from chilly winter weather to the warm, often rainy weather of spring.  Use these therapy activities before or after your spring break to teach your students all about the season ahead.

St. Patrick’s Day is the holiday that makes me feel super lucky because it comes right in between winter break and spring break and planning for it feels effortless. Disagree? See below how you can make this holiday fun, engaging, and super simple!