A little while ago, Lynn Carson contact me and asked if I would review her book, From Birth to First Words: Activities to Support Your Baby's Language Learning in the First Year of Life. I agreed, and she sent me a copy of the book.  Lynn Carson is a Canadian SLP who is now in Australia, studying to get her Ph.D. From Birth to First Words is an excellent no-frills book to help parents learn to foster language development during the first year of life. Each week has its own page with the same format.  I appreciated the "Area Addressed" section.  Specific skills are targeted each week, such ..read more

First off, this is not a post to blame parents or therapists or educators. These are my thoughts and opinions on why some parents are reluctant to use play as a form of "homework" or as a form of therapy. They are based on conversations I have had with parents, speech-language pathologists (SLPs), occupational therapists (OTs), physiotherapists (physical therapists, PTs), and teachers. Here are what I think of as barriers for some parents. 1. Play is not seen as necessary. This may seem like a bit of a no brainer. Many parents see play as something that children do to keep themselves occup ..read more

For me, the new school year is exciting but can also be very overwhelming. It's exciting because you get to see your students from the previous year. I like to see the types of progress the students have made over the summer. When I worked with preschool students, the development could be astonishing. I'm also excited to see the school staff again. But the new year can also be overwhelming because there is so much to be done. Here are a few things that I do to start the year off right. 1. Make any organization changes that didn't work last year. Every year I think about the things I'm go ..read more