New technology

The field of Speech and Language Pathology is full of fun new techy gadgets.  I personally do not own anything i (like iphone, ipad, ipod, itouch, etc...).  However, in my TA job of grading papers I have heard about an assessment called the Sunny Articulation Test. "The Sunny Articulation & Phonology Test (SAPT) can be used to identify articulation errors patterns in children as well"   (this is off the apple website).   Here is the manual. The manual states: "The Sunny Articulation Test is an individually administered qualitative clinical tool for
screening, identification, diagnosis and follow up evaluation of articulation skills in English
speaking individuals. The SAT was developed by Barbara Fernandes, a Trilingual Speech and
Language Pathologist and Smarty Ears LLC. The Sunny Articulation Test can be used with
individuals of all age groups."
Has anyone used this? How is it?

observations

Last spring I was able to observe a real life SLP in her work setting (an elementary school).  It was fascinating!  I loved her room and how she handled her groups.  Being in an elementary, she was not able to do one-on-one therapy.  But she still gave the kids as much one-on-one as she could.  Her room had three computers with various language skill building exercises. She also had these: 

and books for each phoneme that the children could practice with, to themselves. For those who are unfamiliar with these, they are sometimes called a whisper phone.  The child puts it to their ear/mouth like a phone and they practice their phoneme.  This will enable them to hear themselves and hopefully self correct as needed.  Based on where they were with a particular phoneme, they would practice at isolation, syllable, word or sentence level.

There were also these:


and the phoneme books. And based on how many times they said an assigned phoneme they would possibly receive a reward/treat.

It was very fun to see the different tools she used to help the children with therapy while still offering some one-on-one time.

As the children come into the classroom, she would tell them where to go and which phoneme to practice and one child would be with her. And they would rotate during the time in her classroom. At the end, all of the children and the SLP would play a short game together. At the end of the game the children were expected to congratulate each other on playing a good game (good sportsmanship!) and then give one other child a sincere compliment. It was all very fascinating.  They were able to learn how to play games and not worry so much about winning or losing, but having fun.  They were able to increase their social skills by complimenting each other and by having to pay attention enough to each other to offer a sincere compliment.  I will definitely be implementing some of these activities in my own classroom when I am done with school!

School!

A new semester is here! I have also been fortunate enough to get a part time TA position at the college! It is fun and busy, but I love it! My youngest also just started first grade, so I am home alone all day for the first time.  It is great for me to have time to get my school work done while the kids are gone, but I found that it is depressing to be home alone so much!
I am in some great classes including: basic audiology, speech science, and aural rehabilitation!  I am really enjoying this semester.  It is also my last semester for my bachelors and I will be applying to grad school soon. Any recommendations on where to go? I can't wait to get out into the field!

Fun Idea

A friend of mine recently got me involved in Pinterest.  It's a lot of fun.  My favorite thing I have found so far are these: 

And to give credit where it is due, here is where the idea comes from:
http://livingandlearningnow.blogspot.com/2009/03/word-family-eggs.html

Gone

I have been remiss in posting...we recently moved.  I am back online and should have a new post soon!

Words...

I frequently get mixed up with some of the terminology of speech therapy.  So, I thought if I write down the words and what they mean, they will stay in my head better.
Language is made up of four sets of rules:
1. Pragmatics - context of use of language
2. Syntax - rules of grammar
3. Semantics - meaning (of words, signs, sentences, etc)
4. Phonology - rules of pronunciation
I went to my favorite website, dictionary.com for the definitions and then condensed them in my own words.
These are the basics.

 I also forget which sounds go under which category, so here they are: (this is called manner)
Stops: /p, b, t, d, k, g/
Nasals: /m, n, ŋ (sounds like the ng in 'ring')/
Fricatives: /f, v, s, z, ʃ (sh), ʒ (si in vision), θ (th in thin), ð (th in this)/
Affricates: /dʒ (j in jump), tʃ (ch)/
Liquids: /l, r/
Glides: /w, h, j (y in you)/

I also have to remember the place each sound takes place, such as:
Bilabial: articulated with both lips (such as M)
Labiodental: articulated with lower lip and upper teeth (such as F)
Dental: articulated with the tongue against upper teeth (such as T)
Alveolar: articulated with the tongue against upper gum ridge (the alveolar ridge) (such at D)
Palatal: articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate (such as /j/ or Y)
Velar: articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate (such as G)

Email from a professor

I wanted to give you a brief report about our recent trip to South Vietnam.  Janet Fuller and I, along with 4 of our wonderful graduate students, participated in a teacher and audiology training program at the Thuan An Center, which is a deaf education school just outside of Ho Chi Minh City.  The program provided training to approximately 90 teachers, 18 audiologists, and 40 families (most of whom traveled many, many hours by motorcycle to attend). The teachers who attended represented 35 schools and early intervention programs throughout South Vietnam.  We toured two hospitals, met with several physicians and other personnel who are dedicated to improving services to young children with hearing loss.  In addition, we were able to fit 30 hearing aids on young children who otherwise would not receive this technology.  Our students, Jane Fenton, Liz Hankins, Kate Powell, and Jeanette Smoot, were amazing.  Their contribution was significant beginning first thing in the morning and continuing until late into the evening.  They did training to large groups, small groups, and individuals.  They organized events, prepared materials, took care of last-minute or unexpected details, and entertained many, many children.  I received numerous compliments regarding their knowledge and skills, with many comments along the lines of “what would we have done without them here” ….I felt like a proud mom.

It was a wonderful experience and brought together people who live half a world apart who, despite the language barrier, have the same desires to provide the best services possible to children with hearing loss.

You can visit the blog at:  http://childrenwithhearingloss.blogspot.com/

Lauri Nelson, PhD

Assistant Professor 

Communicative Disorders and Deaf Education

Utah State University