The Tube

I get asked lots of questions about children watching TV in my practice.  I have to say that the children that I have worked with over the years who had the best attention spans, imaginations, and play skills were children that I knew watched little or no TV in their early years.


Here is the American Academy of Pediatrics statement about TV for children under 2.

"Pediatricians should urge parents to avoid television viewing for children under the age of 2 years. Although certain television programs may be promoted to this age group, research on early brain development shows that babies and toddlers have a critical need for direct interactions with parents and other significant caregivers (eg, child care providers) for healthy brain growth and the development of appropriate social, emotional, and cognitive skills. Therefore, exposing such young children to television programs should be discouraged."


I am not trying to preach.  Any of you that know me know I am pretty much an "everything in moderation" person...unless you are talking about shoes...


But I do think there is something to be said for kids that watch the same movies and play the same video games every day.  How do we expect these kids to play imaginatively when their lives are programmed?  Of course they fall apart when their scheduled is changed.  They are used to pressing A and B happening.  


Here is another site I found about recommendations for older kids.  


http://www.aap.org/publiced/BR_TV.htm


I would love to hear any ideas from you all for ways to incorporate TV in a healthy way into your home.  

How to Be a Playful Parent

Play is a child's "work" and is a very important part of a child's life.  It is the way he will discover the world around him.  The best kind of play is fun and engages the child.  Here are some how to's on how to be a playful parent...

1.  Know that any playtime with your child is invaluable.
2.  Make your own rules...be creative and use your imagination.  Kids are great at this...adults are the ones that need practice.
3.  Become a child yourself.  Turn a hairbrush into a microphone, a bowl into a hat.
4.  Give it your attention.  When you are playing give your child your FULL attention so that he can develop confidence in what he is doing.
5.  Follow the leader...let your child guide.

Who knows you might even have some fun???

I play and laugh all day long with kids.  They are experts in play and have taught me so much.  Even if it is just for a few minutes, take time every day to really play with your kids.

Oh Baby!

Within their first year babies will make one of the greatest accomplishments of their lives...they will learn to communicate.  They will learn to take control of their mouths and begin forming the sounds of their language.  They will learn to communicate their needs in ways that become more predictable to those around them often.

Babies begin learning before they are even born and within a few years they will learn the many different reasons why humans communicate..to comment, request, reject, and so on.  They will also learn the social rules that apply to language such as eye contact, turn taking, and maintaining a topic.

Here are some things you baby should be doing from birth to 3 months:

Startling to loud sounds
Quiets or smiles when spoken to
Seems to recognize your voice and quiets if crying
Increases and decreases sucking behavior in response to sound
Makes pleasure sounds (cooing, gurgling)
Cries differently for different needs
Smiles when sees you

I don't know this baby, but he/she is precious!  

Celebrate Better Hearing and Speech Month

May is Better Hearing and Speech Month.  Here are some practical tips any parent can use to encourage better understanding and use of language.  Try some of these out and while you are out celebrating BSHM why don't you give a big hug to all the hearing and speech professionals out there??? 

•Model grammatically correct language in your home
•Explain words that are new for your child
•Describe your activities as you are doing them
•Turn off the television
•Read books with your children
•Talk with your child even if they cannot respond
•Give your child time to formulate his answers to your questions
•Accept signs and gestures as well as vocalizations for minimally verbal communicators. This will make your child less frustrated
•Expand on what your child says to increase expressive language
•Play games to practice concepts like taking turns, following rules and attending to a task
•Support your child to help complete homework assignments
•Build your child’s esteem by providing positive reinforcement • Play games that help your child categorize
•Involve your child in cooking or baking activities. Talk out-loud about each of the steps

April is Autism Awareness Month

In honor of Autism Awareness month here are some facts and statistics on autism: 

• 1 percent of the population of children in the U.S. ages 3-17 have an autism spectrum disorder.
• Prevalence is estimated at 1 in 110 births.
• 1 to 1.5 million Americans live with an autism spectrum disorder.
• Fastest-growing developmental disability; 1,148% growth rate.
• 10 - 17 % annual growth.
• $60 billion annual cost.
• 60% of costs are in adult services.
• Cost of lifelong care can be reduced by 2/3 with early diagnosis and intervention.
• In 10 years, the annual cost will be $200-400 billion.
• 1 percent of the adult population of the United Kingdom have an autism spectrum disorder.
• The cost of autism over the lifespan is 3.2 million dollars per person.  

You may read this today and not know anyone who is affected by autism, but chances are with its prevalence growing you will someday.  Every time you roll your eyes at someone who has a child who is out of control at the supermarket take and minute and stop to think that maybe that child has autism and the parents are doing everything they can to cope and deal...and get groceries.  

From the mouths of SLPs

Don't know where I got this idea, but I thought it would be good to post things that therapists would say to parents if they could say it in complete anonymity.  I have to say that the older I get and the longer I do this there is not much that I hold back from families, but I can remember thinking back when I first started working "I can't tell them that. I don't have any children of my own and they will think I am judging them".

In my graduate work and career I have met some of the most genuine and hard-working SLPs.  People who lose sleep over their patients and dedicate their lives to helping others.  I thought why not ask some of these fantastic folks..."what do you find yourself saying over and over to families...whether out loud or in your head"?  Here are some of their answers:

- No matter how much your child loves the toys we play with in therapy that does not mean you should go out and buy every one of them.

- Don't be afraid to ask questions or interrupt something you don't understand.

- Be silly!

- You don't deserve to be judged by anyone that works with your kid.  If you feel it is not a good fit, then say something.

- Have realistic expectations of your child and their disorder and the time frame in which progress will occur. this means understanding typical development and your child's disorder.


- Read books daily


- Talk, Talk, Break, Talk


- Play.. (I mean sit on the floor and do nothing else) play with your kid.


- Consistency is key.


- I may not have all the answers, but we can work together to find them.


- Please PLEASE take that pacy away from your child.  

So there you have it.  And just because I think I need to add some more pictures to my post...Here is a picture of me with some of my fav SLPs.  

So...What's the Difference?

For all you faithful readers out there (little chuckle), sorry I have been so bad about posting.  I have been so busy and out of town.  I have been networking like crazy.  I joke that it is probably a bit like Chinese Water Torture for all the people in the networking groups to hear me over and over again "My name is Ginger Jones and I am a speech-language pathologist and I am the owner of Jones Speech-Language Pathology Services".

As I have said before most people don't even know what a speech-language pathologist is so I thought I would post a helpful explanation about the difference between speech and language.

Check out this link from the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association.

http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/language_speech.htm

ASHA has great resources for professionals as well as the general public.  Check them out on the web.  You can find a link under my helpful links at the top of the page.