Monthly Archives: November 2016

Home for the Holidays

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It’s hard to believe the holidays are already upon us, and this year could bring some new challenges. Seeing family and friends is a great part of the holidays, but when your family is working with a therapist to meet developmental milestones, these interactions can cause additional stress. You may be wondering how to talk about it with your family. Or you may be wondering how your child is going to do playing, communicating or eating during the celebrating.

Here are some quick tips to help you get through:

• Talk with your therapist about concerns you have, and ask for specific ideas and activities that you can do over the holidays.
• As much as possible, keep your child’s daily routine in tact.
• Talk with friends and family before the actual visit, so you can spend your time celebrating instead of explaining.
• Sometimes, the best way to explain is to demonstrate. Give some information, and then show your family how to do what you are talking about. This gives YOU the chance to be the therapist
• Bring a few of your child’s favorite toys with so that he/she feels more comfortable, and has an opportunity to play in a familiar way.

Realize that your child will likely act differently when put in new environments. This is expected and perfectly normal. Offer your child more help, and be sure to add in some extra positive reinforcement. If you notice the family visits are getting too stressful for anyone, take a break!

Sarah Pifkin Ruger, MS, CCC-SLP

36-48 Month Milestones in Speech and Language Development

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Is your child aging out of the Early Intervention program? Questions about what to look for next in terms of speech and language development? Our speech-language pathologist Jessie Delos Reyes provides a helpful checklist for upcoming milestones and developmental red flags:

36-48 months of age

Receptive Language (what your child understands):

  • Understands 1,200-2000+ words
  • Hears and responds when you call them from another room
  • Follows simple commands if item is out of sight
  • Follows two- and three step directions
  • Understands words for some primary colors (i.e. can point to named colors)
  • Understands some simple shapes (circle, square)
  • Understands concepts (big/small, soft/hard, rough/smooth) when contrast is presented
  • Follows simple two- and three-step directions
  • Listens and understands longer stories

Expressive Language (how your child uses language to express himself and communicate needs and wants):

  • Uses 1,000-1,600+ words
  • Speech intelligibility is 90% or greater
  • Talks about activities at school or with friends
  • Talks about daily happenings using about four sentences at a time
  • Requests permission
  • Shares and ask for turns
  • Answers simple “who?”, “what?”, and “where?” questions
  • Asks “when” and “how” questions
  • Uses pronouns: I, you, me, we, they, us, hers, his, them
  • Uses plurals
  • Uses four or more words in a sentence
  • Labels parts of an object (wheels, steering wheel)
  • Begins to express feelings (sad, happy, frustrated)

Speech and language red flags:

  • Difficulty being understood by familiar and unfamiliar listeners
  • Consistently dropping beginnings or endings of words (“ike” for “bike,” “ca” for “cat”)
  • Difficulty producing three to four word phrases
  • Difficulty following two- and three-step directions and simple sequences
  • Inconsistently answering simple WH questions (who, what, when, where)
  • Difficulty stating wants and needs
  • Difficulty playing with others or a lack of interest in other children

If you have concerns regarding your child’s speech and language development, call our office to schedule an evaluation with a speech language pathologist.

Jessie Delos Reyes, MA, CF-SLP

The Best Thing I have Learned During My Time at PlayWorks Therapy, Inc.

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For over a year, I’ve had the absolute pleasure of working with the families that PlayWorks Therapy, Inc. serves and alongside the therapists that have also made helping children and families their life’s work. I have seen early words emerge. I have clapped alongside parents who were so proud of their child who just pointed out every single picture in a book. I have built towers, and forts, and racetracks. I have heard giggles and I have seen smiles. But most of all – I have learned right along with the kids and families I’ve been teaching!

Every child is different – no statement has ever been truer. Walking into each and every therapy session means coming prepared to adjust my plans to help that child meet communication goals. What is true and effective for one family might not prove effective for another – and that’s okay! As therapists, we are equipped to pivot and move forward. After appropriately implementing a therapeutic strategy with a family, we reconvene together to discuss its effectiveness. Have we seen progress? If not, what else can we try?

But there’s a big piece that we need help with, and it comes from… families! Parents are the experts on their child! Without parent expertise, we would be without the wealth of knowledge that comes from spending every day with the children we support. So that brings me to the most important thing I’ve learned during my time at PlayWorks –

Therapists and families form one big team!  Therapists are there to provide intervention, support, home programming, ideas, progress, and expertise. Families are there to provide fun, home practice, insight, and expertise!

It has been such a joy working with all of the families and therapists I’ve met during my time here. As I move on to my next adventure in Austin, Texas, I go with a smile on my face thinking of all the progress I’ve seen and fun I’ve had. Thank you to everyone at PlayWorks Therapy, Inc., and thank you to the families for sometimes being our experts!

Leanne Sherred, MS, SLP-CF