About Pam Drennen MS CCC-SLP

Pam Drennen MS CCC-SLP is the VP Director of Clinical Services Speech at Kidmunicate. Pam has a Bachelors and Masters degree in Speech Language Pathology from Loyola University in Baltimore, Maryland. Pam provides evaluation and treatment for a variety of speech/language and communication disorders. She has experience working with children with hearing loss, autism, Down Syndrome, a cleft palate, developmental delays, Apraxia of speech, auditory processing disorders, fluency disorders, oral motor/feeding issues as well as children with augmentative/alternative needs. Pam is a member of the American Speech and Language Hearing Association.

Is a Technology Addiction Holding Your Child Back?

Talking helps cure technology addiction School is almost over, so I am planning activities to keep my kids entertained for the summer. If you are like me, you know that that is a daunting task because today's children need to be entertained constantly. Long gone are the lazy days of summer when kids simply went outside to explore and play with friends. Back then, kids rarely stayed inside because there was no reason to be inside. There were only three channels to watch on the TV and those channels featured boring soap operas, talk shows or news, unless of course,  it was Saturday morning. Before cable [...]

By |2018-12-02T22:52:56-05:00 |Blog|Comments Off on Is a Technology Addiction Holding Your Child Back?

Autism Awareness Month: Bullied boy dedicates song to his mom.

The white flowers of the plum trees are blooming. The grass is bright green and is ready to be cut for the first time. A warm breeze welcomes us when we go outside. Spring concerts are filling school auditoriums with music. It's April, a time of renewal and optimism. It's also autism awareness month and we hope that that feeling of renewal and optimism is felt by every child with autism and their parents. There was a spring concert in Boise, Idaho at Cantus Youth Choirs. The Cantus Youth Choirs provide quality music education to enrich the lives of children from [...]

By |2016-11-07T14:44:53-05:00 |Blog|Comments Off on Autism Awareness Month: Bullied boy dedicates song to his mom.

Boy with autism saves a life with his newly found words

Can speech therapy saves lives? We say that it can. That certainly is a bold statement, but here's the proof. One year ago, Chase, a five-year-old, Canadian boy with autism could not put more than one or two words together to communicate. After a year of therapy, Chase was able to save a man's life with his words. Watch the touching video from CTV news called Five-year-old boy with autism finds the right words to help rescue an injured man. Click the title to view it. Here's an overview The Maritimes in Canada, just north of Maine, had a harsh winter. Just like [...]

By |2016-11-07T14:44:54-05:00 |Blog|Comments Off on Boy with autism saves a life with his newly found words

A Black and Blue Dress, a Bill, Bacteria and Autism

  It seems that autism stories are always in the news and with good reason. At Kidmunicate Pediatric Speech Therapy,  we try to keep up with the latest news on the subject because we treat so many children with autism. We also want to do our part to help inform others. Here are the interesting autism stories from this past week. The Black and Blue Dress I saw a black and blue dress. My husband and daughter saw a white and gold dress. A poll showed that 69% saw what my husband saw. The debate circled the globe several times over. Every [...]

By |2016-11-07T14:44:54-05:00 |Blog|Comments Off on A Black and Blue Dress, a Bill, Bacteria and Autism

Noise Induced Hearing Loss in Kids Up Dramatically.

Did you know a recent study shows that 1 in 5 kids, 12 to 19 years old, are suffering from some degree of hearing loss. This number is up a staggering 31% from the over the last 20 to 25 years. Wow. The use of personal audio technology is the reason for the dramatic increase. There are about 2 billion smartphone users in the world and that number is expected to grow to 2.6 billion, or one-third of the world's population, by 2018. China currently has 500 million smartphone users. India is approaching 200 million users and is getting ready to [...]

By |2016-11-07T14:44:54-05:00 |Blog|Comments Off on Noise Induced Hearing Loss in Kids Up Dramatically.

Can Robots Teach Emotions to Autistic Children?

Did you know that there are seven universal human emotions? Apparently there are six robot emotions. Who knew? The seven universal human emotions are anger, contempt, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness and surprise. These emotions are communicated through spoken language, but they are also communicated through body language, facial expressions and gestures. And these non-verbal cues are recognizable to all people around the world regardless of age, gender, language or culture. Well, that is not 100% tue. Many people living with autism find it difficult to read the emotional cues that people send. This can result in a diminished capacity for children with [...]

By |2016-11-07T14:44:54-05:00 |Blog|Comments Off on Can Robots Teach Emotions to Autistic Children?

MMR Vaccines. Facts, Figures and Healthy Debates.

To vaccinate or not is the big question. We are not going to take sides on this hotly debated and very personal issue regarding MMR vaccines. We simply want to provide you with some information and helpful links so that you can start researching the topic. Most of the facts and figures presented are from the CDC website. It should be noted that this government entity is not infallible and is not above politicizing issues, especially with this current administration.  We saw this with the Ebola problem this past summer and some are claiming that the CDC is downplaying a [...]

By |2020-04-06T16:20:23-04:00 |Blog|2 Comments

Autism and the Eagle Scout Achievement

Micheal Whary is a boy on the autism spectrum. About 1 in 42* boys will be diagnosed with autism. Micheal Whary is also a Boy Scout striving to become an Eagle Scout. The Eagle Scout requirements are tough, so only about 1 in 100 scouts will achieve this distinction. And Michael Whary is an amazing kid with a great video message for all parents of children with autism. At age 2, Michael was diagnosed with autism. His doctors told his parents that he would have limitations. Don't all kids have limitations in one or more aspects of their lives? Some kids [...]

By |2016-11-07T14:44:54-05:00 |Blog|3 Comments

Sports Lessons or Speech Therapy?

So the question is this, what's a better investment sports lessons or speech therapy? If speech therapy is needed, the answer is obvious, or is it? Some parents take a wait and see approach to speech issues hoping that their child will grow out of it. This happens often even though some speech and language issues do not improve over time without speech therapy. In that case, early intervention is typically the best path. Let's explore the question posed. It takes an amazing amount of coordination to play soccer, baseball, basketball, football, tennis, golf, gymnastics, hockey, cheerleading, dance etc. It [...]

By |2016-11-07T14:44:54-05:00 |Blog|Comments Off on Sports Lessons or Speech Therapy?

10 New Year’s Resolutions to Support Autism

The new year is starting. A year where 1 of every 68 children born will eventually be diagnosed with autism, perhaps the defining disorder of our age. So whether you are directly affected or just know someone who is, here are a few things that you do to support autism. Treat your New Year's Resolutions Like Your Child's IEP Goals. Darren Sush, Psy., D BCBA-D, Psychology Today gives some 5 tips that make a lot of sense. Define your target behaviors Get personal Establish your baseline Make goals achievable Set benchmark goals For details visit Treat Your New Year's Resolution [...]

By |2020-01-28T08:39:34-05:00 |Blog|2 Comments
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