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A child with speech issues can feel isoloated. Being bullied makes it worse. Children with speech-language disorders are 5 times more likely to be bullied. A recent Penn State study showed that 44% of stutterers were victimized while 9% of non-stutterers reported bullying. For children coping with speech difficulties life is a bit more challenging. These children certainly do not need a bully making life harder. Here are some sad statistics from StopBullying.gov Nearly 30% of US students in grades 6-12 have been bullied and 30% of kids admit to bullying others. 70% of both students and teachers say [...]

Prepare your child for a move to a new house with this autism social story. Small changes in schedules or environment can be difficult to handle for children with autism. Moving to a new house and perhaps a new city with a new school is no small change and can be very traumatic for a child with autism. Regardless, sometimes a move to a new house or a new city becomes necessary when life takes a turn like when a parent changes jobs or gets transferred. Some parents find the need to downsize to save money or upsize to [...]

Today May 14th is Apraxia Awareness Day. I guess you can say that Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) is somewhat rare because it is a motor speech disorder that affects 1 to 2 out of 1000 children, but it’s not rare to us at Kidmunicate. We see children with CAS all the time. And it is certainly not a rare problem for the parents who have children dealing with the issue. It's an every day reality for them. CAS is a disorder that makes it difficult for children to speak intelligibly. You may be surprised to learn that a [...]

We were impressed with Spark Cards for speech and language development. The nice folks at SPARK Innovations sent us a box of Spark cards to review. We are always looking for fun and engaging materials to keep our speech therapy on the cutting edge, so we gladly accepted the offer. We were not paid for our opinion. According to SPARK Innovations product description on Amazon, SPARK stands for Sentence Formation and Predicting, Answering Questions, Retelling Skills and Knowledge of Basic Concepts. I would add the following S - Sequencing P - Problem Solving A - Analyzing situations R - [...]

A Social Story Dining Out - How to prepare your child for a meal in a restaurant. Mindy is a mom of a son who is not on the autism spectrum but does have speech and behavioral issues. She wants to go out and enjoy a meal in a restaurant with her entire family, but typically avoids it because of her son's problems coping in a restaurant. Eating in a restaurant is typically an indulgence, but going to a restaurant is often a necessity. Did you know that according to a Gallup Poll 45% of Americans eat in a restaurant 1 [...]

Use Arts and Crafts to Practice Speech at Home Speech pathologists often use arts and crafts for speech therapy. It's a colorful and creative way to engage a child while they practice receptive and expressive language skills. Why arts and crafts for speech therapy? For years, Kidmunicate speech pathologists have been incorporating naturalistic methods like art therapy into their treatment plans. We often use arts and crafts for speech therapy to address receptive and expressive language issues. Receptive language is the component of speech that refers to an individual’s ability to comprehend language, while expressive concerns the ability to communicate [...]

Kindergarten Readiness Classes Forming Now - Starting Week of July 9, 2018 Parents of children who we treat for speech, language and social disorders asked us to develop a Kindergarten Readiness Program to give their kids a little head start. So we did just that and we are opening it up for any kid who might need it. Enroll in the Kidmunicate Kindergarten Readiness Program Developed by a Certified Educator and Speech Pathologist. The Kidmunicate Kindergarten Readiness Program will consist of educationally engaging activities to prepare children for what's to come in Kindergarten. Children will have the opportunity to socialize [...]

Why Art Therapy Benefits Mental Health In Children Nearly 1 in 12 American children have an impairment related to language and speech – with an average of three in every classroom. According to a study by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, art therapy improves the ability of children to engage in meaningful behavior, such as language, speech, and intelligibility. Following a directive approach in speech therapy requires structure, depending on the style. For directive style, the speech therapist may raise up an object, name it, and ask the child to repeat. In contrast, the naturalistic method focuses on [...]

A mother of a 6 year old son with autism wanted help preparing her son to be a big brother. Lots of therapy and sticking to a routine have really helped her first son cope and manage life fairly well at home, at school and in the community. The mom, pregnant and due in 4 months, is afraid that the new addition to their family may cause her son with autism to relapse. She is the inspiration for this Autism Social Story: Preparing to be a big brother. Like all moms with children on the autism spectrum, she likes to [...]