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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 [...]

Collaboration and Communication for Children with Cerebral Palsy. While the medical and research communities are diligently looking for ways to prevent cerebral palsy (CP) by identifying the preventable risks, developing prevention measures and educating the public, others are working hard to help people live with it. Since cerebral palsy, the most common childhood motor disability, often affects speech, Kidmunicate wants to help too. We can do our part by helping children with cerebral palsy communicate with more confidence and by informing our readers about the disorder. One person working hard to help people live with cerebral palsy is Alex [...]

Want to Make your kids smarter and more confident? Here's how At Kidmunicate Pediatric Speech Therapy, our goal is to help children become more skilled and confident communicators which we believe makes them smarter. We recently found a great infographic (below) called 101 ways to make your kids smarter. What we especially like about this list is that many of the tips help improve communication skills. Increasing a child's skill and confidence at communicating has countless benefits. A child who can communicate verbally will find it easier with the written word, and will therefore perform better in school. A strong [...]

Delay the use of touch screen electronics for your baby or risk speech delay. A new study has found a link between the use of handheld devices by babies and speech delay. The study was presented at the 2017 Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting. The research studied the correlation between speech delay and time spent by children between ages six months and two years with handheld electronics (smartphones, tablets and electronic games). Of the study group of 1,070 kids, about 70% of the children had no handheld screen time and 20% spent an average of 28 minutes per day using handheld, touch screen [...]