Brighten Therapy - Speech, Language & Feeding

02/17/2026

How did a whole year fly by?! 🥹 The first year is HUGE—for your baby and for you.

If you’re at (or near) 12 months and wondering about speech, here’s the quick version 👇

✨ Understanding: follows simple directions (“come here,” “stop”), chooses between two items, looks for familiar people/things when named.

✨ Talking: has 1–2 consistent words (signs, exclamations, and animal or car sounds count!), lots of babble that sounds like their own language.

✨ Social: points, reaches, shows you things, plays simple back-and-forth games.

✨ Literacy: explores sturdy books (chewing allowed 😉).

Milestones are skills 90% of kids can do by this age. If something feels off, trust your gut—early support never hurts.

Questions about your 12-month-old? DM me .speech 💛

02/16/2026

Verbal routines are incredibly powerful!

Singing songs, reading familiar stories, and doing little rhymes or melodies along to your daily routines will help your little one pick up on words FASTER than if they simply hear you talking.

Verbal routines also work better to elicit language than asking questions!

For example… if you say repeatedly “Cow says moo!” on the same page of a story, it’ll be easier for your child to complete the missing word if you say “Cow says…” than to answer the question “What does the cow say?”

I’ll be posting some examples of how I use verbal routines with my little man soon… so follow along if you’d like to see this in action!

02/01/2026

Imitation is FOUNDATIONAL for learning to talk!

So if your baby isn’t copying any of your words before 12 months… they’re not going to be meeting that first word milestone 😬

Imitation develops in a sequence like any other skill, and usually slower simpler movements are achieved before more complex ones. Exclamations are a great way to make talking a little simpler!

You might also want to work on imitating facial expressions, simple sounds (cough, sh, grunts), and signs or gestures to build on imitation skills before targeting words.

If these tips aren’t helping your little one, please make an appointment with an SLP. Imitation is important so it’s best to get early intervention if we’ll need to work on it! 🚩🚩

Book with us online at the link in our bio! In person support in Calgary or virtual anywhere in Alberta 🌎

01/29/2026

I can’t count how many times I’ve seen this work FIRST TRY! Sometimes it really is that simple.

But full disclosure knowing how slow to go and when to reinforce participation is individual for every kid and can sometimes be tricky to decide.

If you want to see and practice your language strategies with a speech therapist we’re happy to help!

We can coach you in person at our Calgary location or even online as we watch you play with your child. And those sessions are covered by most insurance plans!

If you’re going to try this at home, my son’s favourite is Wheels on the Bus 🚌🎶✨

01/19/2026

Babies should have one true word by 12 months… but you’d be surprised about what counts!

Some of my son’s “words” at that age included doing a sniff for bunnies, using his finger as a toothbrush, and saying duck (and about 15 other words) as “buh”

Now if your child *truly* does not have any of these at 12 months we do recommend their development be monitored by an SLP. We can let you know if or when to be concerned, so you can focus on enjoying your child now… no matter where their skills are at!

01/17/2026

The best books for your little ones are the ones on the floor!

As you can see, we SLPs would rather books get demolished from being a little over-loved than kept safe and out of reach.

What’s your child’s most well-loved and slightly destroyed book?

02/10/2023

The ICFQ is used as a quick screening tool to determine if your little one’s picky eating is within the normal range or if it would be best to consult a feeding therapist.

This DOES NOT necessarily mean your child will need ongoing feeding therapy…

But it does make sure that all the kids who WILL need help get caught early!

It’s always better to send families in for an appointment and have them leave with confidence their child is okay rather than waiting until it’s obvious a problem won’t resolve on its own.

Tools like the ICFQ help with that!

02/07/2023

TWO things HAVE to be in place for your child to eat:

1. They have to be able to chew and swallow the food you're giving them. If your child can't use their tongue and jaw in a coordinated fashion to grind down the food really well, they're NOT going to enjoy eating it!

2. They have to have acclimatized to all the sensory information they get from being around that food... So what does that mean exactly?

New scents, tastes, and textures often give our bodies kind of a WHOA *pulls back* reaction. Think of the first time you drank alcohol or tried some weird new health fad (I'm looking at you, ACV shots).

For kids, they don't have the ability to override this reaction in the name of *health*. We need to EASE them into it but letting them see, smell, touch, take TINY tastes, and spit out foods before we ever expect that they'll actually eat anything.

Shoot for 10 exposures before you ever start to encourage your child to put something new in their mouth (and even then, just licking counts too!)

Want to know more about what can cause this range to narrow for some kids?

Check out the link in bio for our latest blog about the causes picky eating + how you can help!

02/01/2023

‼️ You know your little eater ‼️

There’s this funny misleading statistic that makes it look like parents cause picky eating.

It’s even been a CNN headline: “Picky eating linked to demanding parents”... but let’s dig into this! 🧐

There’s no debating that picky eaters are more likely to have parents who are super stressed around food and demand their child eat. And kids with great eating habits usually have parents who are relaxed at meals and never pressure the child.

But that doesn’t mean parents cause pickiness you guys! 😫

PICKINESS CAUSES STRESS FOR PARENTS.

When your kid is not eating, you start to exert some pressure on them to eat. You start to demand they eat and police foods because you’re worried!

And parents, research shows your worries are valid! A parent’s level of concern is the best predictor of how severe that child’s picky eating will become.

You know your little person, and if you’re worried that’s the best reason to get help RIGHT NOW.

01/30/2023

Parents don’t cause picky eating... But parent responses CAN minimize the likelihood of pickiness persisting!

When a parent can understand the cause of their child’s food refusal and set reasonable expectations, little ones can begin to have positive feeding experiences.

Check out our blog to learn more!

Parents don’t cause picky eating or create problem feeders, but parents can respond to these issues in a way that minimizes the likelihood of them persisting. When a parent can understand the cause of their child’s food refusal and set reasonable expectations, their child can begin to have posit...

12/07/2022

🛑 PARENTS! STOP. TESTING.

Do you want to talk to someone who watches over your work and asks you questions to see if you know what you're doing?

NO!

Do you like having a conversation with a friend and being peppered with questions about a topic you don't really even want to discuss?

NO!

So can we please stop doing this to our kids?

Kids hear us use MORE language when we are playing with them and sharing our thoughts and ideas... and they use MORE language in return!

Focus on being FUN and SILLY with your little one, that's where the best learning really happens!

11/21/2022

😤 UGH. Who thought of this?!

The noise-level of toys is deemed safe if it won't cause hearing loss at an ADULT arm's length.

But anyone who has seen kids play knows that they get way WAY closer than that!!

Yet another thing where parents are entirely responsible for keeping kids safe...

Test the sound level of your toys to know which batteries to remove ASAP

(or use my rule of thumb: if you think it's too loud, it's probably too loud)

Please share this info with other parents and anyone who might be buying some toys as gifts this year!

SILENT. IS. BEST.