Carly Axani SLP

Carly Axani SLP Hi! I'm Carly! I am a Registered Speech-Language Pathologist who has been working with children and their families for over 10 years.

I offer fun, functional and family-centered SLP services for children in the Edmonton area.

05/22/2026

A five-year-old with a dyslexia diagnosis.

You might be thinking “wow, that’s early…”

We should be thinking:

👉 “Wow, that’s incredible information.”

Because for far too long, we’ve been told to wait.

Wait until Grade 2.
Wait until they fall *2 grade levels* behind.
Wait until they’re frustrated.

But here’s the truth:

We often see the signs of dyslexia years before a child is expected to read.

Things like:
• difficulty with rhyming
• trouble learning letter names and sounds
• speech sound delays
• difficulty blending sounds
• family history of reading challenges

These are not things to ignore.

They are early indicators.

And early identification matters—because early intervention changes everything.

When we provide:
✔ explicit
✔ systematic
✔ evidence-based literacy instruction

We can change the trajectory of a child’s entire academic experience.

Not just their reading.

👉 Their confidence.
👉 Their identity as a learner.
👉 Their belief in themselves.

Because the goal is not to wait for failure.

The goal is to prevent it.

A child does not need to struggle for years before they deserve support.

⸻

Save this if you’ve ever been told to “wait and see”
Follow for more Talk Nerdy To Me content

⸻

📚 Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity; National Center on Improving Literacy; Sanfilippo et al. (2020)

05/20/2026

Things your child should know before the end of kindergarten:
1. the names of all uppercase and lowercase letters
2. the sounds those letters make
3. and ideally… be understood when they speak

And I say this with so much love… This is not “extra,” this is the foundation for the HUGE shift of grade 1.

We move from:
learning through play
to
learning through reading and writing

Kids are expected to:
• start reading words
• write simple sentences
• follow more complex instructions
• and interact more independently with peers

And if those foundational skills aren’t there, everything feels harder.

Not because your child isn’t capable.
But because we’re asking them to build on skills that aren’t solid yet.

⸻

The good news?

☀️ The summer is a PERFECT window.

No pressure.
No report cards.
Just a little bit of intentional support can go a long way.

This might look like:
• practicing letter sounds in play
• building early reading skills
• getting support for speech sound development

Because early intervention has the biggest impact.

But it’s also never too late.

The goal isn’t perfection before Grade 1.

The goal is giving your child a strong enough foundation that they can access learning with confidence.

⸻

If something feels off, trust that instinct.

You don’t need to wait.

⸻

Save this if you have a child heading into Grade 1 and follow along for more speech, language and literacy content from your SLP mom bestie ❤️

05/19/2026

Everyone wants to start with the “easiest” thing.

The easiest sound.
The easiest book.
The easiest step.

But what if that’s actually slowing your child down?

In speech and language, we have something called complexity theory.

And it tells us something really important:

👉 When we target more complex skills, we often see growth in simpler ones.

So instead of always starting with the easiest, earliest developing sounds…
we sometimes start with more complex, later-developing sounds.

And here’s the wild part:

👉 The earlier sounds often fall into place.

Less drilling.
More generalization.

And this doesn’t just apply to speech.

It applies to reading too.

If we only give kids simple, controlled text…

they don’t learn how to handle real language.

But when we expose them to:
• richer vocabulary
• more complex sentence structures

👉 we build systems that transfer downward

Now—this doesn’t mean we skip the basics.

Kids still need:
✔ explicit instruction
✔ strong foundations
✔ support

But if we only ever stay “easy”…

we may be limiting their progress, and creating a ceiling for their progress.

Because the goal isn’t just accuracy in therapy.

👉 It’s generalization in real life.

⸻

Save this if this challenged how you think about intervention (or comment with a 🤓 if it changed how you think about literacy intervention) and please hit FOLLOW for more Talk Nerdy To Me content

05/13/2026

Reading support WITHOUT writing support?
You’re missing half the picture 📚

Reading and writing are not separate skills.

They are the same language system, just in different directions.

👉 Reading = receptive written language
👉 Writing = expressive written language

And just like with spoken language…

Kids will almost always:
• understand more than they can say
• read at a higher level than they can write

That’s normal.

But here’s what’s not helpful:

Focusing only on reading and hoping writing will “catch up.”

Because the research is actually really clear on this:

👉 When we teach writing, reading improves.

Not just a little.

We see gains in:
• reading comprehension
• word reading
• fluency

Because writing forces kids to:
• organize their language
• think about sounds and spelling
• build sentences that actually make sense

It’s where everything comes together.

So if we want strong readers?

We need:
✔ explicit, systematic instruction in reading
✔ explicit, systematic instruction in writing

Always.

Not later.
Not once they’re “ready.”

👉 Together.

Because literacy is language.
And language goes both ways.

⸻

Save this if this shifted how you think about literacy support
Follow for more Talk Nerdy To Me content ❤️

Graham, S., & Hebert, M. (2011). Writing to read: A meta-analysis of the impact of writing and writing instruction on reading. Harvard Educational Review, 81(4), 710–744. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.81.4.t2k0m13756113566 

Graham, S., & Hebert, M. (2010). Writing to read: Evidence for how writing can improve reading. Carnegie Corporation of New York.

05/12/2026

One of the easiest ways to get more speech practice in your day… without adding anything extra?

👉 Rename the toys.

If your child is working on a specific sound, start naming their favourite toys with that sound built in.

Because more opportunities to model = more opportunities to practice
And more practice = faster progress

Today these unicorns have been:
Bluey, Blacky, Bling Bling, Flippy, and Floppi 🦄
AND
Rose, Rocky, Ricki, Rolo and Rudey 🦄

Is it a little ridiculous? Yes.
Does it work? Also yes.

Why this is so powerful:
🦄 You’re giving your child more natural exposures to their target sound
🦄 You’re modeling it correctly over and over
🦄 And you’re making it fun and motivating, not drill-based

Because kids don’t learn best when they’re forced to repeat words…

👉 They learn when they’re engaged, laughing, and actually want to say it.

So don’t be afraid to get a little silly with it.

Your child won’t remember the worksheet.
They will remember Floppi the unicorn.

⸻

Save this for your next play session
Follow for more easy, evidence-based speech tips

04/29/2026

We’ve gotten really good at teaching kids how to read words.

But not nearly as good at teaching them how to understand them.

And that’s where things start to break down.

Because once texts get more complex, sounding out words is no longer enough.

👉 This is where morphology comes in.

Morphology is the study of the meaningful parts of words—prefixes, suffixes, and root words.

And here’s what the research tells us:

Children with strong morphological awareness are better at:
• reading unfamiliar words
• spelling complex words
• understanding what they read

Because they don’t rely on memorization.

👉 They rely on meaning.

So when a child sees a word like preview, they don’t need to be taught it explicitly.

They can think:
• pre = before
• view = to see

And figure it out.

That’s how vocabulary grows.

Not from memorizing thousands of words…

👉 but from understanding how words are built.

And this matters more and more as students move into later elementary and beyond, where the majority of new words are morphologically complex.

This is not instead of phonics.

It’s what comes next.

Phonics helps children read the word.
Morphology helps them understand it.

And when we explicitly teach both?

👉 That’s when reading really takes off.

⸻

Save this if this added a new layer to how you think about reading 📚
Follow for more Talk Nerdy To Me content ❤️

04/20/2026

We talk a lot about how speech sound disorders impact reading and spelling…

But can we talk about what happens at recess?
At birthday parties?
When a child tries to tell a story and no one quite understands?

Because that’s the part that stays with them.

I see it all the time—
kids who are bright, funny, and full of ideas…
who slowly start to talk less.

Not because they don’t have something to say—
but because it’s hard when you have to repeat yourself…
or when people move on before you finish.

And the research backs this up.
Speech sound difficulties are associated with challenges in:
• peer relationships
• social participation
• and overall communication confidence

(Henry & Brent, 2026)

This is why early support matters so much.

We’re not just working on “sounds.”
We’re supporting:
✨ confidence
✨ connection
✨ your child’s voice being heard

If your gut is telling you something isn’t quite right—trust it.

You’re not overreacting.
You’re advocating.

✨ Share with a parent who needs to hear this
✨ Follow for more Nerdy (aka evidence-based) content

Address

6105 Currents Drive NW
Southwest Edmonton, AB
T6W2Z4

Telephone

+17808504327

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Carly Axani SLP posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to Carly Axani SLP:

Shortcuts

Share

Category