Care to Communicate Speech and Language Services

21/09/2020

Check out these programs being offered virtually by The George Hull EarlyON Centre! Your little one can join the fun from your own home :)

🚨Check out our Online Calendar 🚨

📣We have added NEW and MORE programs including Spanish Circle Coffee Chat and Saturday programs🌞

Our virtual interactive circles and activities are through Zoom.us!

Brought to you from our homes to yours🌞

15/04/2020

This is one of my favourite books to use in therapy! 📚❤️ I have it at my finger tips for almost every session. Kids never get tired of it and there are so many ways this book can grow as the child’s skills progress. ⁣
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Here are some tips for book reading that I use when I read ‘Dear Zoo’:⁣
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1. Don’t worry too much about reading the actual story. Think about using words that will be motivating for your child to say - open, bye bye, animal noises.⁣
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2. Use repetitive language. I read the story the same way every time. Your child will soon start to anticipate the word that’s coming and maybe try to say it themselves. ⁣
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3. Use gestures. When I read this book, we wave bye bye to each animal. Your child may start to use a gesture before they can say the word! ⁣
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4. Wait! Once your child knows the routine of the story, you can start to wait for them to say the words or fill in the blanks. ⁣
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Check out my story to get a little peek at these tips in action! ⁣
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⁣ @ Toronto, Ontario

09/04/2020

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Just sitting here thinking about my clients. 💭⁣
Some of my clients have continued with telepractice and some have been unable to for a variety of reasons. Some days I just get so overwhelmed by all the things I want to say to my kids and their families. ⁣
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Ultimately, I hope they all know:⁣
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❤️I miss them and I will be back⁣
🧡I think about them everyday, I am wondering how they are doing, and I am still here for them ⁣
💛Whatever they are doing to manage right now is enough ⁣
💚I am working hard to make sure their child has access to the services they need⁣
💙I am learning new things that will make me even better at supporting their child ⁣
💜We are in this together ⁣
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Anyone else feeling all of the feels today? What do you hope your clients know?⁣
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03/04/2020

It’s the end of my second week of telepractice! 💻Things have been going really well and I have had lots of great sessions working on a variety of goals. ⁣
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Curious what teletherapy looks like? How do I work with kids over video calls? I have been doing a mix of screen based activities and real toy activities. I have found both to be equally effective and sometimes it just depends what the child is most interested in. ⁣
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Check out some of my go to activities from the past two weeks:⁣
1. Make a Pizza🍕 (www.abcya.com)⁣
2. Blocks 🏙⁣
3. Make A Crossword 🔡 (www.abcya.com)⁣
4. Mr. Potato Head 👀👃🏻👅⁣
5. Articulation Say and Find 🔍 ()⁣
6. What’s in the Egg? Boom Cards🥚 ()⁣
7. Books📚⁣
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Check out my stories to hear a quick run down of how I’ve used each of these activities in telepractice! ⁣
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@ Toronto, Ontario

16/03/2020

09/03/2020

Therapy activities aren’t always fancy and they don’t need to be! Today my friend really wanted to play with my bucket of erasers. So I quickly drew a bunch of lines on a piece of of paper and all a sudden we had “homes” for our erasers and we practiced our target words each time we picked out an eraser from the bucket and gave it a home. Therapy is about finding what motivates the child and going with it.

02/03/2020

New week, new therapy sessions! This is a really simple activity that kids love. Something about the magnet wand is super fun and motivating. Put the magnetic chips in an ice cube try and all of a sudden, it’s even more fun! 😄⁣
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I’m using visuals to support two word combinations using prepositions. Every animal has to go “in” and then every animals has to come “out”. ⁣
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“Lion out” 🦁 ⁣
“Frog out” 🐸⁣
“Dog out” 🐶⁣
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Each time we take an animal out, we get to do some magic (🧲) and get the animal’s chips! ⁣
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What fun activities do you have planned this week?? ⁣
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Visuals: .type.b.slp
Animals: .love.speech

18/02/2020

Today’s is once again inspired by a session this week. The strategy is WAITING 🤚🏻 - it is a pretty simple strategy, but it can be SO powerful. ⁣
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Many times throughout the day, you as a parent and caregiver are doing things for and giving things to your child. Have you ever tried to wait to see what happens if you don’t give it to them right away? By waiting just a few seconds, you are creating an opportunity for your child to communicate with you! Here are some tips for waiting to encourage communication:⁣
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1. Wait during familiar routines. Songs and people games (e.g tickling, peekaboo, chase) are awesome times to wait because children love these activities and are familiar with how they go. They are motivated to fill in the familiar word in the song or ask you to tickle them again. ⁣
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2. Wait expectantly - use your facial expression to indicate you are waiting excitedly for something to happen. ⁣
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3. Be okay with some silence - it is okay if there is a few seconds of silence! If you have waited 5 seconds and your child didn’t use the word, simply give them the item and continue on. It might not happen right away.⁣
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4. Model the word you want your child to use. If you’re child wants a cracker, model the word “cracker” then wait. ⁣
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Check out my story to hear about the success I had during a session using the waiting strategy this week (Spoiler alert: a child said their first word!). ⁣
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Give waiting a try and let me know how it goes! 👍🏻 If you have any questions about how to use this strategy - my Messages are always open. ⁣
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17/02/2020

Happy Family Day!⁣
👩‍👩‍👦‍👦👨‍👨‍👦‍👦👩‍👦‍👦👨‍👦‍👦👨‍👩‍👧‍👧👩‍👩‍👧‍👧👨‍👨‍👧‍👧👨‍👧‍👧👨‍👩‍👦👩‍👩‍👦👨‍👨‍👦👨‍👩‍👧👩‍👩‍👧👩‍👧⁣
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I am working today which means I get to spend my day with 5 amazing families! ⁣
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When I plan my day, I use this template to plan each session and to record my session notes. The notes gets transferred to my electronic system either in my car between sessions or when I get home. 🚗🏠 As a therapist who does home visits, I think it’s really important to have a quick and easy way to document notes in your session because you don’t have an office you can use in between sessions to scribble down your notes. ⁣
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I like this template because it allows me to track the session based on the child’s goals. Sometimes I am targeting multiple goals in each activity. When I look at my notes, I am able to see how the child did with that goal over the whole session. I write my session activities at the top and attach any handouts, activities or visuals needed. I pull the paper out when I get to the child’s home and I am ready to go!! ⁣
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There are so many different ways to plan and document sessions and I think each therapist as their own way that works best for them. ⁣
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What’s your favourite to plan and document your day??📚✏️⁣
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14/02/2020

❤️Value Village is my Valentine!❤️⁣
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I stopped in at Value Village (a thrift store) today and found some awesome toys and games for therapy that have me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside!⁣
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1. Yeti in My Spaghetti - perfect for working on s-blends! ⁣
2. The Cupcake Game - great for vocabulary, increasing sentence length, and using speech sounds in phrases.⁣
3. Farm - great for those little ones working on early vocabulary and play. ⁣
4. Chutes and Ladders - a classic game for my school age kids. ⁣
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I got all of this for under $20.00!! If you are a parent or therapist looking for toys, don’t forget to check your local thrift shop - you can stumble upon so many goodies!! ⁣
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Check out my stories for a more in depth look at these toys and how to use them!!💗⁣
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09/02/2020

It’s Valentine’s Day on Friday and that means some themed activities this week!! ❤️💗❤️Here is my sensory bin ready to go! I have just recently started using sensory bins more often and I am SO excited to try this one out. Do you use sensory bins in therapy❓

@ Village Park Paediatrics

07/01/2020

“You can get these toys at Value Village.”... YES YOU CAN!! 🙌🏻🙌🏻⁣
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Today’s is all about toys and is inspired by the MANY conversations I have had with parents over the past month about how to choose toys for their child. Parents tell me often how confused and stressed they are about trying to choose the latest and greatest in “educational” toys. Playtime shouldn’t cause stress and doesn’t need to cost a lot of money! 🚫⁣
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When parents see the toys I use, they are often surprised that my therapy toys are “simple”, “old school”, or “could be found at a thrift store”. 😲 I choose these toys on purpose! You don’t need fancy electronic toys for your child to learn. In fact, many simple toys provide ideal opportunities for modelling language. Your child will be interested in the toy because you make it fun! ⁣
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📚 Research has actually shown that better language modelling and interaction occurs when children are playing with more traditional toys compared to electronic toys. When you’re child is interacting with you, they are are paying attention to your language!⁣
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So, this is me giving you permission to let go of the pressure to buy the most elaborate educational toys. Next time you’re at the toy store, opt for something simple and then brainstorm all the wonderful words you can model during play. Most importantly, have fun!! 🤗⁣
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If you have any questions about toys for your little one and want to hear more of my suggestions, comment here or send a message. ⁣
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06/12/2019

I stumbled upon this game at a Christmas Bazaar and it is an absolute hit with my school age clients! 😃⁣
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It’s called Quick Cups...flip a card from the deck, stack your cups to match the colours on the card, and ring the bell as quick as you can!⏩ ⁣
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My clients love beating me and the game is so fun they have no problem practicing their speech sounds in between each round. ⁣
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Fun + lots of practice opportunities = therapy session mission accomplished!! 🙌🏻⁣
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04/12/2019

December has begun, which for many families brings the return of Elf on The Shelf! Check out this post for some ideas to use language boosting strategies with Elf on the Shelf!

Loved by some, despised by a few (or many😂) the
🎅🎄ELF on the SHELF🎄🎅
offers excellent repetitive language opportunities for toddlers and their families.
25 days of waking up to locate those mischievous little elves naturally provides lots of repetitive modeling of short phrases which toddlers need to practice and learn language.
Have fun with these phrases! Model saying them with exaggerated tone and inflection in your voice. Sing them like a song and add gestures too! Happy Elf hunting!!

03/12/2019

Hey Toronto Families...A parent just told me a little bit of information that I think is worth sharing...You can get an adult year long pass (unlimited visits!😲) to the Ripley's Aquarium for just $80 (that's the cost of 2 visits). Children under 3 are free and children ages 3-5 are $25 (for the whole year!!!). If you go more than twice a year or want to make it a more regular part of your outings with your kids - this is GREAT to know!!

Families are always asking about things to do with their children. I love the aquarium. Personally, I am a bit of an aquarium nerd and in terms of language development - there is SO MUCH to talk about at the aquarium.

🐠🦀🐳🦞🦈🦑🐬🐙🐡🦈🐳

An aquarium pass could be a pretty awesome Christmas gift for that parent and tot duo in your life. 🤗

28/11/2019

“How long will my child need speech therapy?” is a question I get from almost every new client. It’s a very fair question to ask, but the answer isn’t as straightforward. Check this video out for a great explanation!

26/11/2019

I love using songs and nursery rhymes during speech therapy! So many kids are motivated by music. It is also a simple activity that parents can do at home. But, how does singing songs help develop language? ⁣
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🎵 Most songs are repetitive - children hear the same words every time you sing the same song ⁣
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🎵Lots of children’s songs incorporate basic concepts and simple verbs. Children can build their understanding of these words through song.⁣ ⁣

🎵 Songs use rhyming words - understanding rhyming words is an early literacy skill⁣
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🎵 You can add actions - this gives children a way to participate when they don’t yet have the words. Gestures are an important stepping stone in developing language. Songs are a great way to increase gesture use. ⁣
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So this weeks : Next time you’re wondering what to do with your little one, break out your best rendition of ‘Wheels On the Bus’! ⁣
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26/11/2019

I love using songs and nursery rhymes during speech therapy! So many kids are motivated by music. It is also a simple activity that parents can do at home. But, how does singing songs help develop language? ⁣
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🎵 Most songs are repetitive - children hear the same words every time you sing the same song ⁣
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🎵Lots of children’s songs incorporate basic concepts and simple verbs. Children can build their understanding of these words through song.⁣
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🎵 Songs use rhyming words - understanding rhyming words is an early literacy skill⁣
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🎵 You can add actions - this gives children a way to participate when they don’t yet have the words. Gestures are an important stepping stone in developing language. Songs are a great way to increase gesture use. ⁣
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So this weeks : Next time you’re wondering what to do with your little one, break out your best rendition of ‘Wheels On the Bus’! ⁣
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