Bloom Wildflowers Therapy PLLC

10/03/2024

I still can’t really put into words everything that’s happened since Friday. If you are unaware I live outside Boone in one of the areas hit hard by the Hurricane. I am safe and was very lucky. But the situation in western NC continues to be catastrophic.

For anyone reading, the need for help and resources for WNC is immense.

I have an ongoing list of information and ways to help in my highlights called “WNC relief”. There you can find places to donate, remember even small amounts make a difference.

And a free way to help is to continue to report and share what is happening right now.

If you are in the Boone, Vilas, Sugar Grove, Valle Cruses area be sure to follow as they are providing daily updates on places to donate and receive resources.

Keep WNC in your thoughts, we are devastated.

08/02/2024

05/22/2024

Why these questions are important
📖 It helps kids remember the good moments that happened, even if school is somewhere that doesn’t often feel like a happy place
📖 It helps remind them of the progress they have made. It doesn’t focus on a grade or a number, but on improvement. On growth.
📖 It allows kids to talk about skills they now have, even if they seem small or aren’t measured by a state test.
📖 It helps them think about the future. About what they want to change or keep doing next year.

These questions also can give me as an SLP or other educators so much information! Sometimes I notice a trend in what my students loved reading or doing or learning in speech. Or I hear them talk about what they didn’t like or what was hard which can helps as I plan for the next year. I can also write down the goals they have for themselves and start with reviewing them when they get back in the fall.

What questions do you ask at the end of the year? Are there questions I’ve listed that you plan to use? Let me know in the comments 🙌🏽

04/12/2024

Honestly we could be twins.

Though this furball is obviously superior. I can only DREAM of being this level of unbothered and floofy.

Happy Friday everyone! Don’t forget to be silly this weekend!

Photo courtesy of

🙌

03/20/2024

The majority of kids don’t interrupt or talk over you because of some master plan to drive you bonkers. Most kids have SO many important things to say and have one experience of time. RIGHT NOW. They also struggle to inhibit, to pause between having a thought and saying a thought.

Because I work some in the schools, I rarely see kids 1 on 1. This means treating groups of 2 to 4 kids who all have VERY important things to say. Sometimes I use a plan for not interrupting/waiting turns, etc but that’s not always practical or possible for an entire session.

So I ask this question a lot. And for the majority of kids this encourages them to pause without making them feel bad or telling them “stop it!” Which some students hear way too much already. It also helps build their awareness of WHY they can’t talk the entire session or talk over me or another student. So many kids when I first ask this question are like….yeah. Of course I can do both. Sometimes we have to do a few trials, where they talk and we all talk over them and we go around the group. I’ll see kids have this lightbulb moment of…”Oh. Woah. I guess I can’t do both.”

I often follow this question up with, “Your words are so important to me and I want to hear them. But I can’t hear them if you both talk at the same time.” (Or talk when I’m talking, etc)

Do you use this question in your groups or with clients/students? What other strategies do you use for managing groups of kids who all talk at the same time?

03/20/2024

Listening to some of students talking about how helpful it is to use plans made me want to cry from joy. I’ve had several students ask me how come all the teachers don’t use plans and if I could make them? 😭

FYI these quotes are all from elementary age students, but of course I cannot include their names or ages due to confidentiality. But I didn’t change their words, only added things in parentheses if I thought it might confusing without them.

What have your clients, students or kids said about using plans in therapy? As always seeds of learning community is a treasure trove of how to use plans in therapy, why using plans in therapy is so important as well as example plans.

02/08/2024

When you don’t have anything nice to say, best to post an angry meme and get back to work.

At least for now. Cause boy howdy. Do I not have anything nice to say.

Follow .slp and sign their petition!

02/05/2024

Something I have noticed as I comb through old reports (TRI season) is how uncommon it is to read something positive in a report. I can read multiple reports about a child and have no real sense of who they are, what they like doing, what they are good at, an example of their sentence structure or what they like to play with or talk about.

Here are some easy ways to be sure you include this information

💚 Send a teacher questionnaire with questions such as, “what are the student’s strengths? What does the student like doing in class?”

💚 Include summaries of their highest subtests scores, even if they are below average. This still shows their areas of strength. There are always strengths a child demonstrates, their patience, attention, inhibition, creativity, etc.

During the assessment ask the child questions such as

💚 What do you like to do when you are not at school?

💚 What do you like to do with your friends?

💚 What is your favorite subject in school?

💚 What did you do over (most recent holiday)?

💚 What do like learning about?

💚 What is your favorite (book, movie, food, drink, dessert YouTube creator, TikTok star, comic)?

💚 What is something you like talking about?

💚 What is hard for you (in school, in life)?

I did not always include a child’s strengths in my reports. I was so concerned with including the information required for qualifying students for services. Now I spend so much more time talking to the child, getting to know them, doing a silly activity between formal testing and just chatting. I’ll admit this is easier in the schools because we have more time to test. However even with limited time, it’s important for a child (or adult) to see you making an effort to learn about who they are. Every kid is so much more than a number.

How do you make sure to include a child’s strengths and interests in your reports? Comment below with any questions you have!

11/05/2023

Happy “here comes the darkness” to all who are forced to celebrate 😭🙈🫠

Hope these add a much needed giggle to your weekend!

Here are some things that have helped me in my ongoing journey with sleep as someone with ADHD/insomnia:
⏬ Figure out how much wind down time you need. For me this means trying not to text, use socials, read anything too interesting, work on projects/creative tasks and making my to do list for the next day at least 2 hours before bed. If I’m having a lot of insomnia this time increases
☀️ Get natural light in your eyes as soon as you wake up. If it’s still dark outside, turn on all the lights you can and then go get natural light once the sun rises
🙆🏼‍♀️ Gentle yoga for 5-10 minutes can really help me calm my brain down and helps me actively loosen my muscles or any tightness I’m holding in my body
📵 No screens 2-3 hours before bed. The light from screens messes with the signals your brain need to help you fall asleep.
💃🏼 Try to get 20-30 minutes of cardio or movement most days. This can be a 30 minute walk, you don’t have to be doing CrossFit. But regular exercise helps with sleep.
💤🎶 Listen to meditations or sleep music once you are in bed. has a ton free songs and meditations that are awesome for sleep.

I will dive into more specifics of these tips in upcoming posts along with the research around ones that may sound like malarkey, such as why does morning light help and what is the science behind screens making it harder to sleep.

Post below what tips you already do or which one you might like to try!

10/30/2023

Haunted house ADHD edition! Loving this background, I may just use it every now and then for funsies ☺️

Which haunted house sounds the spookiest to you?! 🧛🏻‍♀️👻😈🎃 🧟‍♂️🌝

09/15/2023

Plus a secret third way but I ain’t telling 🤫

Whatever plans you have for the weekend don’t forget to get the three S’s
☀️Sun
💤Sleep
🙉 So what if I need to, I ain’t doing it!

Which ‘S’ are you doing this weekend ☺️🌻

09/13/2023

SLPs do you use self reflection questions to end your sessions? Teachers, do you have a quick daily review so students can reflect on the day? Parents do you have a routine for helping build your child’s self awareness?

It may seem small and it may even feel awkward at first, but taking a few minutes for these questions can make a huge difference over time. I usually ask 2 questions, one from second slide and one from the third.

Some children will need scaffolding because any reflection requires working memory. So they may need support about what they did or more frequent check ins during the session.

How do you end your sessions? Do you use these questions already? Comment with a 🤔 if you plan to try one this week!