Cozy Corner Speech & Feeding Therapy

08/07/2022

07/13/2022

Tips for encouraging intentional communication.

A big developmental step happens when young children learn to send messages intentionally – that is, when they learn to communicate directly to someone to achieve a specific goal. Find out what parents of children with communication delays can do to encourage their child’s intentional communication.

https://bit.ly/3a2hium

07/12/2022

06/16/2022

Good read for parents and therapists working with kids experiencing feeding difficulties/food aversion.

I wrote this as an answer to a question on the blog and decided to expand it and post it because I think these are some very important point...

06/14/2022

Read this to learn about when your child should start combining words and use short sentences.

It’s a major milestone in language development when children start to combine words, like “big bus”, “I want cookie”, or “come Mommy.” This big step allows children to express more than one idea at a time, and it suddenly becomes easier to figure out what they’re trying to tell us! F...

06/14/2022

Great tips for encouraging and teaching a child how to start combining words to make sentences!

Most children start combining words into sentences somewhere around 30 months old, though this may happen a bit later for children with language delays. Whether your child is typically developing or has a delay, there are specific ways you can talk to your child to encourage this big step in languag...

06/14/2022

Speech and language skills typical for birth to one year old.

Children develop at their own rate. Your child might not have all skills until the end of the age range.

06/10/2022

Tips for drinking from a straw.

🥤Teaching your little one to drink from a straw, but she keeps coughing? Not uncommon, but if it persists after 2 weeks of straw-drinking practice, it’s best to consult with your pediatrician. Try these tips first:

✨Kids needs stability when practicing any fine motor skills & straw-drinking is a fine motor skill! Make sure they are positioned in their chair so that their feet rest on something, their knees are bent & back upright. That stable trunk is what makes the swallow work in a timely fashion, closing off the airway to let liquid trickle right past the route to the lungs!

✨The thickness of the liquid is important too. That’s why, if you download my Ten Steps to Teaching Kids to Drink from a Straw (melaniepotock.com - scroll free downloads) we start with puree via straw & not milk or even water.

✨The diameter of the straw is crucial. Try a super skinny straw instead. I love the straws that come from – bendable, clear and wider on the outside for little puckers, but skinny inside to better control the flow. Just search “honey bear straws” at www.talktools.com

✨Don’t do what you see in the pic: A big glass with a random long straw on the highchair tray for beginners. Having to suck up that much air before getting any liquid makes little kids “burpy” & that can cause coughing. When kids bring the cup up to their mouths with short straw, they get much less air, and they don’t have to suck so long to get a drink.

✨When kids bring the cup/straw up to their mouths, rather than bend down to place their mouth wayyy down there on the straw, the airway (trachea) & the tube-for-food (esophagus) are in “just right” alignment for less coughing. A slight chin tuck is fine for kids who don’t have medical issues, but bending way over
is never a good idea.

06/04/2022

Need help with how to address social skills? This is a great resource!

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06/03/2022

Cozy Corner has no waiting list and has immediate openings for evaluations and therapy! Contact Heather for more information and a free phone consultation to see if Cozy Corner is the best fit for you and your child.