Tandem Speech Therapy

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Tandem Speech Therapy

Working in TANDEM to grow your child’s speech and language skills through individualized care and She is now the owner of Tandem Speech Therapy.

Emily Cohen, M.A CCC-SLP is the founder of the Tandem Speech Therapy, a pediatric speech therapy practice serving the south and central Austin areas. Emily moved from Michigan to Austin, Texas in late 2009 with her dog, Bentley. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Special Education from Indiana University–Bloomington. She then went on to receive her Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology f

rom Eastern Michigan University. Emily spent 3 years working in special education classrooms and the last 8 years working in a variety of pediatric therapy settings with children birth to 18 years. Emily provides play- based and family centered speech therapy for toddlers and preschoolers, as well as services for school-aged children. Emily Cohen, MA, CCC-SLP is Hanen certified in their ‘It Takes Two to Talk’ program. This program’s focus is on caregiver education and methods to encourage speech and language skills. It is a foundational skill for the services Emily provides.

22/11/2023

Did you know in February 2021, gave my favorite spud-tastic toy an updated name?⁠
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While not all packaging may reflect this change, you can buy The Potato Head Family and let your child's creativity bloom. The boxed set I have seen (link in bio) is great if you've been following along with my tips for sets with multiple potatoes and a variety of parts.⁠
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This month's Playing With Purpose™️ pick is great for working on:⁠
🥔 body part names⁠
🥔 clothing item names⁠
🥔 color concepts (when age-appropriate)⁠
🥔 locations in/out or on/off⁠
🥔 asking/answering questions⁠
🥔 social skills⁠
🥔 collaborative play⁠
🥔 following directions⁠
🥔 object labeling & identification⁠
🥔 expanding sentence length⁠
🥔 action words (verbs)⁠
AND MORE ⁠
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What is your favorite way to support development with Potato Head?⁠⁠⁠⁠
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21/11/2023

There are other adjustments we can make when shifting to a Playing With Purpose™️ mindset. The other day I talked about communication temptations. Playing With Purpose™️ is a shift in our awareness and tweaks to how we interact with kids and the words we choose.⁠
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Kids learn to problem solve by us giving them opportunities to safely 'fail.' So instead of jumping in to help your child push the parts into the potato body, give them an opportunity to try it on their own. This is, in a way, a communication temptation for our youngest kids who may not have the strength and coordination to do it on their own. By waiting, we give them an opportunity to initiate communication--at their level--and 'ask' us for help.⁠
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The desire to communicate with others must come from within. When kids follow commands to "say" our words, we are not giving them communication autonomy (h/t to .aac.coach for teaching me about this concept). So instead of telling our children what to "say," provide them with models by narrating what you see them doing in play.⁠⁠⁠⁠
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15/11/2023

Often, in early intervention speech therapy, we need to help children understand the power of using their words. One way that caregivers and educators can do this is by using communication temptations.⁠
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In this picture, you can see one of the ways I tempt kiddos to use their communication--clear boxes. I love clear boxes because it gives kids a peek at what they are 'working' toward. In this case, it's more pieces to build their Potato Head. But a reminder that we want to be following the child's lead. If your child is not interested in the toy inside the box, no amount of temptation is going to encourage them to communicate with you!⁠
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In a wonderful blog post, SLP Laura from Early and Bright shares, "These [communication temptations] are intentional changes to your child’s environment that give them a reason to initiate communication with you. Some kids need this extra nudge to communicate more than others, but communication temptations can be very effective in increasing spontaneous word use for all young children."⁠
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Putting toys in a clear box that you hold onto is just 1 type of communication temptation. Placing toys or objects your child desires out of reach is another. And playing with toys that may be hard for them to operate on their own, such as bubbles or wind-up toys, is another.⁠⁠⁠⁠
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13/11/2023

Around 13 to 15 months, your child will start learning body parts — and they'll get a kick out of being able to point to their nose when you ask. They can identify a few at this stage like "touch your nose" or "where are your toes?" Then at ages 2 and 3 years, your toddler can identify most of their body parts.⁠
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To help your child learn to identify and name their body parts, name the parts as you go through the day. When you wipe your toddler's nose, mention the name of the body part that sits in the center of their face. When you ask for your child's hand before crossing a street, hesitate for a moment and wait for your child to extend their arm and give it to you.⁠
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Certainly, we want to model the names of parts we see our child interact with using their Potato Head. I often say, children need to hear words in order to use words. One way I do this is by saying, "I see you putting the eyes on," or "oh wow, I like that pink nose you gave Potato Head."⁠⁠⁠⁠
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10/11/2023

Do you remember Colorforms from your childhood? ⁠
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A couple of years ago, I was lucky to find this set in the Dollar Spot. This book has been really fun to use much like you would a barrier game.⁠
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I take turns practicing giving or following directions. First, my client gets the book and I give them directions on how to build a Potato Head using the stickers. This is another opportunity to practice using descriptive language--aka adjectives. Then we swap and my client gives me directions that I follow. Sometimes I self-sabotage in order to provide more chances for language building. It's a great activity for my older preschool and early elementary kiddos.⁠
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08/11/2023

Another great use for a set with multiple potatoes--practicing using descriptive language to share how the Potato Heads are the same or different. If your child/student benefits from visual support, use a Venn diagram to illustrate the idea of which components are the same and which are different.⁠
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Do you have a favorite way to use Potato Head in your speech therapy sessions? Drop it in the comments so we can all learn from each other!⁠⁠⁠⁠
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06/11/2023

Potato Head got me started with my Playing With Purpose™️ framework. It's been a favorite toy of mine for as long as I can remember. I remember buying Potato Head as one of the first toys, for my first job as an SLP.⁠
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Potato Head was the first toy I blogged about in my PWP series. I, honestly, did not have intentions to write a book or grow the series into a full framework. AND I am so glad I did because it's brought me so much joy and connection with this community of SLPs, caregivers, and educators.⁠
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I love the Potato Head family because it provides endless opportunities for building a child's speech-language skills. It fosters creativity, engagement, and problem-solving. On top of it being fun for our kids, it's fun as an adult. I'm the first one to tell you, that getting on a kids level and playing is not always easy!⁠⁠⁠⁠
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02/11/2023

I love Potato Head sets that come with more than 1 potato head. I'm linking to one of them in my bio, in case you want to add this great toy to your tool kit.⁠
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With more than 1 potato, there are many opportunities to facilitate cooperative play. Cooperative play is when children begin to share ideas and toys and follow established rules and guidelines. They are interested in both the people playing and the activity they are doing.⁠
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Cooperative play emerges in children at ages 4-5 years old. Cooperative play can go hand-in-hand with dramatic or pretend play. It is when we see two kids playing with dolls–one is pretending to be a parent, and the other is playing the role of the doll's sibling.⁠
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To guide children into cooperative play and support its development, try giving 1 child the potato and another child all the parts. You can start by modeling phrases the children can use, when interacting, to share and request help from each other.⁠
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Have fun with this month's Playing With Purpose™️ pick!⁠⁠⁠⁠
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08/06/2023

If you've been following me for a while then you know my most ideal/favorite clients are those seeking support.

These kiddos are 18-24 months old and not producing many sounds or using intentional forms of communication. Therefore, an early skill I like to encourage these families to work on is vocal play or babbling.

I enjoy working together, with each family, to build a babble box that peeks their child's interests. *Note: this is for kids we suspect are analytic language learners, not GLPs.*

Swipe to see some of the things we've put into the boxes and keep reading for a few tips...
😝 Get down on your child's level and be silly! Try catching their attention by varying your pitch while bringing out your inner child.

📚 Pair up your child's favorite items from the box with a book on the same subject. For example, if your child likes animals and/or cars then try reading something from the "Little Blue Truck" series while incorporating the toys into your storytime.

🗣 Be repetitive, modeling with babbling sounds many times while playing with them in context. Both repetition and context are important for learning at this phase of your child's development.

What would you put in your kid's babble box?

30/05/2023

Summer sure snuck up on us in Austin, but don't fret. If you're still looking for summer speech therapy services we've got you covered! Whether you are looking to maintain & grow the skills your child achieved in the past school year or want a head start to prepare for the next, Tandem Speech Therapy would love to chat.

Visit the link to schedule your FREE communication consultation today.
https://tandemspeechtherapy.clientsecure.me

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15/05/2023

I am excited to share that I have partnered up with my fellow SLP authors to host a sale during a month where we work to increase awareness and advocacy for our profession of speech-language pathology. What better way to build a strong foundation than to support each other's work?

The sale will run today, May 15 through May 17. All my Playing With Purpose™️ books and materials will be 20% off when you use the code SLP20 at checkout.

Remember my PWP™️ books aren't the only thing on sale. Be sure to search and look for an image just like the one you're viewing. You'll find tons of other speech-language pathologist author's books on sale too.

There are SLP authors who have written children's books, resource books like mine, books about starting a private practice, novels for adults, and so much more. What kind of books will you be shopping for?

To shop for Playing With Purpose™️ items, visit www.pwpbook.com and don't forget the code SLP20 at checkout.

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Opening Hours

Monday	09:00 - 18:00
Tuesday	09:00 - 18:00
Wednesday	09:00 - 18:00
Thursday	09:00 - 18:00
Friday	09:00 - 12:00

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+15128146660

Website

http://www.tandemspeechtherapy.com/

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Emily Cohen, M.A CCC-SLP is the founder of the Tandem Speech Therapy, a pediatric speech therapy practice serving the south and central Austin areas and Westlake. Emily moved from Michigan to Austin, Texas in late 2009 with her dog, Bentley. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Special Education from Indiana University–Bloomington and then went on to receive her Master’s degree in speech-language pathology from Eastern Michigan University. Emily spent 3 years working in special education classrooms and the last 8+ years working in a variety of pediatric therapy settings with children birth to 18 years. She is now the owner of Tandem Speech Therapy. Emily provides play- based and family centered speech therapy for toddlers and preschoolers, as well as services for school-aged children. Emily Cohen, MA, CCC-SLP is Hanen certified in their ‘It Takes Two to Talk’ program. This program’s focus is on caregiver education and methods to encourage speech and language skills. It is a foundational skill for the services Emily provides.