Apps for Baby Sign Language

by Jacky G. Language Development
Child Using Sign Language

Image source: Blog.syracuse.com

Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) agree that maintaining a constant flow of conversation around young children can help encourage the development of speech and language. But what about nonverbal language? If you’re the parent of an infant, it can be frustrating to try to discern what your baby wants when he cries. Using nonverbal communication cues like baby sign language can reduce frustration for both you and your baby. It can also encourage speech and language development. Baby sign language isn’t just for babies, either. If you have an older child who is nonverbal or who has limited speech, sign language can help him express his needs and wants. As a bonus, it’s inexpensive to learn how to sign. Even as your other household bills are soaring, you can learn sign language for the low cost of an instructional app.

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Darth Vader’s Stuttering Therapy

by Jacky G. Speech Disorders
Darth Vader

Image source: Badassoftheweek.com

James Earl Jones began his career in theater, but his first breakout film role was in “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.” Since then, his meteoric rise to fame has included numerous voiceovers for roles like Mufasa in “The Lion King.” “Star Wars” fanatics everywhere can immediately identify Jones as the infamous, deep voice of Darth Vader. But the man who would give Darth Vader his trademark voice had previously lost his. In fact, James Earl Jones suffered a debilitating speech disorder in his childhood. Because of it, Jones remained functionally mute for eight years. If it hadn’t been for the tenacity of a high school English teacher, Darth Vader might have had a much less impressive voice.

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Types of Hearing Aids for Children

by Jacky G. Hearing Loss

 

Decorated In-the-Ear Hearing Aid

Image Courtesy of ehwhatuh.com

 

Hearing aids are unlike cochlear implants in that they amplify sound, rather than directly stimulate the auditory nerve. These battery-operated devices receive sound waves via a microphone. The sound waves are then converted into electrical signals. You’re probably accustomed to seeing hearing aids on the elderly, but they may also be used for children as young as four weeks old. If your child is diagnosed with hearing loss, talk to his pediatrician about whether he might be a good candidate for a hearing aid.

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Winston Churchill’s Dentures

by Jacky G. Speech Disorders
Winston Churchill Flashing Victory Sign

Image source: Sunlituplands.org

We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches… we shall never surrender…

Winston Churchill didn’t have the advanced wartime technology of today at his disposal, but he did have his words. He used them to great effect (despite all those run-on sentences). Churchill delivered his “We Shall Fight on the Beaches” speech before Parliament in 1940. He was concerned about only one thing: defending his beloved island. (Well that, and stopping the Nazi advance.) He had to tell Parliament about a disastrous military defeat and discuss the possibility of a Nazi invasion, yet simultaneously boost morale. And he did it all with a speech impediment (or possibly two).

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Hearing Loss Support Groups

by Jacky G. Hearing Loss
Parent Talking with Doctor

Image source: Webmd.com

Support groups have a reputation for being those things held in dusty old buildings with creaky metal chairs and bad coffee, in which people stand around crying and hugging each other. You probably have this image in your head because you’ve seen “Fight Club.” But support groups are quite often so much more, even if they lack the hip stylings of Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter. They are dynamic groups of people who come together to affect positive change – and yes, to offer each other encouragement and emotional support. You don’t need to face your child’s hearing loss diagnosis alone. Even if you think you have a handle on everything, emotionally speaking, disability support groups can provide assistance with legal advocacy and so much more.

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