Family Vacation Ideas: 3 Ways to Preserve Summer Memories

Family Vacation Ideas: 3 Ways to Preserve Summer Memories

by Courtenay M. Games and Activities

Grand Canyon, the beach, your backyard…where did your family go on vacation this Summer? As our summer family vacations are coming to an end, we are gearing up for the start of the school year. But, what to do with the all the photos stored on our phones and cameras? How about the maps and baseball ticket souvenirs we collected along the way? Why not take all of your family vacation memories and trinkets and create a one-of-a-kind memory project the entire family can do? Here are three family vacation ideas to preserve those summer memories!

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Animal-Assisted Speech Therapy

Animal-Assisted Speech Therapy

by Courtenay M. Parents' Corner Speech Therapist Speech Therapy Techniques
Animal Assisted Speech Therapy

Animals Can Be An Excellent Supplement to Speech Therapy. Image courtesy of www.pawsandthink.org

Shark Week is here! Shark Week is here!!  Sure, it’s fun to watch on TV, but what does it have to do with speech and language therapy? Actually, quite a bit. Sure, there is our good friend the Shark Buddy, but what about swimming with dolphins, riding horses or even petting a dog? Animal-assisted therapy has been gaining strength in popularity and recognition as an effective part of a therapy regime for children who have a wide range of social, language and communication disorders.
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The Most Important Supply: Back to School Speech Therapy

by Courtenay M. News Parents' Corner Speech Therapy Techniques

Speech Therapy with Speech Buddies ConnectIt’s time to start thinking Back to School! As parents and teachers, we want to give our kids everything they need to succeed, and at this time of year it seems easy: pencils, paper, notebooks, a backpack, maybe a lunchbox — all the tools of their trade. But it’s easy to overlook the most important things: excitement, self-esteem, self-confidence. Are there tools for that? Just like the physical tools our kids use to start their new year, emotional needs should be a priority; we want our children to step through the classroom doors with ease. Speech Buddies has been busy building an easy way to make back to school speech therapy, or anytime speech therapy, as accessible as possible…

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Teenager Technology Overload – How Much is Too Much?

Teenager Technology Overload – How Much is Too Much?

by Courtenay M. Parents' Corner
Ways to avoid teenager technology overload

Avoid Teenager Technology Overload. Image source: whatisspeechtherapy.com

Your teen seemingly goes from his laptop, to his tablet, to his smart phone as if it’s a full time job. Sound familiar? Sure, technology today is “essential,” but honestly, at times it seems like teenager technology overload. In this age where our children don’t know a world without technology, families with teenagers are struggling to find out the appropriate balance. Technology is an excellent resource, especially for use in a speech therapy setting, as long as the appropriate rules and limits are followed. As our teenagers have access to more information than ever before, it’s important to realize that their brains may not be able to process it as easily. A study from Loren Frank of the University of California suggested,

Downtime lets the brain go over experiences it’s had, solidify them and turn them into permanent long-term memories.

However when our brains are constantly stimulated, “you prevent this learning process.”

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5 Fast Fixes for “F” Sound Practice

by Courtenay M. At Home Ideas Language Development Parents' Corner Pronunciation & Lisps Speech Therapy Techniques

A few weeks ago, we covered methods to help your child correctly pronounce the sound of “TH”.  While the most commonly mispronounced sounds are r, l, s, ch, and sh, the sound of “F” as in “Fish” is particularly difficult for a number of people, especially young children. Are you hearing a “p” instead of an “f”? Do your fish live in a “pishbowl” instead of a “fishbowl”?  While we don’t have a Speech Buddy Tool designed to treat the mispronunciation of “f,” we do have suggestions to help your child with “f” sound practice.  Here are five fabulous facts and features to fix the sound of “f”.
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