Category Archives: Uncategorized

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Early Intervention – Determining Eligibility Part 1

Image courtesy of Pixabay.com I’ve written previously about some of the things that concern me about early intervention (EI) – at least the way I’ve experienced its practice and implementation. This includes using practices like separating the part from the whole to teach phonology, morphology, and semantics at these young, critical language development stages andContinueContinue reading “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Early Intervention – Determining Eligibility Part 1”

Free Boom Cards Download Until 10/1

Images Courtesy of Pixabay.com In gratitude for all of the families, SLPs, and special education teachers who work to improve the quality of the lives of children with communication disorders, I am offering a free Thanksgiving-themed download on Boom Cards. This deck will be available at no cost until 10/1. You can find my storeContinueContinue reading “Free Boom Cards Download Until 10/1”

The Whole is Greater than the Sum of the Parts

Image Courtesy of Pixabay.com It’s been a little over a month since I made the change in my ‘day job’ from pediatric home health to early intervention. For the most part, it’s been a good change. I enjoy the challenge of mostly getting paid to think. But, as I said at work last week, I’mContinueContinue reading “The Whole is Greater than the Sum of the Parts”

Sixteen years ago today…

The aftermath of Hurricane Dennis in Florida – one of 27 named storms in 2005. Image courtesy of Pixabay.com Hurricane Katrina came ashore in Mississippi. Katrina was the 12th named storm that year. Everyone thought New Orleans was spared until the levees failed in the aftermath. Everyone forgets Katrina went through South Florida as aContinueContinue reading “Sixteen years ago today…”

Should the Part Be Separated from the Whole?

Image courtesy of Pixabay.com I recently made a change in my ‘day job’ – the one that pays the bills and lets me have time to muse about these things. I changed from pediatric home health to an early intervention position. Part of the reason for this change was to move from a per visitContinueContinue reading “Should the Part Be Separated from the Whole?”

2021 ASHA Schools Connect Follow Up

Photo by Anna Shvets on Pexels.com Thank you to everyone who attended the conference. I know that I got a lot out of the presentations I attended! For those who weren’t able to attend and/or who weren’t able to download the slides, I’ve uploaded a copy for you here. The next step is to combineContinueContinue reading “2021 ASHA Schools Connect Follow Up”

Readiness

Green Means Go, Image Courtesy of Pixabay.com What Is Readiness? Dictionary.com defines readiness as: a developmental stage at which a child has the capacity to receive instruction at a given level of difficulty or to engage in a particular activity. Vygotsky (1935, 1978) referenced this idea as the zone of proximal development. It’s the ideaContinueContinue reading “Readiness”

Repeating Patterns…and Breaking Some Cycles

Image courtesy of pixabay.com Nature is full of repetition – and patterns Nature very much operates on the adage, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ This adage leads to a lot of repetition and redundancy. It’s why a 5-digit forelimb like our hands is actually a very old structure in evolutionary terms. We shareContinueContinue reading “Repeating Patterns…and Breaking Some Cycles”

Upcoming Presentations at the 2021 ASHA Schools Connect Conference

The 2021 ASHA Schools Connect Conference is taking place from July 14-26 virtually. I have two poster presentations at this conference. Teaching “Thinking Words”: Extending Robust Vocabulary Instruction to Adolescents with High Functioning AutismJust Ask Me Again II: An Investigation of Response Patterns on the PPVT-4 (with my co-author, Rihana Mason) When the conference isContinueContinue reading “Upcoming Presentations at the 2021 ASHA Schools Connect Conference”