Happy Valentine’s Day (Not)! From Your Sister

Originally published on 2/14/2011. Update includes new photo of my beautiful sister, April. ** This year we received a LOT of Valentines. I don't remember getting this many before. Last week my husband Pete was out of town presenting at a conference. He returned home last night, took one look at our mantel filled to the edges…

Make it Monday: There was a cold lady…

I don't think I've ever experienced cold temperatures like this before. Negative 2 is the predicted high today. In keeping with nature's freezing cold theme I'll be reading, "There was a cold lady who swallowed some snow!" by Lucille Calandro this week. As you may have guessed from the title, this is a snowy take…

31 for 21: Therapy Thursday (and a FREE download!)

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted a therapy activity. I love playing the game Hedbanz with my school-age children with DS. For those of you who’ve never played Hedbanz, it’s like 20 questions. Each player wears a crown-like headband and draws a picture card. Each  card has a simple drawing on one side…

Great Resource for Speech Sound Practice

I'm sitting in the Hanen It Takes Two to Talk training next to Sarah, an amazing SLP from Abu Dhabi, UAE. In a group activity she shared this link with me: http://hope.cochlearamericas.com/audiologists/slp/speech-sounds Each sound has "child friendly" words, activities, songs, games, and toys for each sound. If you are ever at a loss for how to practice…

Pre-feeding Exercises for Children with DS: A must?

In response to the many recent blog posts on the topic, I’ve decided to chime in with a series on oral-motor therapy, feeding, and DS. We’re going to start with the basics, move into myths I’ve read online, and finish up with what really works! So what are pre-feeding exercises? Pre-feeding exercises are activities the parent or caregiver…