DocMooreSLP

An area in our Speech-Language Pathology field that I am just chomping at the bit to learn more about is pediatric feeding and swallowing. So when we were cleaning out our "speech closet" the other day and I found the VHS...yes a VHS :-) "Normal Oral Motor & Swallowing Development - Birth to 36 Months" by Imaginart I was so excited! BASIC ANATOMY First, why start at normal? A very wise professor of mine once said "if you don't understand normal then you will never know what to do with abnormal." So so true! Second, I am very comfortable with adult anatomy but the anatomy is so different with the pediatric population! For lack of a better term everything is so neighboring! As you can see major anatomical differences include: The oral cavity is smaller than in the adult The tongue fills the mouth and rests more anteriorly (at the front of the mouth) The soft palate, tongue and epiglottis approximate (touch) The lower jaw ...

Just like everyone in the mid-west today we had a snow day! Since I work in a hospital this did not mean that I had the day off at home. But all of my patient's cancelled except for one so that meant that my fellow SLP's and I at work started to clean out our designated speech closet! While we were cleaning out the closet we found an entire box full of speech-language pathology VHS tapes! SLP information and 80's hair styles? Yes please!!! Tonight I watched "Overcoming Children's Language Problems - Speaking for Ourselves". It is a 24 minute video that I believe was intended for parents. The information is pretty introductory but is nice for parents. It gives that feeling of "I'm not alone" and it also gives a quick overview of the assessment process and treatment. There were a few things that I pulled from the video that made me think... "hm could I do that?" Now before I go into those things I just quickly want to say that in th...

Welcome to Teko Land!! Last weekend I created my very first game for Speech-Language Pathologists, teachers and parents. This game has specific focus into pragmatic language skills. I feel that it is pretty versatile (you can easily change the questions to reflect your child's age).  It may also be appropriate in problem solving and emotional regulation for our adults with right hemisphere stroke or brain injury! Teko Land is a game to target pragmatic language skills. In Teko Land your patient ’ s will learn how to about 12 different emotions or personalities. The four deck options includes: 1.    Acting out the personality or emotion. 2.    Opportunity to tell about a time they experienced this emotion. 3.    Chance to think of a synonym or an antonym regarding that emotion. 4.    Create their own solution to a situation with a particular emotion. Within each deck there are multiple questions available, pick o...

Yesterday I traveled to Kansas City, Missouri for a continuing education course on the Integrated Listening System (iLs). I was very fortunate to have several of my colleagues along with me! I wanted to take some time on this post and review the iLs system! I have to admit I was a bit skeptical going into the continuing education course. Listening based therapy? What is that all about? As a Speech-Language Pathologist I know how important it is for that auditory component but I wanted to dig deeper into this program. http://www.integratedlistening.com/ In a nutshell: The iLs program(s) focuses on the brain's neuroplasticy. Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to create new neural pathways thus increasing various capabilities in cognitive functions. Growth is most  productive when the brain is stimulated in a repetitive manner. So do you remember back in school having to memorize a piece of poetry and then having to present it in front of the class? How did you learn ...

Happy Valentines Day everyone! I just wanted to put up a short post tonight and share the Valentines I made for my pediatric patients today! Now I wish I was creative enough to come up with this on my own but I found it on Pinterest and just changed it up a bit. http://www.duitang.com/people/mblog/20562142/detail/ Below is what I made! In the center of the flower I wrote each of my patients names. The girls really liked them and hey one of my boys said "whoa"! What kind of special activities did you do today with your patients?