Speech Language Therapy Room Decor 2015

     Well, it's back to school already! I wanted to change my speech therapy room up a little this year. I spruced up my desk with a name plate, inspirational quote ("She believed she could, so she did."), and pictures! I tried to think of a bulletin board that the kids would like and came up with a lego theme idea. (I found the little lego people here) I also bought a couple of awesome products from Teachers Pay Teachers....Including this awesome word wall and  and common core cans (Thank you  Nicole Allison at Speech Peeps!!!) I also got some cardboard letters that spell WE (heart) SPEECH and covered them with scrapbook paper! Another much needed update was new blinds for my window. My old ones were totally broken and needed to be replaced. I think the end result is pretty rad! I love my cute little speech room and I'm hoping for a fabulous year of speech-language therapy! 

As I was moving this cabinet (which was a dumpster find!), the door came off and hit me square in the head. It HURT! I had a small knot on my head for about a week. 

Word wall and common core cans I got from Nicole Allison

We Love Speech

Desk! I got the SMILE banner and lights from the Target Dollar Bins! Score!

Lego bulletin board! 

Panoramic View

THE SPEECH DEPARTMENT AT YOUR SERVICE!!! Got these cute tshirts from zoeysattic on Etsy!

A Day in the Life of a School Speech-Language Pathologist

This is my "busy season." I've been feeling like this a lot lately:

Because of all of these:

    At the end of the day, it is truly rewarding!

IEP Season

     So it is IEP season for many speech-language pathologists here in these parts. Wouldn't they be so much fun to write if these pictures were our reality?!? LOL.

Thank you to all the creative people who designed these pictures! I have no idea who you are, but these are so funny!

Just Call Me Mother Goose

    I have a confession to make. Sometimes I catch myself at home singing along to "Wheels on the Bus" from a commercial. Like, really getting into it singing along! Then, I realize what I'm doing and I'm like "Candace, get control of yourself! Why are you singing children's songs? You don't even have kids!" But then I remember my job and the fifty-something children I work with. And while on the job, I often read nursery rhymes to my preschool children during speech therapy. It is useful for articulation, language, phonological awareness, etc. The kids love it and so do I! And here is another confession: Sometimes as I read the rhymes my brain tweaks them, Candace style. Crazy, right? Welcome to my world!

Case in point #1:  Inspired by Mary had a Little Lamb

Miss Candace has a little dog,

little dog,

little dog,

Miss Candace has a little dog

Her name is Effie Pooh!

And everywhere that Candace goes

Candace goes,

Candace goes,

Everywhere that Candace goes

Effie goes there too!

She followed her to school one day

School one day,

School one day,

She followed her to school one day 

Which was against the rules!

It made the children laugh and play

laugh and play,

laugh and play,

It made the children laugh and play

To see Effie at school!

Case in point #2: Inspired by There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe

There was an old woman a young speech therapist who worked at a school

She had so many speech students she didn't know what to do!

She sang them some songs to teach them to talk

And praised them happily and told them to walk. (not run!) 

     Well, that's all I've got for today! Don't worry, I haven't shared my versions with the children. Yet.

ASHA 2012: Evidence of Excellence

     Last week, my friend Becky and I had the opportunity to attend the annual American Speech-Language Hearing Association Convention. This year it was located in Atlanta, Georgia at the Georgia World Congress Center. The theme was Evidence of Excellence. Thursday morning's opening ceremony featured Maya Angelou as the keynote speaker. She recited several of her poems and told stories of her childhood. She was very positive and inspiring. The rest of the activities included attending several sessions of our choosing to earn continuing education units. I attended sessions relating to autism, pediatric voice therapy, vocabulary building, dysphagia, etc. I really enjoyed most of the sessions and learned several new ideas I look forward to implementing in my therapy sessions! 
     On Friday evening, the main event was the presentation of the Annie Glenn Award to congresswoman Gabby Giffords. I heard John Glenn, Annie Glenn, Mark Kelly, and Gabby Giffords speak. It was very inspiring and touching to hear their stories and words of encouragement to us as speech-language pathologists. Annie Glenn had difficulty with stuttering her entire life. This affected her life in every way. Her husband stated that she could not even make a phone call or read to her children. She received intensive therapy at Hollins University. Her husband said she called him for the first time and that for the first time ever he heard her say more than four words without stuttering. They then introduced Gabby Giffords who was able to walk on stage with assistance from her husband. She said, "People with aphasia get better. I'm getting better." It was a very touching moment. I think we all walked out  feeling validated in our chosen profession.
     I really enjoyed going to the convention. It was fun and exhausting at the same time, ha. The Congress Center is huge and we traversed it back and forth for two and a half days! It was an excellent opportunity for continued learning and networking with other SLPs. There were so many people there from all over the U.S. and it was interesting to talk to them. I look forward to attending future ASHA Conventions!

Peace Up A-Town!

Maya Angelou

How much fun is the Super Duper Store??? A SLP's dream ha!

Very pretty building downtown

I forgot to mention that we got to meet my cousin Melody for dinner at Mary Mac's Tea Room! So fun and delicious!

Good times

Evidence of Excellence :)

Back to School...Back to Speech!

     I can hardly believe this year marks the beginning of my 4th year as a Speech-Language Pathologist! It seems just like yesterday that I graduated and found a job working at a school. I love working with the children. They each are very precious and special. I hope I can make a difference in their lives and help them improve their communication skills. Here's hoping we all have a fun and successful year!

A little glimpse into my therapy room:

Speech Sound Wall Chart: idea from  slplearningcurve.blogspot.com

May is Better Hearing and Speech Month

          Did you know that May is Better Hearing and Speech Month? Chances are that you probably didn’t. (Unless you are a SLP or an Au.D) And just in case you don’t know what those stand for: a SLP is a Speech-Language Pathologist and  Au.D is an Audiologist. And as it turns out, I just so happen to be a SLP. Better Hearing and Speech Month is dedicated to raising awareness about communication/hearing disorders. Since it is May, I thought it would be fun to explain a little about my chosen career!

          Speech-language pathologists, aka speech therapists, speech teachers, etc. are professionals who evaluate and treat speech, language, and swallowing disorders. They can work with individuals from all stages of life: birth-geriatrics.  Places of employment for SLPs include hospitals, nursing homes, schools, private practices, etc. As you can probably imagine, speech-language pathology is a very broad field! Here are some disorders that SLPs treat:

-         Articulation disorder: this occurs when a child substitutes one sound for another sound. Ex: wabbit for rabbit or tat for cat

-         Phonological disorder: this is an impairment in the rules of a sound system. Ex: omitting ending sounds in words

-         Fluency disorders: aka stuttering

-         Voice disorders: this occurs when there is an impairment in the volume, quality, resonance of the voice. Ex: sounding hoarse or like they are talking through the nose

-         Language disorders: impairment in learning language or loss of language skills due to trauma or illness

-         Swallowing disorders: because SLPs study the musculature of the speech mechanism (tongue, larynx-Adam’s apple) and those are the same muscles used in chewing and swallowing, they also treat swallowing disorders.

Speech-language pathologists may work with babies who have an impairment with swallowing which could be caused from a variety of reasons such as cleft palate, prematurity, or certain syndromes (ex. Down Syndrome). They work with children who have difficulty with any of the above communication disorders. They may also work with children who have communication disorders because of developmental delays, autism, syndromes, hearing loss, etc. They may work with adults who have traumatic brain injuries, strokes, degenerative illnesses (ex. Alzheimer’s disease, Lou Gehrig’s disease, etc.), laryngectomies (having the Adam’s apple removed), etc. They may work with adults who speak different languages and have an accent on accent reduction and also with transgender adults who want to change their voice (completely unexpected, right?!) I’m going to stop here, but this list could go on and on!  

So that explains a little about the field of speech-language pathology and communication disorders. I’m sure you don’t think about all of the aspects of your communication skills on a regular basis, but if you can communicate you are blessed! Muscles have to coordinate at just the right time and move to a very precise area every time you speak. And to have the ability to think and know what you want to say and how you want to say it! Don’t take this for granted. Use it to encourage those around you and to praise God!

“Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.” Ephesians 4:29 NLT

“And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.” Colossians 3:17 The Message