Speech-Language Pathology Services

Many of us reflect on Halloween as being an exciting time in our childhood. The costumes, the candy and the parties can conjure up wonderful memories. However, for some children Halloween can be a time of over stimulation, unpredictable events and frightful masks or costumes.

For those children, some suggestions for Halloween night include:

• Front loading your child about trick or treating. Showing them clips from a children’s television show of what to expect and/or provide them with a social story detailing the events of the night.
• Costume Ideas: Parents/caregivers can suggest costume ideas that are comfortable, especially for children with sensory needs. Encourage them to try the costume on, to help ensure they feel comfortable.
• Trick or Treat: Model and rehearse the sentences that will be used when trick or treating. For children that use AAC, ensure that they have a means to express themselves on the night (i.e., adding a Halloween page to their touch chat and/or Halloween picture symbols etc.). Practice and rehearse these prior to Halloween night.
• For children that may be overwhelmed by trick or treating, consider having a small gathering with a familiar friend(s) instead of trick or treating. In addition, you can also check with your local mall for Halloween events.

Halloween Activities

1. Spooky Storytelling

Encourage kids to create their own Halloween stories. This can help with narrative skills, vocabulary, and sentence structure. You can use prompts like “Once upon a time, in a haunted house…” to get them started.

2. Halloween Charades

Play a game of charades with Halloween-themed words and phrases. This activity can help with expressive language skills and vocabulary.

3. WH Questions

Use Halloween-themed pictures or stories to ask WH questions (who, what, where, when, why). This can help with comprehension and critical thinking skills.

These activities can make speech and language practice enjoyable and festive!

4.  Spooky Sentence Formulation

Give kids Halloween-themed words and have them create sentences. For example, “witch,” “broom,” and “fly” could be used to make the sentence, “The witch flies on her broom.

For more Halloween language activities, check out peachiespeechie.com

Halloween Activities by Peachie Speechie

5. Painting a Pumpkin using AAC

By using picture symbols, core board or digital AAC, either paint or add stickers to create a spooky face for the pumpkin.

Mister Clay on YouTube kids:  Painting Pumpkins For Halloween using AAC

October is Autism Acceptance month in Canada.

Autism Acceptance month is a time to celebrate neurodiversity and increase our understanding of Autism. This helps to reduce the stigma and discrimination that Autistic people experience, and it empowers Autistic individuals to express themselves confidently.

Did you know?

 In September 2024, the Public Health Agency of Canada published a new framework for Autism in Canada.

“The purpose of the Framework for Autism in Canada (framework) is to promote the health and well-being of children, youth, adults and older adults on the autism spectrum, their advocates, families, and caregivers; and to provide a common direction for autism in Canada that lays the foundation for collaborative and complementary action to be taken by all sectors. The framework was created in response to the Federal Framework for Autism Spectrum Disorder Act” (Government of Canada, 2024).

To read and learn more about this framework for Autism in Canada click here.

The SLPs at the Burnaby school district value the unique perspectives, strengths, and talents of Autistic individuals, their families/caregivers, and the Autistic community.  We are excited to celebrate Autism acceptance Month with you! To learn more about The Role of Speech-Language Pathologists in Supporting Autistic People click the link.

Reference

Government of Canada. (2024, September 26). Framework for Autism in Canada. https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/diseases-conditions/framework-autism-canada.html#a3.1

October 18, 2024 is Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) Awareness Day! What is DLD? See the graphic below from DLD and Me to learn more.

Try this quiz to see how much YOU know about DLD: https://radld.org/about/dld/dld-quiz/.

See https://dldandme.org/ and https://radld.org/ for more information about DLD.

Engaging with your child about their day at school can be a rewarding experience, but it can also be frustrating for parents when your child gives a one word answer to the common question, “How was school today?”

Here are some additional ways to encourage your child to share more:

1. Ask Specific Questions: Instead of general questions, ask about specific parts of their day. For example, “Who did you sit with at lunch?” or “What game did you play during recess?”
2. Create a Routine: Establish a daily routine where you spend a few minutes talking about each other’s day. This can be during dinner, a walk, or bedtime.
3. Use Conversation Starters: Try fun and engaging questions like, “What made you laugh today?” or “Tell me the most interesting thing you learned about.”
4. Be an Active Listener: Show genuine interest in what they say. Use body language, facial expressions, and follow-up questions to show you are engaged..
5. Share Your Own Stories: Share something about your day first. This can make them feel more comfortable opening up about their own experiences.
6. Engage in Activities Together: Sometimes, doing an activity together like cooking, playing a game, or drawing can naturally lead to conversations about their day.
7. Avoid Immediate Interrogation: Give them some time to unwind after school before asking about their day. They might need a little space before they’re ready to talk.
8. Use Visual Aids: Using drawings or pictures to talk about their day can be helpful. Ask them to draw something they did or saw.
9. Encourage Storytelling: Ask them to tell a story about their day, focusing on details and emotions. This can help them articulate their experiences better.

These strategies can help create a more open and communicative environment, making it easier for your child to share their thoughts and experiences with you.

Please see the About page for the name of the speech-language pathologist for your child’s school and browse by topic for other areas of information.

April is Autism Awareness month, previously known as Autism Acceptance month. Here are some links that highlight the differences between Awareness and Acceptance:

Acceptance, not just awareness: Changing the conversation around Autism

Autism Acceptance: Is There Still a Long Way to Go?

Click on the image above to read more about how SLPs support autistic individuals.

What is Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)? It’s the most common childhood disorder that most people have never heard of. DLD  affects 1 in 14 people causing difficulties understanding and using language for no known reason. In Canada, there are approximately 2.6 million people with DLD. DLD is a lifelong problem and affects people of all ages.

Today is international DLD Awareness day and the 2022 theme is Growing with DLD. DLD is a lifelong, permanent disability. People do not grow out of DLD but can thrive with supports that can include speech-language therapy and educational adjustments. It’s about growing with DLD.

Resources

RADLD Canada

DLD and Me

Raising Awareness about DLD video

Welcome back to school! Many children often give a one word answer to the common question, “How was school today?” Try some alternative questions to help your child share more information about their day:

• What was your favourite/least favourite part of today?
• Tell me something that was exciting/scary/funny/gross/cool.
• Who did you help today? How were you helped today?
• When were you happiest today?
• Where did you play and who did you play with at recess today?
• Tell me the most interesting thing you learned about.
• What are you looking forward to tomorrow?

Some children will also use a  home/school communication book to help them share important information about their day. Please click here for examples. Please see the About page for the name of the speech-language pathologist for your child’s school.

Who better to learn about autism from than the experts – not just people who study autism, but people who are actually autistic! As our knowledge about autism as a society progresses from awareness to acceptance, there is much to learn from autistic folk themselves. Below is an infographic with ways you can educate yourself about autism by listening to autistic voices.

Watch
Ask An Autistic YouTube channel
Why Everything You Know About Autism is Wrong TedTalk

Listen
Two Sides of the Spectrum podcast

Explore
The Autism Spectrum According to Autistic People website
What is autism? blog post
Uniquely Hari AAC user blog

Read
Books for kids about Autistic experiences
Loud Hands book

Shop
All Things Sensory Shop for fidgets
Divergent Minds Club Canadian jewelry & chewlery store

We can create authentic connections with our AAC users by remembering one simple rule: model without expectation!

Modelling without expectation means using the AAC device yourself to model language without asking the child to respond. It’s simple! You are showing the child how to express language in a natural setting. Think of how many times a child hears a word before they express it themselves – the same is true for our AAC users. They require lots of modelling of vocabulary before they can use those words independently.

Kate McLaughlin explains more about modelling without expectation in this video. Watch here

Remember that using an AAC device should not feel like ‘work’ for the child. Language learning should be fun. Here are some activity ideas for Touch Chat.

• Does your child love animals? Touch Chat has an extensive animals page. You can explore the different types of animals along with their homes and there’s even a page for animal sounds. Pair this with animal toys that you already have around the house and make a zoo. Maybe the animals have wandered out of the zoo and it’s your job to round them up. There are lots of opportunities to model words such as:
  • Questions: WHERE are the animals, WHO is hiding
  • Core words: look, put, help, come back, go, find
  • Places: zoo, farm, ocean, safari
  • Adjectives: talk about whether the animal is big/little or fast/slow, describe their colors, if they have a short/long tail

• Increase engagement in reading by using the included pre-set vocabulary pages for books such as Brown Bear by Eric Carle and No, David! By David Shannon. This is a perfect opportunity to model while reading with the related vocabulary already there on the page for you. If your child has a favorite book you can add it to the device and include relevant vocabulary. Ask your SLP to help you add a new book page or watch this video on how to edit and add pages in Touch Chat  Check it out here