Month: October 2024

Halloween Speech and Language Information and Activities

October 30, 2024 / laingm / 0 Comments

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

Autism Acceptance Month

October 23, 2024 / singt / 0 Comments

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.