Why nature weighs more heavily than nurture

Why nature weighs more heavily than nurture

Nature versus nurture.  It’s a phrase that comes up in my profession, even if it’s unspoken.  I’m in the business of child language development, and nothing raises more eyebrows about nurture than a child who can’t talk…. or who has poor vocabulary knowledge…… or is lacking in language skills. Oh it comes up in psychology too.  We’ve all heard the stories of twins separated at birth and raised in different

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She observes more than we know.

It started with the name disintegration at Thanksgiving.  My concerns about her writing were brought up to the staff as she flitted playfully around her preschool room while we talked.  I cried and I made tough decisions. She noticed. I didn’t know it at first.  It started out innocently with her asking when she would see Dione (her private OT) again.  I told her I had to apply for more

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Strategies to promote speech and language in the pre-verbal or minimally verbal child with Apraxia

Strategies to promote speech and language in the pre-verbal or minimally verbal child with Apraxia

The great thing about speech and language, is that it a task that can be worked on in any activity.  Familiar routines in the home provide the perfect platform for encouraging speech and language, because this “routinized language” is predictable and context based. A fellow SLP and mommy of apraxia, Kim from Landonjourney.blogspot.com and I teamed up for Part I in my series of parent strategies to promote speech at

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What exactly is CAS?

What is Childhood Apraxia of Speech? Definition and characteristics Childhood Apraxia of Speech is a speech disorder that results from difficulty with programming, planning and sequencing the precise movements needed for clear speech. The American Speech/Language Hearing Association (ASHA), denotes three main characteristics that must be present for a diagnosis of CAS. Inconsistent production on consonant and/or vowels in repeated productions of syllables and words. An example of the word

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The Gingerbread Man Speech/Language Activity/Companion Pack

The Gingerbread Man Speech/Language Activity/Companion Pack

The Gingerbread Man is a classic story that all my kid’s love.  It is a repetitive style book, and as you know, I love using repetitive books in therapy!  The first page has some pictures to cut out and use while reading the story as props.  You can even glue them onto popsicle sticks if you’re so inclined!       Next, if you’ve bought any of book companions, you

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There are no easy answers, only tough choices

There are no easy answers, only tough choices

I didn’t expect to cry today,  yet that’s how the cards fell.  I dropped Ashlynn off at school today, and asked her teacher if she had talked to the OT about changing her name card to all capitals per the private OT recommendation given in my last post .  Her face kinda dropped and she said she had talked to the OT, but she wanted to talk to the SPED teacher

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