September Specialty Series: Apraxia Q&A. Interview with Sharon Gretz. Founder and Executive Director of CASANA (apraxia-kids.org)
0109, 2014

September Specialty Series: Apraxia Q&A. Interview with Sharon Gretz. Founder and Executive Director of CASANA (apraxia-kids.org)

I am absolutely thrilled to introduce Sharon Gretz as my first guest in my September Specialty series!  Sharon Gretz is the founder and executive director behind CASANA (apraxia-kids.org), the largest non-profit dedicated exclusively to Childhood Apraxia of Speech. Sharon’s dedication to CAS (Childhood Apraxia of Speech) awareness, support, research, and funding started with her experiences of being a mother to a child diagnosed with CAS.  When I first met her,

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Back to school speech folders.
2608, 2014

Back to school speech folders.

I’m in a new district, a new school, and with a new bunch of kids this year!  One thing I’ve always done the first week is have the kids make their own “speech folder.” Kids love decorating their own folder!  I start with a long piece of construction paper that come pretty standard in most schools.  I then whipped up three template pages the kids can write on and then

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Last year of Pre-K
2208, 2014

Last year of Pre-K

Today was Ashlynn’s official first day to her last year of preschool.  It was also two years ago today I heard the words, “Laura, this is apraxia.”                                                                                      

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Initial ‘T’ tic-tac-toe
1608, 2014

Initial ‘T’ tic-tac-toe

One thing I’ve found, is that as an SLP, finding materials for apraxia can be challenging.  This is mostly due in part to the fact that syllable shape and complexity matter more for apraxia than they do for other speech sound disorders. For example, if you were working on the ‘T’ sound and opened a typical articulation workbook, it wouldn’t be uncommon to see a variety of single syllable and

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The high of summer! The fear of “back to school.”
1308, 2014

The high of summer! The fear of “back to school.”

Oh summer, how I love thee. Filled with swimming lessons, play dates; visits to the park and zoo. During summer, I get to see my children be children. Their carefree smiles light up a room, and the echoes of their laughter can be heard long after they lay down their head. Yes, therapy appointments are a way of life for Ashlynn, but even speech and occupational therapy bring positive updates

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Speech freebies! Friday FREEbees.
0808, 2014

Speech freebies! Friday FREEbees.

I’m excited to participate in my first “speech freebies” link up!  Therapy for CAS should always be individualized; however, if you have a child who has mastered or is on their way to mastering CV syllable shapes, I created sheets to practice using a BINGO game format.  I chose this game because CAS requires mass and distributed practice, and this is a fun and easy way to get those two

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