Author Archives: robsim222

Hello. My name is Robin Kahn. I am a speech-language pathologist currently providing telehealth services in NY, NJ, Florida, and areas abroad that allow for me to do so. I have been working in this industry for over thirty years, treating those on the Autism Spectrum, who have feeding challenges, and learning/language/cognitive concerns, and consequently have a variety of specialized training. Specialized training includes SOS Feeding Therapy Prompt Level 1 and 2 training Floortime Therapy FEDC 1-4 certification is pending NYS Department of Health approved Early Intervention Program provider SPEAK OUT! Therapy Some further background: For many years, I provided home-based services; but the pandemic changed me. Telehealth is a venue that allows for greater involvement of those in need, and greater flexibility in scheduling. I also find that there seems to be a much greater commitment to the therapeutic process for both children and adults who need help. If you are ready to do so, feel free to inquire. I look forward to speaking with you!

Considerations for Open School Night

I find it hard to believe that only a month ago I was writing about Back to School and how to prepare for it in upcoming weeks. Regardless – Back to school night typically occurs in mid to late October. We are already at the beginning of the month and Columbus Day weekend is next week! Time to continue the conversation

TYPICALLY DEVELOPING CHILDREN: What can you do to get prepared and how are you feeling about it. For general information this link brings you some guidance interms of how to do so https://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/back-to-school-night/ , in the event that you have a typically developing child/children

READING ROCKETS: https://www.readingrockets.org/shows/launching/roots Ask your teacher where your child is in terms of reading at school. This way you can be your child’s first teacher and help them with their reading skills.

STUDENTS IDENTIFIED AS NEEDING RELATED SERVICES?HAVE IEPS: Open school nights for families with children who have children experiencing challenges in communication or other areas of development can be anxiety provoking, from parents in a different way than for others. Preparation may be different http://www.ldonline.org/article/33219

  • .
  • Home-school communicationT: eachers and families need to be in touch throughout the year. Whether it’s through a folder, notebook or daily learning log, you should hear something about the system the teacher uses to keep in touch

Aside from these issues: There really ARE other obstacles and recaling my days of working in the city schools, keeping these in mind may -no make that will, be helpful:

Bring your child’s IEP. Confirm that EVERYONE has been able to access and implement its use – as specific to the class size, the size of the group in which your child has been placed with a reltaed service provider and if there are any supplies that they need at school to aid in providing special education (or even general education students.

Ask if your child’s teacher or related service provider needs anything to help your child, if you are in a position to help: Why? probably little known fact is looming in the schools about which you are unaware. Ninety-four percent of public school teachers say they spent their own money on notebooks, pens and other supplies in the 2014-15 school year without reimbursement, according to the study. The average amount spent was $479. About 44 percent spent $250 or less, while 36 percent spent $251 to $500.May 15, 2018

https://www.google.com/search?q=what+amount+of+money+is+given+to+nyc+teachers+for+school+supplies&rlz=1C1CAFA_enUS777US777&oq=what+amount+of+money+is+given+to+nyc+teachers+for+school+supplies&aqs=chrome..69i57.19263j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

AND…

Here is the reality for this year https://www.uft.org/your-union/uft-programs/teachers-choice Occupational Therapists and Physical Therapists only started to get funds for supplies in 2017/18 as well as continuing education!

above is a link to a center that l.. if your IEP says that the child should receive one but there is a long wait list for you-this may be helpful to pursue.

How Do you Define and Describe Sensory Processing Deficits in a Meaningful Way, What Can You Do About Them and How Do You Help Others to Understand?:

I personally have a dislike of labels being put on people, but on some level, they do enable us to understand what we see or experience ourselves. The area of Sensory Processing Disorder is not that commonplace of a condition and not as familiar as the “flu” or “stomach virus” for example. So the importance of understanding and then conveying to others that which you know about the condition has meaning. It allows for the potential of gaining the understanding of others around you and empowers others to be more empathic of the needs of those with SPD.

The below five systems are typically those that we learned about in school… keep reading – there are additional ones:

Image result for sensory systems
In addition to these five, we have proprioception (sensation of muscles and joints of the body), vestibular (sense of head movement), interoception (these provide the sensations that tell us how we feel-hungry, tired, need to feel the bathroom and the following link explains this new sensory system in more detail) https://www.facebook.com/STARInstituteforSPD/videos/1540367686031185/

In a visual manner, we can take a look at the neuroanatomy of the disorder which adds greater understanding of the fact that there is a REAL reason for why the behaviors exist and what may cause disturbances in self-regulation.

***Many thanks to Bill Nasen who is the author of a book being published in October 2019 https://www.amazon.com/Autism-Discussion-Anxiety-Shutdowns-Meltdowns/dp/178592804X/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=bill+nason&qid=1553451610&s=gateway&sr=8-3&fbclid=IwAR2SU44pGAPb3sZLBqTGrNWJbNXKIs0tSToC1C9aPPLxnLJgAlkPzXzCFg0 for providing these valuable photos on Facebook’s The Autism Discussion Page @AutismDiscussionPage there is a book series and a wealth of information on this topic. there.

There are also resources available that may be of assistance for adults or children:

For Children With SPD:

The book called The Out of Sync Child helps identify strategies to help children. Potentially, strategies can be useful are related in this book, https://www.amazon.com/Out-Sync-Child-Recognizing-Processing/dp/0399531653

The STAR Institute gives both professionals and parents a number of resources such as home activities and books connected with the topic of SPD. Another helpful resource if you navigate here is one about how to handle dental visits! https://www.spdstar.org/basic/resources-for-parents-and-professionals

Checklist of symptoms in children who have SPD https://www.spdstar.org/basic/symptoms-checklist

Sensory Items that may be helpful https://inyardproducts.com/blogs/blog/117708293-15-amazing-sensory-products-for-your-child There are many more available online.

Issues at school? If these are potentially going to come up or are reported in the upcoming school conferences in your child’s fall meeting consider navigation to this site beforehand https://childmind.org/article/school-success-kit-kids-sensory-processing-issues/

Adults with SPD:

Knowledge and awareness don’t stop after you grow up. To help others find resources the guide at this link might be helpful. http://www.sensoryprocessing.info/books-adults.html

Sensory items that may be helpful :https://harkla.co/blogs/special-needs/sensory-products-adults

Assistance is available at the STAR INSTITUTE as well as resources pertaining to treatment https://www.spdstar.org/landing-page/treatment and readings connected with this condition are available for adults if you peruse this link https://www.spdstar.org/basic/resources-for-parents-and-professionals

Children or Adults with SPD

https://www.autismparentingmagazine.com/ways-to-calm-alert-sensory-system/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=ASL+and+Communicating+with+Autism%2C+Lego+Play+Therapy%2C+Sensory+Deficits+and+Regulation%2C+Challenging+ASD+Behavior%2C+Playdate+Planning+with+Autism%2C+%2B+More+Powerful+Strategies+You+Should+Know&utm_campaign=AC+Oct+7+2019+1st+newsletters+%28%3E30+days+old+subs+WITH+Oct+%241+Sale%29
** this above link to me appears to be related to anyone with sensory issues and not just with the ASD or SPD diagnoses

Self Regulation
https://funandfunction.com/goals/sensory-regulation.html?fun_age=58%2C1478&utm_medium=search&fbclid=IwAR0x_jcpBP6aaY66IH4doN-X1qVMriGZUKwJM_WyfJnvKlRsgYffQlWpsSA
*this link has toys and other items to use in self regulation

What Can You Do When the Screen Goes Off??”

]

The blog post https://blog.asha.org/2019/05/13/the-best-toys-for-slps-are-the-toys-that-do-nothing/ that recently appeared in the ASHA Leader resonates with me. I put individual links to which the author refers at the bottom of this post, So does the book “If You Give a Mouse an iPhone (of course available on Amazon in print). Here is a link to the story being read https://youtu.be/S3nVxt6_lAc If you can’t get it otherwise and are not familiar with it – the mouse is given an iPhone.. he uses it (viewing something that is not defined) and is unaware of his surroundings on a trip. The battery of the phone runs out and the result is a tantrum.

With the new American Academy of Pediatrics Guidelines for Family Media Plans that i talked about in a recent post, I really did not give any suggestions for the way to redirect your child when the screen is not visible. That led to this post and the awareness that there are so many things that you can do together. Indeed as my colleague wrote you can really be “the best toy!”.

First of all… TURN THEM OFF.  

New research according to a report on CNN reveals significant differences in brain development

https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/04/health/screen-time-lower-brain-development-preschoolers-wellness/index.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=fbCNN&utm_content=2019-11-04T22%3A00%3A09&utm_term=link&fbclid=IwAR2kl7JF5e1BDeY6-j-BGQiGqpT1t5BA4dVM4yVIpZsbSpNZ7pZRuopXkQ0

This video is presented to parents with children on the Autism Spectrum but these principles can apply to so many of us that i wanted to share it with you

https://youtu.be/JPJg5XUrCgk
 
 

Here are some fun seasonal activities that you can do at home that will be enjoyable and something to do with your family, especially as the days get shorter.

SEASONAL FUN:

Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com

Carving a pumpkin-adapting the activity for your child based on their abilities an differences in managing textures in a child-friendly way https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sX6OIhqFZ8o

Write a story about carving the pumpkin, use educational workbooks that are consistent with your child’s age https://elemental.medium.com/bring-back-handwriting-its-good-for-your-brain-fe22fe6c81d2

Read stories (actual books) together. For adults look at the book The Reading Brain https://elemental.medium.com/bring-back-handwriting-its-good-for-your-brain-fe22fe6c81d2 which gives you documentation of how doing so, as opposed to reading books electronically with your children can affect your brain!

 

 

RAINY DAY/WEEKEND OR VACATION DAYS:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4tJV078Qbw

Instead of going out for a Halloween costume try to make it yourself. Here is something that i found that might be of help in terms of suggestions: https://www.mother.ly/child/no-sew-diy-kids-halloween-costumes?rebelltitem=9#rebelltitem9

 

Here is a youtube video to consider: Paper-Mache

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfmF9D4i8Tg&feature=youtu.be

SUNNY/FUN DAYS: STEP OUTSIDE YOUR DOOR:

In NYC https://www.nybg.org/learn/kids-teens/childrens-gardening-program/ and in other cities there are most likely similar types of activities. Novel – if this is not the case is using an avocado seed, allowing it to sprout roots by soaking it in water and allowing it to grow in a pot with dirt. Plant peas from the pods or use others from fruits.

INEXPENSIVE AND SPECIFIC FOR THOSE WITH SENSORY CHALLENGES:

https://www.fatbraintoys.com/special_needs/sensory_integration_disorder.cfm

Leisure time and family functioning in families living with autism spectrum disorder (Autism, August 2019, Vol. 23 Iss. 6)

https://definingtess.com/top-5-things-to-do-after-your-child-is-diagnosed-with-autism/

Additional Resources from Emily Ferjencik May 13, 2019 ASHA LEADER article which I put a link to at the beginning of this post are worth a look!

WOW: THE BIG DIFFERENCE A TINY TOY CAN MAKE
INEXPENSIVE, READILY AVAILABLE OBJECTS CAN TURN TREATMENT INTO A FLOOD OF SENSORY EXPERIENCES FOR THE YOUNGEST OF CLIENTS.
TACKLE FOUNDATIONAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS—NOT JUST LANGUAGE SKILLS—BY INFUSING FUN AND SILLINESS INTO SESSIONS.

Preparation for Schooling After EI, If not Done Already

Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com

Parents tell me that in one moment the services are all in your home and you have a coordinator keeping very close touch with you who will organize everything. Parents are being required to research schools that may be available to children when they prepare to research appropriate programs for their child. Now it is all up to you and it is “so overwhelming. This appears to be the biggest cooncern during the transition period. I’l hear from parents that “I am so stressed about this right now…how will I ever find a school?”

GET INVOLVED: CONCERNING HEALTH ISSUES

Some parents have found schools but now the laws – at least in NY State and I believe others have changed. You are being required to have your child vaccinated; but are choosing not to do so – for any of a number of reasons. Here is what the law indicates https://www.cdc.gov/phlp/publications/topic/vaccinations.html

http://www.p12.nysed.gov/specialed/preschool/program-list-nyc-region.html

As a result of not vaccinating your child and for those in the NYC area this is a youtube video that may help you understand how to get home schooling for your child. I found it on youtube – searching for home schooling in my city and you may be able to find this for your locale.

.

Homeschooling in New York – Paper Work

Maybe your child is starting or has started already. They HAVE been vaccinated.

Here are sometips .

Please do not rely on the school system to have uploaded all of the information about your child into their computer system. NYS Education Department has its own requirements and must be both FERPA (Family Education and Rights Privacy Act) and IDEA (Individuals With Disabilities Act) for their maintenance. Familiarize yourself with what they should have on file, but keep a record of them on your own at home. It is in your interests to have these on file from the very beginning of your child’s education and transition to CPSE or Kindergarten

http://www.acces.nysed.gov/bpss/schools/requirements-organization-student-records-provided-department

  • Go to school and introduce yourself, bringing the IEP in person and any of the other paperwork that they should have there, based on what you read from the above link.
  • Connect and get to know your special education supervisor, your child’s teacher and related service providers. In my experience – those who do so are those whose children get the most out of the school experience.
  • You may be given a packet of information- a welcome letter on that first day. Recognize that there are ways to get involved and stay connected with the educational team, as well as the administrative staff.
  • Joining a parents group at school is a great idea.
  • Home activities are a great thing to get ahold of from each professional as you can support yor child’s work and perhaps even praise them for their school accomplishments. Request them!
  • If your schedule allows for it you may want to volunteer to act as a chaperone for school trips.

Enjoy the experience! Recognize that you are now your child’s advocate! It’s great to become their cheerleader now.

Finally – just a fun idea: A colleague posted this and I could not resist sharing it with you. You may want to consider sending this snac k to school, especially on day one: They look great! https://www.romper.com/p/rice-krispies-sensory-love-notes-is-making-love-more-accessible-brb-i-need-tissues-18648897

With a Feeling of Obligation to Provide Some Suggested Guidance Regarding the Use of Technology in a Responsible Way as the School Year Starts:

Leader Live — Happening now in the speech-language-hearing world

HomePrivate PracticeAudiology Advising Families on Screens: 7 Resolutions for the New School Year

Advising Families on Screens: 7 Resolutions for the New School Year

written by Jaumeiko Coleman August 12, 2019

Family eating a meal together.

It’s that time of year: back to school. Whether you are celebrating or mourning the end of summer, this time marks a fresh start for families. As parents consider how to best help their child achieve success this school year, audiologists and speech-language pathologists know how much tech use can affect a child’s school achievement. This makes it an ideal time to guide parents toward better balance after the all-too-common summer screen-time binge.

Editor’s note: As always, children who use low- and high-tech augmentative and alternative communication devices (AAC) should continue to use them at all times—and in an interactive way.

As with almost everything in child rearing, the rules are not necessarily one-size-fits all: what works for one child (or family) may not work for another. Finding the ideal balance can take trial and error. As parents continue to grapple with setting appropriate parameters for kids, it’s not necessarily as simple as “no more than 30 minutes a day.”

Try sharing these tech resolutions with families to help them find a screen time balance to the new school year:

  1. Make—and stick to—a plan. If you haven’t already developed a family technology plan, the start of school makes an excellent time to do so. Numerous trusted groups, including the American Academy of Pediatricsand Common Sense Media, offer templates to make this easy. Even if you already use a plan, find time to revisit it and consider—with your kids—whether the rules need to evolve. What is, and isn’t, working? Are kids old enough for additional/different privileges? Screen time plans need to change to stay effective.
  2. Focus on quality. While quantity—such as daily/weekly time limits—still work for many families, not all screen time is created equal. As most experts now stress, 30 minutes spent creating something—art, stories, programming—isn’t the same as 30 minutes passively viewing YouTube videos. Emphasize the former—and consider allowing more leeway if the time gets well spent.
  3. Make dinner time sacred. An oldie but goodie, dinner time should be offline time. Make conversation king at the table. In addition to building kids’ communication—speech, language, and social—skills and providing an unmatched, consistent opportunity for family bonding and connection, a host of other benefits are linked to regular family dinners. Technology is almost always a distraction—so no answering texts, emails, or Googleing. Everyone can hold off for those 30 minutes.
  4. Keep bedtime use off limits. Another classic, but oft-ignored recommendation. Recent research from Common Sense Media found 68% of teens—and 74% of parents—now take their mobile devices to bed with them. Not only can this detract from beneficial bedtime activities such as daily reading, but it can interfere with adequate sleep—which is necessary for physical and mental health, as well as academic success.
  5. Limit during homework time. This undoubtedly becomes more difficult as kids get older and assignments require online research. To that end, minimize technology as much as possible—and only to assist in homework. During homework time, discourage multi-tasking with social media or texting.
  6. Get involved. Make tech use a group activity. Watch your kids play Fortnite or view videos from their favorite YouTuber with them. Ask questions. Show—better yet, have—interest. This not only keeps the lines of communication open and provides a chance to talk/bond, but it can moderate parents’ concerns about their child’s online time—i.e., it may not be as bad as you think. Conversely, it can be an early indicator of problematic content.
  7. Elevate the conversation—Think beyond limits, rules, and restrictions. Again, these have their place, but encourage kids to think critically, for themselves, about how they use technology (risks/rewards) and help them appreciate and value offline time—both activities and relationships—prioritizing people over devices. Parents can’t monitor everything, especially as children get older. Talk about your expectations for being a good digital citizen and your family’s values, so they carry these along when they are at friends’ houses, on the school bus, and out in the world. Give them the tools to make good decisions.

For more information and tips, visit ASHA’s Healthy Communication & Popular Technology Initiative.

Jaumeiko Coleman, PhD, CCC-SLP, FNAP is ASHA’s Director of School Services. jcoleman@asha.org.PRIVATE PRACTICESCHOOLSTECHNOLOGY1

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Shaping the Way We Use Technology Or Not….

A year or so back, I was sitting, catching up on reading mail one afternoon and i come across my graduate school alumni magazine.  The topic that month was related to the use of technology in education. One of the articles talked  about different types of careers that are developing in the field of education, that relate to technology. Really interesting.  It got me thinking about my day-to-day work and the types of things that have happened over the past few years. How are we changing??   

I avoid using technology at work, aside from some apps on my i-phone.  Call me old fashioned; but, there really is a logical reason when you are interacting with young children. Why?   there now is scientific evidence that the use of technology really impacts us.  For example, this article from Scientific America might be eye opening for some https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/reading-paper-screens/ 

One might poo-poo the article that I site in the previous paragraph since the article was written in 2013.   Before YOU choose to do so, copyrighted in 2018 MaryAnneWolf writes the text Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World.  (yes – you CAN get it online at Amazon 🙂  )

  • Wolf continues the dialogue about the influence of technologic reading vs. tangible “book” reading. There are real differences that she suggests: the ability to critically think, reflect and being empathic. She even documents the neurology of reading and how our brains assists is with it (which I can’t give away – you will have to read her book!) and the fact that we don’t use the same aspects of neuroanatomy when reading online. The adage of “use it or lose it” may now be popping into your head. Scary isnt it. My conclusion was that reading a book may actually be a form of exercise for your brain. I myself wonder, is this going to be another addition to the recommended amount of aerobic exercise that we need to maintain health? Interesting rhetorical question or perhaps a “real one” to discuss at your next physical.

New screen-time guidelines for early childhood are outlined in https://www.additudemag.com/screen-time-not-recommended-for-young-children/ and the American Academy of Pediatrics published the following

Among the AAP recommendations:

The idea of developing a Family Media Plan has been suggested HealthyChildren.org/MediaUsePlan.  to help as a guide.

  • For children younger than 18 months, avoid use of screen media other than video-chatting. Parents of children 18 to 24 months of age who want to introduce digital media should choose high-quality programming, and watch it with their children to help them understand what they’re seeing.
  • For children ages 2 to 5 years, limit screen use to 1 hour per day of high-quality programs. Parents should co-view media with children to help them understand what they are seeing and apply it to the world around them.
  • For children ages 6 and older, place consistent limits on the time spent using media, and the types of media, and make sure media does not take the place of adequate sleep, physical activity and other behaviors essential to health. 
  • Designate media-free times together, such as dinner or driving, as well as media-free locations at home, such as bedrooms.
  • Have ongoing communication about online citizenship and safety, including treating others with respect online and offline.

Another question that I had in reviewing this information in preparing for a graduate student seminar being given to students studying the field of Speech-Language Pathology was what about adults? Who helps guide us in curbing use of technology so that it is used responsibly. After all, I would challenge my reader to make a list of 25 activities that you engage in during the week that do not involve battery operated devices. Can you? When I asked my students to do so, it was hard. Even the mundane task of grocery shopping in a “real” grocery store where you actually take a shopping cart, walk up and down an aisle and take items off of a shelf was not happening. By a show of hands, few students engaged in that task. No wonder we are becoming an overweight society!

With the above depressing news that has been documented – how technology is affecting our health, I dug up an article that may be of help. I will close with this and a request to consider how technology is affecting your life and how it is affecting the life of those around you. Consider how you can take care of yourself! https://www.rewire.org/living/adults-screen-time-limits/

What Does it Mean to Have Generational Intelligence and What are Your Thoughts?

Spread template PC fonts

 

What is communication in the 21st century? Are we merely talking??  Research actually is saying “no”. The above chart from the University of Liverpool illustrates the differences between age groups.  We are really are what I would term to be global communicators; in that, we use a variety of communication forms.  That has good and bad sides to it.  The need to be generationally intelligent becomes necessary for all of us if we are going to get along.  Why?  It’s important since the presence of a digital world has made these differences even more pronounced than they ever have been.  The differences are also permanent. Technology is not going away any time soon and is changing every day quite rapidly.

Jean Twenge gives a great deal of insight about the concept I am introducing.  She discusses the differences in how people are living, looking at longitudinal studies that she has conducted. Her latest book documents this:  https://www.amazon.com/iGen-Super-Connected-Rebellious-Happy-Adulthood-ebook/dp/B01N6ACK3B/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1529427009&sr=8-1&keywords=iGen.  Sadly, she notes that those who are born in an age of smartphones and the internet are not as happy as a result of the social isolation of many digital natives.  Wouldn’t this now point to the need for increased and easier access to mental health care?

Technology has also had an impact on physical health, both positively and negatively.    http://www.digitalresponsibility.org/health-and-technology/  Only you understand how you individually are being affected or not.   It is interesting to think about and then consider if there are any issues that impact on your life.  How is your life being affecting and how are you communicating pre-post technology or as a digital native?

 

 

Dr. Andreas Hoff (2012) Generational Intelligence: A Critical Approach to Age Relations By Biggs, S., and Lowenstein, A., Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, 10:3, 304-308, DOI: 10.1080/15350770.2012.698975.  

 

When Your Picky Eater is Ready for Prom, not Preschool — Pediatric Feeding News

By Jenny McGlothlin, MS, CCC/SLP, CLC and Katja Rowell, MD Anthony has been picky as long as he can remember. His mom however, remembers a time when he ate well; she even has the baby pictures of him smeared with pasta sauce to prove it. Anthony hasn’t had meat sauce for over 13 years. ThoughKeep…

via When Your Picky Eater is Ready for Prom, not Preschool — Pediatric Feeding News