To learn and understand about others experiences we need to listen….
Some great resources below:
Listen by Communication First
This is not about me by Jordan Zimmer
Speechless by Fiacre Ryan
Let’s insure all our partial or non-speakers are provided with a means to communicate
By Sarah Winstanley, SaLT
Communication Lincs. Ltd ……..because Speech Therapy Matters
I will be working reduced hours over the Easter Holidays. Normal working hours will resume on Monday 15th April.
Photo: Easter Wreath, by a green door
Bring a lantern, torch, or just yourself for a fun family lantern walk in Oakham, Rutland.
Saturday 11th November at 4.30pm
Photo of lantern made from willow and tissue paper…
For more information:
https://oakhamlanternwalk.weebly.com/
For many, Father’s Day is a time to celebrate and show gratitude for the dads and father figures in our lives. But it can be a hard day for others.
Wherever you are today and whatever your situation, I’m send you love, best wishes and virtual hugs.
Picture: several pictures of dad
Today I am reminded of my Dads unswerving love, support and belief in each of us as we carved our own paths… right from the beginning Dad always encouraged us to follow our hopes and dreams. He allowed us the space to spread our wings and grasp the opportunities given to us
Dad taught us about the importance of family… it was never about extravagant trips or events … but more about being together… Sharing a meal …. Being out for a walk …. Watching football. … Sharing space …
Dads unguarded joy and delight when we got together was evident and we all hold so many memories of our amazing family times together
Parenthood is hard… none of us have got it together all or any of the time. Thee are struggles and heartaches along the way.. It is important to connect with others and share our struggles and joys as we carve our own path.
By Sarah Winstanley, SaLT
Communication Lincs Ltd. ………..because Speech Therapy Matters
Is your child or young person aware of their diagnosis? Have you provided an open, honest space for your child or young person to talk about their autism diagnosis?
The importance of children and young people knowing and understanding their diagnosis cannot be underestimated
Many children already have an awareness of the challenges they are experiencing in daily life. They may even have been given other labels by their peers/ adults. Often we fear the word “different” as we think it means less… Sometimes we need to examine our own thoughts around autism…..
Speaking the truth to your child about their diagnosis lets them know that they need not be ashamed of it nor keep it a secret. Letting your child know that they have autism is not a one off chat. It is an ongoing conversation that will change as your child grows and develops
How best can we support the autistic people in our lives?
Advocacy
Adjustments
Avoid ABA
Provide a robust communication system
Connection -It is important to support your child in connecting with the autistic community.
Parents also need to connect and seek information and advice from the autistic community. By connecting with autistic adults they will learn about autism from people who had autistic childhoods (lived experiences)
Some of these lived experiences include:
Way their child socialises is perfectly normal for an autistic person
Social communication differences go both ways (double empathy problem)
It is important to respect and work with a child’s communication style. For example: echolalia, scripting, using longer communication turns/ monologues, use of direct language, use of different modes of communication other than spoken word, that ability to communicate may vary from day to day/ in different situations/ with different people
Find out that strong interests bring deep joy
Repetitive movements bring peace
Stimming is not something that needs reducing or eliminating
Insistence on sameness helps them to cope in an unpredictable world
Understand that some things some people consider “no big deal” are actually a very big deal. For example:
Noises
Flickering lights
Consistency
Processing delay
Surprises
So where do we start in supporting our children and young people who are at the beginning their journey of self discovery
Neurobears is a course all about the autistic self https://www.pandasonline.org/catalog/629d766a0f9cbf4f558d121e
Standing up for myself is a book that addresses consent, personal boundaries and how to advocate for your needs
https://ausometraining.com/product/standing-up-for-myself-book/
Spectrum Gaming
What have you found helpful?
Sarah Winstanley, SaLT
Communication Lincs Ltd. ………because Speech Therapy Matters
Lots of fun activities to support learning about the initial sound of words
Picture of a lady and a girl walking through a field
Hide and Seek
Hide 10 objects in the sand. Each object should have an object that starts with the same sound. For example: cat – car; dog – duck; milk – mouse; hat – house; chair – cheese. As you find each object talk about what sound it starts with. Once you have found all 10 objects pair them up.
Odd One Out
Collect five objects. Talk about what sound each of the objects start with. Then encourage the child to work out which one is the odd one out. For example: boat, bucket, shell, ball, bag
Same or Different
Introduce two pictures. Talk about what sound the pictures start with. For example:
- Crab starts with a ‘’k’ sound, seaweed starts with a ‘s’ sound. They start with different sounds
- bucket starts with a ‘b’ sound, ball starts with a ‘b’ sound. They start with the same sound
Sound Hunt
Choose a sound for the day/ week. Go on a hunt for items that start with the sound of the day/ week. Collect the items and put them in a box/ tray.
Take photos of items and create a picture collage
Cut out items from a catalogue and stick them on your picture collage
For example: ‘s’ – sock, sand, seaweed, sausage, sack, seal, sun…
Sorting
Collect items that start with various sounds including the sound of the week. Put all items that start with the sound of the week on the sound table/ tray. Put all the rejected items in the bin. For example: sound of the week is ‘t’ – table, torch, tie, ticket, teddy, towel
Rejected items (bin) – car, book, dog, mouse, cheese, etc…
I Spy
Initially put two or three items on a tray, each starting with a different sound. For example: dinosaur, cow, pig, horse. Then play I spy… I spy something that starts with the sound ‘d’ (dinosaur).
On a car journey play I spy (using the initial sound of the word). I spy something beginning with “k” = car; “r” = road; “s” = sign; etc….
Fly Swat
Give each child a fly swat. Choose four pictures of items starting with a different sound. For example: ball, shoe, coat, hat. Spread them out on the floor or table. Then say a sound, e.g. ‘b’. Who can swat the picture first? (ball)
Go Fish
Make up a pack of cards (approximately 40 to 52 cards). The cards to contain set of four cards starting with the same sound. For example: Families p, b, t, d, m, n, h, k, g, f, s, w, sh, ch, j, l
F – fish, fork, fire, fox
B – book, ball, bird, bath
M – mouse, money, milk, man
Give each player 7 cards. The rest are put face down on the table. They then have to try and make as many sets as possible by asking other players for a card which starts with the same sound as one of their cards. If the player has a card with that sound they give it to them. If not they say “go fish” and the player picks up one of the cards in the middle. The player with the most sets at the end is the winner.
I went to the shops
Choose a sound and then play the game I went to the shops and I bought…. How many things can you think of starting with a given sound. For example: (k/ c is the chosen sound) I went to the shops and I bought a car, coat, cookie, camel, cow, kite, caravan, cake….
Bean Bag/ Ball Game
Sit or stand opposite each other or in a circle if lots of people playing. Choose a sound, e.g. ‘g’. The ball or bean bag can only be passed once you have thought of a word starting with the given sound. For example: goat, gate, garden, granny, grandad, go, grow, game, gas,
Four Corners
Find four pictures/ objects that start with a different sound. Talk about what sound each item starts with. Put the items in the four corners. Say a sound and the child has to run to the object that starts with that sound, e.g. ‘sh’ = shoe
Try and keep it FUN
By Sarah Winstanley, SaLT
Communication Lincs Ltd. ……because Speech Therapy Matters
Identifying the number of syllables in a word is an activity you can do anywhere including whilst you are at the beach. Words could include: bucket, seaweed, crab, fish, shell, rock, sandals, jacket, net, sand, umbrella/ parasol, jellyfish, seagull, ice-cream, sunglasses, towel, octopus,…
Or you can use the pictures provided for one, two, three and four syllable words
(Depending on your accent you may have a different number of syllables to someone with a different accent)
Picture of a boy holding a red bucket walking between the rock pools
Syllable Clapping/ tapping
(use the syllable chart to help with counting the number of syllables)
Put out 5 Lego bricks. Tap out the number of syllables in a word, e.g. car = one; teddy = two; dinosaur = three; radiator = four taps/ claps
Put the picture by the correct number, i.e. caterpillar would go by number 4
Syllable Pairs
Initially only have a few pairs to match. Place the card face down on the table. Take turns to turn over a card. Count out the number of syllables in the word. Can you find another word with the same number of syllables.
-Syllable lotto
Make a set of lotto cards each with six to eight different pictures (with 1, 2, 3 or 4 syllables). Pull out a card and if the lotto board has the same picture then cover it up with a counter
Syllable charades
Mime a word and everyone has to guess the word and the number of syllables in the word
Syllable happy families
Make a pack of cards with 1, 2, 3 or 4 syllables. Each player needs to try and make a family of four (all have to have the same number of syllables). Initially introduce these cards and work together to collate the “families” then play as a game. Ask another player “do you have a card with two syllables”. If the other player says no take one from the middle pile.
Communication Lincs Ltd. …..because Speech Therapy Matters
I have been reading “in a different key” which tells the story of autism from its beginning to now. This has been a fascinating read and does give an insight into how far we have come over the years. Knowledge and awareness is needed but we need more….
We need:
To LISTEN to those with lived experience of autism
To make ADJUSTMENTS to support their needs
ACCEPTANCE of who they are without the need to change “fix” them
To CONNECT them with their community
Support them in ADVOCATING for their needs (sensory, tactile, auditory, gustatory , olfactory & personal)
To help them remain REGULATED
I would also recommend reading Neurotribes by Steve Silverman. Or if you prefer it is also available as an audiobook
By Sarah Winstanley, SaLT
Communication Lincs Ltd. ……because Speech Therapy Matters
Have you ever wondered why we say Zig Zag rather than Zag Zig… or Sing Song rather than Song Sing
If somebody said flop-flip you would know it sounded wrong but why?
It is a rule you’ve being using but probably never heard of it’s called “ablaut reduplication”. It is the pattern by which vowels change in a repeated word to form a new word or phrase, like hip-hop, tick-tock, chit-chat
The order is always: . I A O. It might be to do with the movement of the tongue from the front to the back of the mouth or it might be related to ancient languages or how it sounds…. There is great debate over the reason why, but it’s a rule English speakers have been following for over 2000 years
Picture of a mug with the quote “I’d rather be wearing flip flops”
By Sarah Winstanley, SaLT
I hope you have had a lovely Easter Break. Mine involved a lot of cake as we celebrated 5th, 13th, 50th, 70th and 80th family birthdays all in the space of 2 weeks.
Summer Term Sessions start 21st April….
Picture: person (Sarah) on paddle board
text - hello summer term 2022
by Sarah Winstanley, SaLT
Communication Lincs Ltd ….. because Speech Therapy Matters
#SpeechTherapyMatters. #SaLT
My first memories of pancakes are from when we used to visit my Granny and Granda. They lived just over an hour away from us and when we got to their house there would be a full plate of warm scotch pancakes ready to eat with homemade strawberry jam. Delicious 😋
I still use the same recipe that she gave me almost 30 years ago.
Although I’m a big fan of scotch pancakes others in my house prefer thin crepe style pancakes
There’s so much to talk about as you make and eat pancakes so let’s get started….
Picture: 7 heart shaped pancakes on a white plate
# HeartShapeMould
Do you like:
big or little pancakes
shop bought or home made
What do you like to put on your pancake?
Strawberry jam 🍓
chocolate spread 🍫
lemon & sugar 🍋
something else
Picture: heart shape pancake mould
#LovePancakes
If you are inspired to make some pancakes then why not go to the Ingredients list
Symbols to support communication around requesting, commenting or refusing pancakes go to the Pancake Communication Board
For more ideas check out our blog from previous Pancake Days
by Sarah Winstanley, SaLT
Communication Lincs Ltd. ……because Speech Therapy Matters
On a windy day…. Like today……. why not make yourself a wind vane. A wind vane is used to show the direction of the wind. Wind vanes are mounted so they can spin under the influence of the wind..
Picture of weather vane on a post in the garden
I need:
leaf 🍃
straw or small stick
pin📌
scissors ✂️
tape or glue
An adult to help with cutting and pushing the pin through the stick/ straw if required
Cut out the leaf shapes for each end of the wind vane and fix in place with tape. The arrow end needs to be a little bigger than the tail end to ensure it is pushed by the wind to point in the direction the wind blows.
Push the pin through the straw/ stick. Make sure the straw/ stick can spin freely
Place the pin on a stick or post (see picture above)
Picture of wind vane resting on stone
Find a suitable spot in the garden to put the weather vane and then watch it spin.
Vocabulary: windy, blow, spin, turn, stick, leaf
Tricky Words: sheltered, exposed, compass
Or why not practise being like the wind and huffing and puffing and blowing the weather vane round and round and round…. How fast can you make it spin
Extension Activity: get a compass and work out which direction the wind is blowing.
By Sarah Winstanley, SaLT
Communication Lincs Ltd. ……..because Speech Therapy Matters
I joined the zoom virtual launch night but missed the memo PJs or Glitter & Glam and arrived “just finished work, tired and weary look”
I did what any self respecting person would do I switched off the camera, no need to highlight my inability to read the memo
Drama Queen
Incisive, poignant, informative
I laughed and cried in equal measures as i journey through the book. A witty autobiography sprinkled with sadness.
The book painted a picture of a girl navigating her way through life. Sara clearly struggled and yet so many missed the obvious diagnosis and instead provided her with many inappropriate and unhelpful labels.
Instead of adjustments they asked her to “try harder”, as I if she wasn’t trying.
I love that she has now found her path:
“autism neither an affliction nor a superpower … it’s the blueprint of who I am”
To sum up the book in 4 words:
funny. poignant wise. informative
What I love 💕 even more is her Podcast, Aut-hour, that has introduced me to a diverse range of authors and a long list of books to read 📚
by Sarah Winstanley, SaLT
Communication Lincs Ltd. ………because Speech Therapy Matters
Are you demanding eye contact?
In Western society we perceive eye contact to be an important part of communication. However across different cultures eye contact is perceived differently.
Do we need to question our western neuro-typical ideas around insisting on eye contact ?
Within education we have been taught that it is important to gain a child’s attention prior to giving an instruction. To accomplish this we have come to the conclusion that we need the child to “look at me”. It is often assumed that those who do not conform by “giving eye contact/ maintaining eye gaze” cannot be paying attention. This often leads to targets being set around a child making eye contact .
Many are under the impression that “good looking” is directly related to “good listening”. However we all listen without looking throughout the day…
talking on the phone
listening to the radio/ Alexa
listening to podcasts
listening to audiobooks
listening whilst doing another task
And we often do this whilst on the move…
Stillness is also not a requirement for listening. Many people need to move to meet their sensory needs so that they can stay well regulated.
When we communicate there is so much more to this skill than meets the eye.
Teaching someone to “look” can be detrimental in achieving the actual skill we require.
When what we are often actually asking for is Visual Referencing which is so much more than the discrete skill of giving eye contact/ looking.
Visual Referencing requires us to use our sight to gain information about
your environment
your communication partner
For example:
Environment
check where toilets are
check where you can get food
If it is safe
are there visual supports (universal symbols such as toilet sign)
what is everyone else doing
Communication Partner
who you can talk to/ ask (do they look approachable/ friendly)
do I know anyone
are they interested in what I am talking about
do they understand what I am talking about
Is the conversation relevant/ important/ of interest to me
Image: child wearing blue goggles
Eye contact is not always advantageous even in cultures which perceive it to be important.
Across cultures people look away when they are thinking. So a break in eye contact may come not from emotion, but from the need to preserve cognitive resources.
Research has shown that complex verbal tasks appear to be more difficult for people trying to maintain eye contact with another person.
“Eye contact can deplete your mental bandwidth”
In conclusion:
if we put less emphasis on eye contact we can enable deeper thinking during a given conversation.
using more eye contact might give better social feedback between conversational partners
looking at the face/ lips may help us hear what is being said
autistic people often find eye contact painful (are we causing harm by demanding eye contact)
in many cultures eye contact is seen as aggressive or intimidating
in many cultures when a person uses eye contact they are perceived as unapproachable, angry, unpleasant (are we considering and adapting to meet others cultural differences)
…. It is time to move beyond eye contact and consider:
What are our purposes for expecting or "requiring" eye contact”?.
Are those purposes best served by the strategies that we employ?
By Sarah Winstanley, SaLT
Communication Lincs Ltd. …….because Speech Therapy Matters
Just add some wobbly/ googly eyes
or why not dip the cones in paint and add buttons/ sequins to make their own special decoration
Image: 2 fir cones with googly eyes made to look like hedgehogs. Message on leaf saying “Happy New Year 2022”
By Sarah Winstanley, SaLT
Communication Lincs Ltd. …because Speech Therapy Matters
This time of the year is often thought of as a time of giving. Think about something that you could give
to charity
to a neighbour
to a friend
to help tidy/ clean up your community
Image: felt decorations for the Christmas tree including gingerbread man, robin, tree, bauble.
This year we have been felting our own Christmas decorations using the wool from our sheep. Now off to deliver them to our neighbours…
#craft. #Giving #Christmas
Sarah Winstanley, SaLT
Communication Lincs Ltd. ……..because Speech Therapy Matters
Have a lovely Christmas break
Sarah Winstanley, SaLT
communication Lincs Ltd. ……….because Speech Therapy Matters
With the Christmas holidays fast approaching here are some ideas to keep you and your little ones entertained.
Action Song:
“we wish you a merry Christmas” - with a few added verses (lots of actions for everyone to join in with)
Cooking:
A yummy chocolate puff pastry tree
Party food - “Top hats”
Make some Reindeer Food for Rudolph and all the other reindeers
Make different shaped biscuits using cookie cutters
Play:
Scavenger Hunt - what can you spot out and about on your Christmas Walk
Reindeer Game - who will be first to complete their reindeer
Do you want to build a snowman - don’t let the lack of snow stop you making your own snowman
It might not be National Penguin day but don’t let that stop you having some penguin fun
Make a tree - collect some sticks and make your own Christmas tree decoration
Star based activities
Make time to PLAY
Chocolate Log with snowman on top
Have FUN and ENJOY spending time together
By Sarah Winstanley, SaLT
Communication Lincs Ltd. …….because Speech Therapy Matters
How is it September already? It is that time of year, when we are all trying to get back into the swing of things after the summer break.
It’s time to prepare ourselves for heading “Back to School”
Picture of sea with rock in foreground made into face (chalk rock with two holes for eyes; green seaweed hair & curved twig for mouth)
I am looking forward to:
seeing everyone I work with 😊
driving time so I can listen to the backlog of Podcasts
Getting back to a predictable routine
What are you looking forward to?
By Sarah Winstanley, SaLT
Communication Lincs Ltd. …….because Speech Therapy Matters
Today we have endured the uniform and shoe shop ready for “Back to School”.
This event is a sharp reminder of the impact of sensory issues.
Uniforms can be stiff and scratchy especially school shirts. Often giving the new uniform a wash will make it less stiff and smell familiar. It may also help to remove labels/ tags.
New shoes often feel stiff and pinch especially after a summer of bare feet, wet shoes, trainers, sandals and flip-flips. It is advisable to put the new shoes on for short periods each day. This will help “break them in” and make them a little softer and more comfortable to wear.
What adjustments can you make to support your child’s sensory needs?
Picture of various cakes with quotes on them including “you rule” & “best teacher ever”
By Sarah Winstanley, SaLT
Communication Lincs Ltd. ……….because Speech Therapy Matters
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