Theme for March---Friendship

First and foremost my deepest apologies for lacking on the blog post updates during the  month of February.  My academic position had me traveling quite a bit and it just got me too far behind to get the pictures uploaded and ready to go for a good quality post.  If I can't make the post high quality I do not want to throw just anything out there. 

The theme for "Wright's Word Wall" for March will be related to Friendship.  The photograph that will accompany the word wall will be the following:


The first words for the first week of March will be:

People:                    You
Actions:                   Run
Nouns:                     Dog
Places:                     School
Describing Words:  Small
Social Vocabulary:  Please


One important aspect of building friendships is being able to engage in shared activities and demonstrate social etiquette.  These are the reasons for this week's word selections.  It is important to teach children (and adults) to be other-oriented.  This can be a very challenging and daunting task.  Many children will begin referring to themselves in the third person initially by using their own name.  In my case I would say "Sandra hungry".  In previous word wall vocabulary, your child was introduced to the word "I" to help give them developmental language to start referring to themselves in the first person using "I" rather than the third person using their name.  Don't worry if your child is not grasping this concept quickly.  It is very abstract in nature.  If you try to model it for your child it can also become quite confusing because when you use the term "I" you are referring to yourself, not your child. 

The good news is that teaching a child to use the word "you" can be much easier than teaching who the word "I" represents.  How can you do this?  Here is my suggestion.  You need 3 people (at least).  One person is the child learning the vocabulary, the second person is the communication facilitator whose sole responsibility is to help the child learn the vocabulary and the third person is the communication partner.  Engage in a game-like or turn taking activity where the child can make statements like "you run" or "you throw" or "you kick" (note all previous word wall action words).  The communication facilitators helps the child access these words on an AAC system or shows the words to be read if your child has good verbal abilities, or to be pointed to.  The communication facilitator should access the word "you" in the same manner the child would then point or gesture through eye gaze to the communication partner.  Initially the communication partner should respond to demonstrate the meaning of the word you.  With practice the communication partner should stop responding entirely to the communication facilitator and only respond to the child.  Remember that the target of the activity here is that the child begin to learn and understand the concept of the vocabulary "you" refers to another person.  When it is felt the child understands this concept, the communication partner and communication facilitator should switch roles to ensure that the child does not think the word "you" is a nickname for a particular person but understands that the word is universal.

ATIA 2014 Presentation: Words Matter: Vocabulary Selection versus Vocabulary Frequency

Pease click on the link below if you would like to see the handouts associated with the presentation given on Friday January 31, 2014 at the Assistive Technology Initiative Technology Association conference in Orlando, Florida by Dr. Sandra Wright and Dr. April Fugett.  The presentation was entitled:  Words Matter: Vocabulary Selection versus Vocabulary Frequency

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxIwYgBIv-nNM05mOEh1RTljaWc/edit?usp=sharing

Thank you for your interest in our research.

Wright's Word Wall--Week 4

Can you believe this will be the last week of January?  How are you doing with the words related to the theme of "football"?  Have you noticed that while the words are indeed related to football, they are related to many topics and used many times in everyday language, especially in January?

Here are the Wright's Word Wall words for this week:

People: I
Action: Play
Noun: Chair
Describing Word: Pretty
Place: Restaurant
Social Vocabulary: Awesome

The word pretty could be misunderstood, but keep in mind all the ways in which we use it.  There is the meaning for pretty as in attractive or beautiful, but then there is the meaning that is relational, such as it was pretty big.  Feel free to use the describing word in both contexts.  This will help your child to understand that words have multiple meanings and interpretations, based on how they are used.

The word chair was selected for the same reason.  We all sit in many different types of chairs.  The one used in the symbol represents something similar to a kitchen chair, but that does not mean that this symbol could not represent a recliner chair, or bean bag chair.  Help flex the language thinking of your child through symbols having multiple meanings.

The trickiest word on the word wall is the word "I".  I find this word very hard to teach, because when we say "I" we are referring to ourselves.  However, when we try to teach the word "I" we try to take on the perspective of the child.  This can be very confusing.  If your child is having a difficult time with the concept of the word "I", make a copy of the symbol and put your child's name on it and use it as a third person marker.  So in my instances, I would say "Sandra" rather than trying to learn "I" at this point. Once I have a good grasp that this symbol means me, then I would start pairing Sandra and I, then drop Sandra and see if the child would use I alone.  Keep in mind that when you say "I" the child may initially think that you are referring to him or her as well.  Give it a shot! 


You now have 24 words in which to play with.  If you feel your child is not ready for this many words, then go back to week 1.  Don't push your child too fast, but make sure to have all of the words accessible somewhere, we never know when spontaneous utterances or access could happen.  You can put magnets on the back of your printed cards and place them on the fridge and arrange them in different phrases and sentences.  You can put velcro dots (the scratchy side) and they will stick to a lot of carpet textures and place them around the floor.

Find a way for your child to manipulate language at least twice a day in a purposeful manner with your guidance and engagement.  Words can be overwhelming and abstract. 

The Super Bowl will take place on Sunday (pending a weather change).  Make sure to take advantage of TV commercials, news print, casual conversation that is taking place regarding the topic of the month to help make everyday life connections regarding Wright's Word Wall and language in the community.

You are doing a great job of helping support language development in your child!

Week 3 Words and Building on Language

I hope that everyone enjoyed last week's adventure of trying to utilize the comparison words of "He" and "She".  If your child is still having difficulty with this concept continue to work on this skill over the next week while introducing the new words.  Don't try to push your child's language faster than he or she is ready to learn.  This will make the language learning process both frustrating for you and your child.  Be consistent in your approach.  Be positive in any attempts made by your child to use these new concepts.  Be rewarding when the concepts are utilized correctly.  Make sure to reinforce to your child that you are proud of their attempt to master new language skills.  We all like to have a reward of some type when we accomplish something that was challenging, your child is no different!

If you are finding that 6 words a week is too limiting, and want to add some words that are personally relevant to your family then add no more than 4 additional words per week and make sure to utilize the same Fitzgerald color coding system.

Here are the Wright's Word Wall words for Week 3:

People/Pronoun:   It
Action:                  Like
Noun:                    Day
Describing Word: Happy
Place:                    Store
Social Vocabulary: What's up?

The addition of the word "it" to your child's vocabulary should allow him or her to be able to talk about anything within the room with an associated gesture or eye gaze.  Teaching a child the word "it" will help reduce his or her frustration in not knowing the names, or having names available if using an AAC system, of items or objects.  The action word "like" can be a challenging word to teach because it is not an outward action, it is an internal action.  However, most parents do an outstanding job of utilizing the word like in a variety of daily of activities "I like how you cleaned your room", " I like how you are walking quietly", etc.  Teaching a word that is an internal feeling or emotion is the first step in teaching your child a couple of key social skills 1) that he or she can feel differently on the inside about different things, 2) that he or she may feel differently about things than someone else and that it is okay (perspective), and 3) that he or she can self-regulate his or her emotions through understanding the way he or she feels about situations or emotions.  In order to help you teach the positive attribute typically associated with the word like, the describing word for this week is "happy".  When we are around something we "like", "it" typically makes us feel "happy".  Knowing that many children enjoy new toys or food, the general word "store" was selected.  You can add a specific type in front of the word Grocery "store" or Toy "store" to help teach that a general word can be attached to a specific word in word combinations.

Language Strategy for the Week: Expansion
For this week, specifically in regard to the 18 word wall words that have been provided you should attempt to have your child combine them in any which way.  If your child is still using only single words. EXPAND for them.  If your child says "like" while eating a ice cream...you say back "You like cold ice cream".  This simple strategy will provide an example for your child.  Don't push your child to say what you say, just continue to give that example for any single word used by your child.  It is best to provide and expansion that contains 2-3 more words than your child used if trying to get him or her to use more words per utterance.

Continue to practice all 18 word wall words. Try to incorporate them into daily activities. They are frequently occurring words in print.  If your child is grasping them quickly then please start adding "short words" (a, an, the) by writing them on plain white cards.

Week 2 Word Wall and Language Strategies

I have greatly enjoyed developing Wright's Word Wall around the theme of "Football" for the month of January.  Here is the photo that has inspired the words:

There are so many things that can be talked about and discussed within this picture.  If you look closely you will see that there are boys, girls, men and women present.  The sun in shining but yet people have on what appears to be sweatshirts and coats, so the weather could be anything.  It is always a good idea to have a picture or some contextual referent in which you can utilize to help with understanding words and word usage. 

You will notice in week one the people world selected was "He" rather than a specific person such as "mom" or "dad' or even a more generic term such as "man".  Let me explain my reasoning for this.  He can be used to describe any male, it is much more of a generic term that is more likely to show up in print or literature than the others.  It can promote literacy development.  In addition it also promotes that there are a large number of words that have large generalization, meaning that what they represent can vary greatly (dog, fruit, it, they, etc.).  Therefore, if you teach your child "he" there are many people which he or she can talk about without having to know specific names.

This brings me to the words that will be on Wright's Word Wall for week 2. I am including a photo of their representation for your convenience.  Please feel free to print copy and use as you wish.  I am using SymbolStix icons, as I find they are more versatile and good representations. In addition you can get an online of SymbolStix for $49/year, a great buy!  Here are the vocabulary words and parts of speech that will be targeted during week 2:

yellow: she
green:   throw
orange: coat
blue:     big
purple:  home
pink:     Ahhhh! (as in frustration or disappointment)

These words were selected for their frequency and relevance to the theme of football.  If you feel that your child has a good grasp of the vocabulary, I would like to give you a language challenge.

LANGUAGE LESSON:

Incorporate the understanding of "he" or "she" into as many everyday situations as possible.  This may mean that you need to reinforce the understanding of the difference between "boy" versus "girl".  When you feel that your child has the concept of "boy" versus "girl" then start providing a choice instead of asking "Is he a boy or girl?" and getting a one-word response, start letting your child be creative and see if they can make up silly sentence about what boys or girls are doing by starting their sentences with "He" or "She" based on what would be appropriate.  Don't get caught up if the rest of the sentence is grammatically correct.  Enjoy that your child is playing with language.  If your child is not ready to independently generate silly sentences on his or her own.  Then take the 12 words provided from Wright's Word Wall and have your child arrange 3 or 4 of the words to make silly sentence like "He throw big coat", the say the sentence to your child with all of the missing words "He throws a big coat"..."He must have been hot!"  This provides more meaning and makes language powerful!  

One last thing to try to implement, try these language techniques during pretend play.  See if your child can shift his or her perspective. If a new toy teddy bear is introduced can your child shift his or her imagination that in one play activity the bear is a he, and in another it is a she.  This flexibility of an imagination has been shown to be a very strong predictor of good social interaction.  See if your child can show you what the teddy bear would do at "home" and then what the bear would do at a "field".  Utilize the Wright Word Wall words in as many contextually fun situations as possible.  Make sure that you are using all forms of the action words (past, present future, etc.).  As adults, we must present an example to children that language is flexible and changing based on how it is used.

I hope you find these strategies and suggestions helpful!  Please feel free to email me any questions or concerns:  wrightpathwaystherapy@yahoo.com

Thanks!

Sandra

Week 1: The Fitzgerald Key

I have decided to create my "Word Wall" for 2014 using the Fitzgerald Key (www.bridges-canada.com).  Let me describe what this means, and my personal rationale for using it based on my 15 years of experience as a speech-language pathologist who has worked with a wide variety of clientele.  It is a system that uses color coding based upon parts of speech.  Here is the assignment of colors:

Yellow: people
Green: actions
Purple: places
Orange: nouns
Blue: describing words
Red: social vocabulary
White: other

The reason that I lean towards the use of the Fitzgerald Key for many aspects of language and literacy learning and development is that it is very visual in nature. I, myself, am a very visual and kinesthetic learner. I learn best when I can see the difference in something or tactically manipulate something.  When words are placed on colored cards, such as the index cards available at many stores, children have the opportunity to move words around to make different sentence structures that they may not otherwise discover.  It is also a useful professional tool to help teach how to create and generate grammatically correct sentences.

In the area of augmentative and alternative communication, many manufacturers are going to a color-coded system to help users distinguish words from one another.  People who use and rely on AAC systems are often reliant upon their visual sense for communication purposes.  Why not reinforce this through language instruction techniques that mimic similar strategies.

As I stated in my previous post the theme for January will be "Football" since there will be many playoff games occurring.  The 6 words that have been added to my "Word Wall" this week include:

Yellow:  He
Green:    Kick
Orange:  Ball
Purple:   Field
Blue:      Cold
Pink:      Yeah!

How many sentences, phrases, or comments can you or your child come up with using these 6 words?  Yes you can use all forms of the action words (kick, kicks, kicking, kicked).

Happy Communicating!

The Theme for January will be Football

As Wright Pathways Therapy kicks off, the goal of this blog will be to provide families some "tricks of the trade" and tips and techniques for how to carry over therapy into your homes and every day lives.  Each month there will be an overarching theme, and each week new words (from all parts of speech) will be added to the "Word Wall" within the therapy room.  See if you can incorporate these words into your everyday communication interactions.  They will be frequently occurring words both in spoken language and in print.  There will also be a picture associated with monthly theme that you can pull up through the blog to use for discussions of therapy.

Let me introduce myself and provide some of my professional background.  My name is Sandra Wright. I have been a practicing speech language pathologist since 1999.  I earned my master's degree in speech language pathology from the University of Tulsa.  However, I should share that I did not always set out to be a speech pathologist, it is a career that found me.  I began my college career at the University of Connecticut as a Computer Science Engineering student.  Through my studies at UCONN, I had a work study position at the book store in the computer department to help faculty with their computer difficulties.  During my junior year, the department of communication disorders hired a new faculty member who was interested in purchasing a new computer that would have a fast enough processor to be able to do voice recognition and voice analysis. I had no idea what type of work he was talking about so I accompanied him to the speech and language clinic.  I was fascinated by all that was happening in this one building on campus that I had no idea existed.  I helped the professor purchase a computer that would meet all of his needs, and then broke the news to my family that I had to change my major to speech-language pathology.  Many people say that Computer Science Engineering and Speech Pathology aren't that connected, but I tend to disagree.

I have found that my calling in the field of speech-language pathology is to find ways for people to communicate effectively and efficiently.  I love to integrate technology into my intervention practices. I am drawn to augmentative and alternative communication.  I love social interaction intervention and improving overall quality of life of others!  I have had experience with almost all populations and all settings, with the exception of early intervention.  I began my career working in a middle school (yes still my favorite age to work with 9-16). I worked with elementary aged children during summers.  I have worked with high school students, as well as transition programs (18-22) through public schools. I have worked in outpatient hospital rehabilitation in Kansas, inpatient hospital rehabilitaiton at St. John's hospital in Leavenworth, KS.  I have worked in a variety of long-term care facilities in Topeka, KS.  While completing my doctorate in speech-language pathology with an emphasis in augmentative and alternative communication and advocacy, I worked with the entire age span of persons with complex communication needs at the Schiefelbusch Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic at the University of Kansas.

I believe all of these professional experiences will help me to serve a large variety of people to have an improved quality of life and help them on their Journey of Communication.

Check back on Monday January 6th for the first photo and set of words from the Word Wall for January's theme of Football in honor of the playoffs and the upcoming Super Bowl!