The first words are usually names for objects or people that are most important in his or her world. And, the first words are usually labels for objects or people that your child can manipulate in a good way!
Read MoreEARLY LANGUAGE: Birth to First Words
A baby born with his or her biological, chemical, and neurological systems intact is born with the abilities necessary to acquire language. Amazing! Awesome! The newborn is ready, motivated, and equipped to communicate with you and a lot of other humans! But, this innate ability for language must be nurtured and stimulated in order to continue to develop normally...
Read MoreMore About Social Language: Nonverbal Language
When we communicate with others, we often need more information than we can get from words alone. Therefore, nonverbal language is just as important to the success of the message as spoken words and sentences...
Read MoreWritten Language
Even though most people don't think about reading and writing when they think about speech therapy, these written language skills are very much a part of the expertise of a speech-language pathologist (SLP). Reading and writing are essential parts of our language ability and particularly important to your child’s academic success...
Read MoreSocial Communication Disorder: It Isn't Autism
By now, most folks who have any interest in or connection to autism know that autism was redefined by the American Psychiatric Association in their most recent diagnostic manual, published in 2013. Before the diagnostic revision, social communication disorder did not exist...
Read MoreChild Processing Disorders: Sensory & Visual Processing
This is the final blog in the Child Processing Disorders series. As a speech-language pathologist, I am much more knowledgeable and experienced in auditory and language processing disorders, but I want to introduce you to sensory processing and visual processing disorders.
Read MoreMore About Social Language: Pragmatics
Language is what makes us human. Animals have ways to communicate, but only humans (at least as far as we know) have a system of verbal and nonverbal symbols ...
Read MoreProcessing Disorders in Children: Language Processing
Many people, parents and professionals, think language processing and auditory processing are the same thing. They are not...
Read MoreDiagnosing Auditory Processing: Who Does What?
The audiologist is the key player in the diagnosis of (Central) Auditory Processing Disorder (C)APD. Actually, an audiologist is the only professional that can make a diagnosis of (C)APD, and if someone tells you differently, that is incorrect.
Read MoreProcessing Disorders in Children: Auditory Processing
Officially, (Central) Auditory Processing Disorder, or (C)APD, is a deficit in the processing of information that is received through hearing. According to Dr. Jack Katz, a noted clinical audiologist, auditory processing is "what the brain does with what the ear hears.”
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