Summer Sensory Activities for a Rainy Day

Here in Oklahoma, it feels like it's been raining for months. I will not complain about the rain, because goodness knows we need this drought-busting spring.  That said, all the rain and soggy weather do not make for a very summerly start to the summer holidays. Next week's post will focus on outdoorsy sensory and language-rich fun, but this week we'll address the great indoors.

Rainy days (and super hot days) are prime time for creativity, exploration, and learning. My own personal flair is for non-war-games types of activities (no nerf fights for me!), and I was always a terrible hide-and-seeker.  So here are my top 10 ideas from my own experiences and around the web for indoor fun!

1) 3D Masking Tape Maze
Materials Needed: masking tape, hallway
 A long hallway is the perfect place for this activity.
Take strips of masking tape wall-to-wall up and down the hallway for some spy-tastic large motor play.  For an added challenge (especially for the slightly older set), you can make a more challenging maze a timed event, or a simpler maze into an instructional activity.  One person (blindfolded) takes directions from another to navigate the maze without tripping any of the masking tape lasers for an auditory comprehension and expressive language activity.
If you don't have a long hallway, rigging up a couple of sheets of cardboard  makes a great course too.

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2) Balloon Paddleball
Materials Needed:  Balloon(s), paper plates, popsicle or paint sticks, glue or tape
This one is an old favorite.  Paper plates attached to paint sticks become paddles, and the balloon is the "ball."  This is another great activity for large motor involvement, and can be a great way for kids to "get their wiggles out" if the day includes sitting down for craft or learning activities as well.

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3) Mixing Bowl Beanbag Toss

Materials Needed: Mixing or serving bowls (various sizes), beanbags (or bean-stuffed socks), or cardboard, markers, tape.

This is the last of my big motor tricks, but it's a favorite.  For a kiddo who needs more sensory input for this kind of thing, you can use super heavy beanbags (think tube sock stuffed with popcorn or homemade heating pad).  The game itself is pretty straightforward.  Each bowl is labelled with a point value, with farther away and/or smaller bowls being worth more.  Throw down a tape-line for older kids to stand behind, and get to tossin'.  The dollar bin at Target or your favorite dollar store are great sources for cheapy big bowls.

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4) Marble Rally

Materials Needed:  marbles and a bucket are essential, pool noodles, funnels, books and boxes for elevation, toilet paper or paper towel tubes, tape, are all optional, but fun. Marble race kits exist for smaller enterprises or to add variety Creativity is rewarded here!

Build a track and send your marbles down the chute.  When I was a kid, we used the top of my dad's recliner or the dining table as a starting point and worked down from there.  Chairs, boxes, tables, and cushions are awesome additional supports.  You can also cut your tubes in half and hang them from the wall like these folks did.  Want a little competition?  Make it a race on a dual track.

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5) Masking Tape Race Track

Materials Needed:  cars, masking or painter's tape, bare floor or wall, paper (optional)

For this little project, building is half the fun.  Create a road or raceway for your cars to explore.  Paper can be used for drawing landscapes, towns, etc or for things like "water hazards."  You can make parking lots, runways, city streets, stoplights...the possibilities are endless here.  Talk about all the places you're making, what your cars are doing, play "red light, green light", or make car noises.  

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6) Pencil Eraser Stamp Art

Materials Needed: pencils with new erasers (cheap ones are perfect), ink pads or paint, paper, newsprint to cover table

This activity is a personal favorite of mine.  It's a great way to let your creative juices flow whether you're four or forty-five.  I will readily confess to enjoying the heck out of this even now, without kids.  Dot art is an awesome fine motor activity, and a great way to practice language skills like asking for help, requesting (and learning) colors, spatial concepts, patterns and shapes, storytelling, and creature creating.  

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Do you have any other go-to activities when the weather keeps you indoors? I'd love to hear about them!

-Lindsey

Speech Delays and Summer - Maintenance vs Progress

Summer is upon us yet again, and I don't know about you, but the year for me has FLOWN by.  You want your kids to relax and have fun over the summer, you think about next school year and how your kids could continue to move ahead over the summer.

It's unfortunate that, in the public schools, summer goals for kids with special needs don't extend beyond reasonable maintenance of skills gathered over the previous year.  The vast majority of special needs children being served in schools cannot get therapy through the school over the summer.  It is difficult to find summer therapists through the schools, and even harder to prove the kind of regression it takes to get a student qualified for summer services.  I used to give the speech myself as a school-based SLP.

If you ask me, there's something amiss there.  Kids with speech delay take a three-month break over the summer, come back to school with the same delays they had the year before (minus typical regression), and the cycle starts all over again.  It's one of the reasons that kids who only get school services have a tendency to stay in speech for so long.  Add in a new teacher who may not know your child's history very well, possibly a new speech teacher (school therapists get moved around a lot), and it gets even more complicated.

Many different studies have shown that students with communication disorders are perceived as less successful in the classroom (Bennett & Runyan, 1982; Cummins, 1986).  There has also been a demonstrated mismatch between teachers' expectations of children with communication disorders, and what those children are actually capable of.  Research has even shown that a connection between teachers' expectations and student classroom performance, which can lead to self-fulfilling prophecies (Braun, 1976; Brophy & Good, 1970; Good, (1970).  

Language disorders affect how well a child is able to express themselves and understand expectations in the general classroom, but that does NOT mean that they are not capable of performing in the classroom.  

So what do you do?  While summer needs to be a bit of a break from all the pressures of school, summer should not be a time to push aside your child's needs and education.

Private speech therapy over the summer can be a great option for kids.  1-3 visits per week with a therapist can help to take the summer from reasonable maintenance to reasonable progress.  Alternatively, you can have a speech pathologist take a look at your child and their goals and develop a home program for the summer.  This option takes more personal commitment on the part of the parents, since the entire burden of summer practice rests with you and the people caring for your child over the summer.  At the very least, you should spend a lot of time over the summer talking to and with your child - about everything you do!

When it comes to language, children are often able to learn through experience rather than things like drills.  Summer is a fantastic time to have new experiences.  Visit a museum, an aquarium, the zoo, the pool!  You can have new experiences even at your own home.  Bubbles in the backyard, playing in the sprinkler, even walking around the neighborhood or riding a bike is perfect for language enrichment.

Articulation delays and disorders often require a lot of drill and practice to make improvements.  This kind of practice isn't the most fun activity in the world, but there are ways to make it enjoyable for your kids.  Practicing articulation skills can keep a little routine in your summer, and keep your child in the habit of doing homework, without all the pressure of school.  Again, this is where a program or some intervention from a speech pathologist can be invaluable.

The goal for summer shouldn't be maintaining (or not losing many) skills.  The goal of summer should be starting your child's next year ahead of where they ended the last year.  Special needs do not just go away over the summer.  Our children, especially our special needs kids, still need help and guidance when school is not in session. Some creativity, and a little help from an SLP, can make your child's summer fun AND beneficial for them all at the same time.

REFERENCES:
Bennett, C.W. & Runyan, C.M. (1982). Educators’ perceptions of the effects of communication disorders upon educational performance. Language, Speech and Hearing Services in Schools, 13, 260-263

BROPHY, J. E., & GOOD, T. L (1970). Teacher’s communication of differential expectations for children’s classroom performance: Some behavioral data Journal of Educational Psychology, 61, 365-374.

BRAUN, C (1976) Teacher expectation: Soclopsychological dynamics Review of Educational Research, 46, 158-213.

GOOD, T. L. (1970). Which students do teachers call on2 Elementary School Journal. 70, 190-198.

MARRS, Isa.  (2013). Summer and Speech Delays.  Retrieved from http://www.speechlanguagefeeding.com.

RIPICH, D. N. (1989) Building classroom communication competence: A case for a multi-perspective approach Seminars in Speech and Language, 10, 231-240.

Noise Induced Hearing Loss - Know the Signs

Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) affects over 10 million Americans, and another 30 to 50 million Americans are exposed daily to noise levels that have the potential to cause irreparable damage to their hearing, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD).  NIHL is a sneaky problem, because the changes often occur so gradually that you do not notice a change in your hearing until it has become significant.  Loud noises have become so widespread in our society that we don't think twice about the impact they have until there is a real problem.  Prevention is easy, you just have to know what to listen for.

What if you or someone you know is already showing signs of NIHL?  Here's what to watch out for:

• Frequently misunderstanding what someone has said, needing things repeated.
• Difficulty following verbal instructions, or responding inconsistently to them
• Turning up the volume of the stereo or TV to levels others find excessive
• Difficulty listening and/or paying attention in noisy situations
• Difficulty localizing or identifying sounds

These are some easily spotted signs to pay attention to.  If you find yourself experiencing any of these, go get checked out by an audiologist.  

Here is a handy infographic from the Better Hearing Institute just to give you an idea of how loud a sound needs to be to pose a threat to your hearing.

So, now that you know how loud is too loud, what do you do about it?  

Protect your ears.  There are a wide variety of ear plugs available at practically any major store that will go a long way to blocking excessive noise.  Most commercial foam earplugs have a 20-35dB attenuation, meaning they will cut 20-35dB from whatever noise is around when they're inserted properly.  The NRR rating will let you know how much sound they block (NRR 20 is 20dB, etc.).  

Hearing Protection headphones are a little more heavy duty, with protection ranging up to 110dbA.  This makes them perfect for excessively loud environments, or noisy places you plan on hanging around for extended periods (like a rock concert, air show, or theater performance).  Most cover the entire ear, which makes them ideal for kids and adults alike.  Like this little guy for instance, at his very first theater show:

Image source wqxr

So protect your hearing, and safely enjoy all those festivals and concerts this summer.