Zac Browser

Happy fall everyone! I hope that you are all enjoying football, pumpkin candles, and cooler weather!

If any the students on your caseload have autism, then you need to know about Zac Browser (Zone for Autistic Children)! It is a website that you can download to your computer and it was specifically designed with the autism spectrum in mind! On this site you can watch clips from tv and movies, listen to stories, play interactive games, draw on a virtual whiteboard and more! It is a safe environment and the best part is it’s FREE! I use this site as a learning tool and a reward! And typical children seem to really like it as well!

What is your favorite thing about this site?

The first video is about Zac Browser and the second video is a tutorial on how to navigate the site.

Book Club

MOST. FASCINATING. BOOK. EVER.

As an SLP we are continually learning even if we are no longer in a formal classroom. There are many books that are both entertaining and informative and this is one of them! My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor, Ph.D. is a must read for any therapist who works with stroke patients.  (Well, really we think it is a must read for everyone everywhere but especially therapists!) In her book, Dr. Taylor recounts the experience of suffering a massive stroke and her recovery. Because she is a brain scientist, she is able to describe the happenings of the brain in a most descriptive and captivating way.  

Do not be deterred from reading this if you are not on top of your neurology terminology. The author is excellent at breaking down all the information.

We gained so many insights from this book that we are able to carry with us into the therapy room. To name a few:

·         Be responsible for the energy you bring!

·         The patient is inside there – we must find them!

·         Recovery is a process.

·         Visuals, visuals, visuals!

·         Even though we may have the same experience, we can have different perspectives.

This book also includes 10 assessment questions and Jill’s “Forty Things I Needed the Most” List. We seriously could not put this book down (one speech lady read this in less than 2 days!)

Below is a video of Dr. Taylor. The video is a little long, but so worth your time. 

Read this book and let us know what you learned from it!

Easy Artic Homework

We are always looking for new ideas for homework! You can only copy a page from a ‘Say and Do’ book so many times (but we do love those books). This is why we were excited about the website Puzzle Maker! It is so easy to make your own wordsearch or crossword puzzle.

And you get to decide which words go into the puzzle so you can target the words each individual student needs! Just print it out and remind the student to practice saying each word as they find it in the puzzle. Of course, this only works if your students can read. But we think it is a great way to change things up a bit! Check out the website and let us know what you think!

Storyline Online

I don’t know about you, but my students are a wiz at computers. Seriously, they can work one ten times better than I can. No need to call a tech guy, just grab a third grader! And they LOVE it when they get computer time during speech. So I am always looking for websites that I can incorporate into therapy.  This is why I wanted to share with you an awesome website called Storyline Online! It is a site produced by the Screen Actors Guild. Famous actors and actresses like Betty White, Amanda Bynes, James Earl Jones, Bradley Whitford and so many others read the stories.

 

Honestly, I love listening to the stories as much as the kids! Sometimes I use it as a reward, and other times I will pause the story so we can discuss the characters, setting, make predictions, talk about cause and effect, sequence, and ask WH questions. There are so many ways that you can use this site!

Have you ever used this site? If so, share how you incorporated it and if you liked it!

Creatives

Ever wonder what sets super creative and successful people apart from others? Well, Michael Hyatt discusses that in his article 7 Ways Successful Creatives Think Differently Than Unsuccessful Ones. I got so much out of this article and hope you do too!