Helping Kids Thrive

Welcome to another episode of Helping Kids Thrive. Today's strategy for ensuring our kids flourish centers around the idea of helping them stay organized. We're joined today by a special guest, Emily Waples who is a pediatric occupational therapist. Join the conversation as we talk about why organization is important for our kids, how we can help our kids build the skills required to be successful...

Not all children learn language in the same way. Neurotypical children usually learn through analytic language processing (also known as bottom-up processing), while children with autism who are verbal, are more likely to use gestalt language processing (often referred to as top-down processing). With gestalt language processing, children learn language in chunks or phrases, with single words only...

Being rejected is never easy, and it can be especially soul-crushing for children. How do you, as a parent, ensure that you are there for kids in their time of need, without adding fuel to the fire? To help us get to the bottom of this question, we are joined by an esteemed school psychologist, Dr. Bianca Vasquez. After sharing her deep love for being involved in the education sphere, our guest ex...

For many kids, getting home after school can be a stressful period. There is so much to process from the school day and if the after-school transition isn't properly managed, a child may feel too overwhelmed for anything other than a meltdown. So today, we're taking a look at some helpful tips for easing after-school transitions.  We are joined by Occupational Therapist, Evangeline Abraham, who ex...

Guest: Kelly McGuinness, LCSW, CEIS Most of us parent using behavior management techniques that we learned during childhood or have read about in a parenting book (okay, instagram, let's be real ;)) but have you ever stopped to think about if those strategies are actually working or not? Returning to the podcast is licensed clinical social worker, Kelly McGuinness, to challenge our ways of managin...

Guest: Melanie Almada, LMFT In this episode of Helping Kids Thrive, Nicole, along with licensed marriage and family therapist Melanie Almada, discusses how parents can support their child's sense of identity and self-discovery. The conversation emphasizes the importance of open communication, modeling positive behavior, and being supportive of a child's interests and choices. They also tackle chal...

Guest: Dr. Dawn Aerts, AuD Approximately 5% of children struggle with processing auditory input but are never given a formal diagnosis or intervention options that can help. This is because when hearing concerns are expressed, a child is sent to an audiologist for a hearing test. If that test indicates normal hearing, they are sent back to the pediatrician - even though that child still struggles...

Guest: Stephanie Fisher, MHC, LPC In this episode of Helping Kids Thrive, presented by Huddle Up (formerly Dot Com Therapy), host Nicole, a speech language pathologist and mother of four, speaks with Stephanie Fisher, a licensed professional counselor, EMT, volunteer firefighter, and therapeutic ranch owner. They dive into the profound mental health benefits of nature and animal-assisted therapy....

Guest: Morgan Johnson, MS, LCSW Ever notice a connection between your physical space and your mood? You're definitely on to something. In fact, research indicates that our physical enviroment can have an impact on our anxiety, stress, mood, and overall mental wellbeing. Even more, this connection affects our kids too!  In this episode of Helping Kids Thrive, host, Nicole Pounds, chats with license...

Guest: Samantha Russell, OTR/L, Pediatric Occupational Therapist Autism affects 1 in 36 children, and about 25-30% of those children are nonspeaking. In this episode of Helping Kids Thrive, host and speech language pathologist, Nicole Pounds, M.S. CCC-SLP, is joined by pediatric occupational therapist, Samantha Russell, OTR/L, to discuss ways that parents and schools can support children who have...

Guest: Gena Mann, special needs parent of 4 During this episode of Helping Kids Thrive, Nicole is joined by Gena Mann, one of the original co-founders of Wolf+Friends and special needs parent of 4.  Together they discuss the nuances of parenting multiple children including children with autism or medical and sensory needs. They discuss practical solutions to balancing all of the varying needs in t...

Guest: Kristina Parro, M.S. CCC-SLP  During this episode, Nicole chats with Kristina Parro, M.S. CCC-SLP, a mom and pediatric speech language pathologist, about speech delay in young children.  Kristina gives an overview of typical communication development and talks through important milestones parents should watch for in order to make sure that theri child's communication is developing as it sho...

Guest: Matt Maxion, M.S. CCC-SLP During this episode of Helping Kids Thrive, Nicole is joined by speech language pathologist, Matt Maxion, M.S. CCC-SLP to discuss how to support children who stutter. As a person who stutters, Matt offers personal insight into the internal experience of stuttering and gives practical suggestions for the best ways to offer support at home and in the classroom.  Epis...

Guest: Nicole Pounds, M.S. CCC-SLP Join Nicole for the very first solo episode of Helping Kids Thrive as she shares her experience advocating for her child to receive a medical procedure that he needed despite the team not initially being on board.  She first learned about the connection between sleep and ADHD as a result of a previous episode of Helping Kids Thrive, which prompted her to do more...

Guest: Amanda Unrau, MA, CCC-SLP, Speech Language Pathologist 'Tis the season to be messy!  With the holiday season right around the corner, the kitchen once again becomes the busiest area of our homes. How about considering training little chefs to help you out with all the food preparations? Although cooking might actually be the messiest way of bonding with the kids, it can also be quite fun. I...

Guests: Samantha Russell, OTR/L, Occupational Therapist & Olivia Holubeck, MA CCC-SLP, Speech Language Pathologist Looking for some last minute gifts this holiday season?  This week on the podcast, Nicole is joined by occupational therapist, Samantha Russell, OTR/L, and speech language pathologist, Olivia Holubeck, MA CCC-SLP to talk about some of their favorite toys for promoting your child's dev...

Guest: Stephanie Fisher, MHC, LPC, Licensed Professional Counselor Raising children with special needs can be overwhelming and isolating. Parents often feel guilty about the extra support that their family requires so sometimes they try to carry the burden all on their own, believing no one will understand them or no one else is capable. I n today's episode, licensed professional counselor, Stepha...

Guest: Katie Emde, Autism Parent + Disability Advocate Entering a new and unfamiliar world can be challenging. When you're just beginning, it can get lonely and confusing. As a parent of a child with special needs, you need to find the right support group and team to navigate through this uncharted waters.  In this episode, Nicole is joined by Autism Parent, Disability Advocate, and IEP Coach, Kat...

Guest: Steven Nava, NCSP, Nationally Certified School Psychologist October is ADHD awareness month. ADHD is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders of childhood. According to the CDC, in 2016, 6.1 million children in the US had been diagnosed with ADHD which averages out to be about 9.4% and boys are more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than girls.  In this episode, we a...

Guest: Denise Minyard, MS, CCC-SLP, Speech Language Pathologist There are approximately 15,000,000 premature births globally every year. With this statistic, an infant's stay at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is not uncommon.  Having experience working in NICUs, Denise Minyard, a pediatric speech language pathologist, reveals the unseen world of preemies. From therapies, developmental del...

Guest: Kristina Fuentes, MS, CCC-SLP, Speech Language Pathologist Having a breakdown in communication with your child can certainly get frustrating, for both the parent and the child. Communication should never be underestimated as just an exchange of words, because it is so much more. In today's episode, Kristina, a pediatric speech language pathologist, reveals ten effective yet engaging ways to...

Guest: Stacey Lotshaw Special Education Teacher at Stride Many parents are unaware of how to access educational services that are appropriate for their disabled children's needs. Even more challenging is to find remote learning options for disabled children. In this episode with Stacey Lotshaw, we are going to discuss exactly just that. As a special education teacher at Stride Inc, formerly known...

Guest: Jesse Ferrell, MHS, CCC-SLP, Speech Language Pathologist It's undeniable in this day and age that gadgets and screen technology have become a staple in many family households, often used by parents to help entertain their kids. But with the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of virtual learning over the past two years, many parents understandably feel anxious about their kid's use of screen tim...

Guest: Kelly McGuinness, LCSW, CEIS, Licensed Clinical Social Worker Bullying is a stressful and traumatic event for our children to go through in places like school. But when you throw in the internet and its anonymity, this turns our children into relentless targets of bullying. No child ever deserves to be bullied, especially in the safety of their own homes, and yet about 40% of children have...

Guest: Rachel Heinz, Special Needs Parent + Disability Advocate While it can be challenging to navigate parenthood as a special needs parent, it doesn't mean you have to do it alone. When we get involved together as a community and begin to support one another, we can create more opportunities for awareness and inclusion not just in our homes and schools, but in society as a whole.   In this episo...