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Baby Led Weaning has taken over as a new way to approach the move from exclusively bottle- or breast-fed children to first foods without the extra expense of prepackaged baby foods. I discuss one difference that a motor-based approach has with Baby Led Weaning as well as ways to incorporate those principles while still encouraging development of chewing skills in stages.  Visit my website at...

Some of us were not raised with Nursery Rhymes likes Mary Had a Little Lamb, or the tunes to the songs feel outdated. What are other options for singing with your child? Visit my website at PlayTeachTalk for journal entries, YouTube videos, and short courses offered twice monthly to enhance language skills in young children. Gracie's Corner TV – Come sing and dance with Gracie as she takes a fun i...

"We can do hard things" is a phrase I use when I'm working with children who are resistant to trying things that are challenging for them. It really is part of the human condition that fear of failure sometimes stops little people (as well as adults) in their tracks rather than to try something and not do it well.  Visit my website at PlayTeachTalk for journal entries, YouTube videos, and sho...

In this episode of the podcast, I note several signs that a child might have an (as of yet) unidentified feeding issue. These soft signs can be less clear in indicating a feeding issue, but should be watched if you see one or more of them on a regular basis and there is not an alternate explanation for them. Visit my website at PlayTeachTalk for journal entries, YouTube videos, and short courses o...

In the final episode (probably?) about feeding issues, I delve into why you might be seeing some of your child's behaviors at meal time. If you have concerns about your child's feeding skills and would like more information about whether your child needs intervention or therapy, talk to your pediatrician about a referral to a local pediatric feeding therapist in your town's hospital or clinic.&nbs...

Two of these are protective movements that the body naturally has to keep airways clear, the other is a sign that an airway is blocked and needs clearing. I go into more detail about three behaviors we see in children as they are exposed to more textures.  Visit my website at PlayTeachTalk for journal entries, YouTube videos, and short courses offered twice monthly to enhance language skills...

Does your child eat only "bland" looking foods?  (yellow, tan, brown, white- with a dash of red) Though they chew foods well, do they seem to be stuck eating only a few of them?  Do they seem to get very upset if their usual foods are not available and they have to substitute? Your child might be making food choices that feel safer for them based on how they are processing food-based inf...

I break down the motor ages of foods to try with kiddos based on how they are moving and why we see children cough on foods even when they like them.  Visit my website at PlayTeachTalk for journal entries, YouTube videos, and short courses offered twice monthly to enhance language skills in young children.

In recording this episode, it really hit me that there is a long process from the simple movements of the mouth in bottle, pouch, and sippy cups to higher texture foods. I cover what the mouth does during breast and bottle feeding, as well as during direct sips from a pouch and a sippy cup with a soft spout. The second part of this episode breaks down the textures after that, and why there is a he...

How our body moves food from the mouth through the intestines has a large impact on how we perceive food, eating, and meals. I use a few anecdotes about clients I've seen regarding how issues with their GI systems affected their choices of foods and behaviors around eating. Visit my website at PlayTeachTalk for journal entries, YouTube videos, and short courses offered twice monthly to enhance lan...

I cover feeding therapy with broad strokes: What it is and who does it. Further explanation about feeding therapy and what contributes to it in future episodes to come! Visit my website at PlayTeachTalk for journal entries, YouTube videos, and short courses offered twice monthly to enhance language skills in young children.

I wanted to bring in people of other therapeutic disciplines to talk about their jobs and how what they do impacts the development, attention, and speech of the youngest children. Tempe Morgan, COTA/L was gracious enough to talk with me about her experience as an Occupational Therapy assistant, and how she uses therapeutic strategies to help children get in that "right spot" to engage in their occ...

Natural Language Acquisition can happen through two paths of development: Analytic language, where children develop language in the ways we learned in school, by sounds, single words, and then word combinations. But there is another type of language acquisition that we have known about but has not been the focus of therapy until only recently: Gestalts. I go into some detail about how children lea...

"Autistic Masking" is a term used to describe ways in which autistic people repress behaviors in order to appear more "typical". This episode describes why masking can be detrimental in the life of an autistic person. Visit my website at PlayTeachTalk for journal entries, YouTube videos, and short courses offered twice monthly to enhance language skills in young children.

I realized I left out the places where you can pursue a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder. I rectify that in this podcast. 

At the forefront of the Neurodiversity Movement are Autistic people who are advocating for their own rights. This is an exciting time, as there are more ways for even nonverbal communicators to find their voices through visual and augmented means like social media. I cover the definition of an ASD diagnosis, what this can look like in small children, why it is hard to diagnose in those under 3, an...

In the first episode of season 3, we explore the concept of Neurodiversity, cover definitions, and who is using the term "neurodivergent" to define themselves.  If you would like more information, please visit the link below:  Julie Roberts, M.S. CCC-SLP, Author at Therapist Neurodiversity Collective (therapistndc.org) Visit my website at PlayTeachTalk for journal entries, YouTube videos...

In the final episode of Season 2, I discuss where we will go from here in season 3, and how to be aware of what is "common" (what you see your child's peers doing) versus what is "typical" (within the usual expectations for development with children your child's age).  The podcast will return September 7, 2022!  Visit my website at PlayTeachTalk for journal entries, YouTube videos, and s...

Reducing sounds or syllables in words can be typical of children under 3 as they learn speech. How can we help a child learn how to place syllables on words? I give a few strategies to help your child become more aware of the parts of words.  Visit my website at PlayTeachTalk for journal entries, YouTube videos, and short courses offered twice monthly to enhance language skills in young child...

There is a period of time in all children's expressive language development in which you may see dysfluencies of speech (stuttering). We all use some dysfluencies in our speech (pausing, saying "um" or "like"), but when should you consult with a speech pathologist to see if testing or therapy is needed?  Visit my website at PlayTeachTalk for journal entries, YouTube videos, and short courses...

Another "Pre-preschool" concept that can get missed, but is great to teach to boost understanding.  PlayTeachTalk

Another episode related to a "pre-preschool" skill that I like to teach: categories. I give suggestions for first categories to target and how to teach them in your daily routines.  Check out my website at PlayTeachTalk . I offer journal entries, YouTube videos, and short courses to optimize your toddler's speech development.

Learning to count with 1:1 correspondence is an essential skill to learn, upon which we base future math learning. I discuss the difference between counting in rote and in correspondence, and how to build these skills.  Check out my website at PlayTeachTalk . I offer journal entries, YouTube videos, and short courses to optimize your toddler's speech development.

This was such a fun podcast to record! I go into how to start working on having your child recall stories in short, 3-4 part sequences, and I also talk about a strategy I use for building stories and working with a child's imagination on an even higher level. Check out my website at PlayTeachTalk . I offer journal entries, YouTube videos, and short courses to optimize your toddler's speech develop...

I cover a few ways to help build higher level literacy skills for your older toddler by recognizing the sounds letters make and using branding to talk about the sounds that make up the logos of your child's favorite places to go in your community. Visit my website at PlayTeachTalk for journal entries, YouTube videos, and short courses offered twice monthly to enhance language skills in young child...