Unbabbled

Do you ever wonder why your child with ADHD has trouble getting started on chores or homework? Have you noticed that they get off track when following seemingly simple instructions? Or does preparing to leave your house in the morning often feel chaotic? Clinical Psychologist, Dr. Kimberly Harrison discusses why individuals with ADHD operate differently and how parents can best support them. Addit...

This special episode was recorded in February 2020 at the Texas Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s (TSHA) Annual Convention in Houston, and is being released in conjunction with the 2021 Virtual TSHA Convention. In this episode, we speak with Meredith Poore Harold, PhD, CCC-SLP, about the importance of evidence-based practice, barriers clinicians face in implementing evidence-based practice, an...

Mompreneur Julie Friedman joins us this episode to discuss her journey to bringing sensory-based play into her home. Julie is the owner and founder of Young, Wild & Friedman, a Houston-based company that ships sensory play kits worldwide. She shares her inspiration for starting her business and gives a first-hand account of how sensory-based play has positively impacted her daughter’s developm...

Licensed professional counselor, Amanda Armbruster, provides advice for supporting children’s social and emotional development at home. Hear meaningful tips to help children through everyday challenges, including how to navigate big emotions in public places, how to deal with low impulse control, what to do when you feel your child “knows better,” and ways parents can model self-regulation behavio...

Reading specialist, Jordan Boyce, shares practical, easy and fun ideas that parents can do at home to support their elementary-aged child’s (ages 5-9) learning. Throughout the episode, Jordan provides hands-on, engaging activities to support a child’s developing reading and math skills using materials most families already have on-hand, like Legos, Magnatiles and dixie cups. She also provides book...

Elementary teacher Wendy Garza, Wendy provides a variety of simple, engaging and practical activities parents can do at home with their tween (kids ages 9-12) to support their academic learning. tips on using children’s interests to drive fun inquiry-based learning projects, provides methods for engaging children when practicing reading, and discusses the benefits of getting your child into the ki...

Dr. Alain Katic of Houston Clinical Trials joins us to answer parents' and professionals' questions about mental health and medication. He discusses how to tell if a medication is working, how long it takes to see changes, and provides information on side effects parents may see with certain medications. Many questions asked are related specifically to children who have speech, language...

The holidays are here, and our hosts are discussing several tried and true tips to help parents prepare for the challenges the season may bring. These tips are provided with children who have language and social challenges in mind, but they’re excellent for trying with all children as well. This episode was originally recorded and released in December 2019, just before the COVID-19 pandemic. Holid...

Social-emotional learning is a vital part of education and development. Self-awareness, self-control and interpersonal skills are necessary for school, work and life success, but these skills may require direct teaching for children who have disabilities. In this episode, we chat with Elizabeth Sautter, who provides practical strategies parents can use to build their child’s executive functioning...

Caring for a child with special needs, such as a communication disorder, learning difference or complex medical diagnosis, can be overwhelming. Families planning for the future of a child with special needs could benefit from additional support and financial resources. In this episode, we speak with financial planners Bryan Smith and Tinja Anderson of MassMutual Greater Houston to learn the basics...

With an estimated 15-20% of the population showing signs of dyslexia, it is the most common cause of reading, writing and spelling difficulties in children and persists throughout life. Yet, there is still a lot of confusions among the public, including parents and teachers, when it comes to understanding this learning disability. In this episode, we sit down with reading specialists Alison Edward...

If there is one thing we’ve learned since March 2020, it’s that the rules of our society are frequently changing! The way we grocery shop, go out to eat, attend school, have birthday parties, and even interact with family members have all been altered. With changes to the social rules and expectations occurring in almost every aspect of your child’s life, it’s important to address these adjustment...

Have you ever sent a text asking someone how they’re doing and received the reply “great.” You may have interpreted it as your friend is having a wonderful day. However, they might have actually been having a horrible day and meant “great” sarcastically. Understanding a person’s meaning behind their words (otherwise known as pragmatic language ability) often requires knowing a lot of contextual cl...

Raising a child in a bilingual household? Hear from bilingual speech-language pathologist, Jacquilyn Carcamo, as she discusses language development and the many common misconceptions held by families, educators and even therapists in supporting children learning to speak more than one language. She provides guidance in determining whether a bilingual child is struggling with a language disorder or...

Being told that your child has childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) can be shocking and confusing. Since this speech/sound disorder is so rare—occurring in 1-2 children per 1,000—many doctors, educators, professionals and even speech-language pathologists have minimal understanding of it. In this episode, we speak with speech-language pathologist and childhood apraxia of speech expert, Jennie Bjorem...

When a child’s speech is difficult to understand, there can be many underlying causes. Their difficulty could be due to an articulation disorder, childhood apraxia of speech, a phonological processing disorder or something else entirely. This episode, we discuss speech sound disorders with speech-language pathologist, Jessica Carter. Jessica defines what phonological processing disorders and artic...

Does it seem like some days your child is bouncing off the walls? Or maybe the noises, lights and activites taking place at home are causing your child to feel overstimulated? Getting children to sit through online lessons, shared book readings, or even just lunch can feel like an impossible task when they're struggling with dysregulation. Pediatric Occupational Therapist, Sibi Samuel joins u...

With so many of us at home likely doing more cooking and cleaning than ever before, this episode explores how to turn these everyday activities into language-rich lessons for our children. Additionally, we discuss ways to build early academic skills into our everyday lives. Two fantastic Parish teaching staff, Amy Lerman and Elsie Torres-Verdejo, join us as guests. About Amy and Elsie Amy is a cer...

Stay-at-home orders are now in place for much of the U.S and the world. This may leave many parents feeling stressed about keeping children entertained and busy. One simple  way to keep your kids active while home is to introduce loose parts play. Jill Wood, MLIS, explains what loose parts play is, how to implement it in your home, and the importance of play in a child’s day. She also provides ide...

Talk of COVID-19 has been everywhere for weeks. But how can we speak with our children about this global pandemic without evoking fear or anxiety? We speak with Lily Yoder, a Licensed Professional Counselor and Registered Play Therapist about how to talk to children about COVID-19, as well as how parents can support their children's mental and social-emotional health through this time. About...

The second of our 2-part series on coronavirus resources, we look at ways to encourage and continue learning at home during a school closure or extended break. The Parish School’s Director of Elementary, Amy Richard, and Director of Early Childhood, Anne Powers, speak on keeping a regular routine, activities of daily living that have language and math built in, the power of reading aloud to build...

This is a bonus episode recorded on March 12, 2020 with pediatrician Rob Crowe, MD, in response to the recent concerns around the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19. In this episode, Meredith Krimmel and guest co-host Amy Tanner speak with Dr. Crowe about COVID-19, how it differs from other viruses, and ways to keep your family healthy and safe. About Dr. Rob Crowe Dr. Crowe has been a pediatrici...

Dr. Kia Johnson discusses childhood fluency disorders, including stuttering and cluttering. Dr. Johnson explains the differences between typical disfluencies and stuttering behaviors, provides examples of stuttering behaviors, and indications that a child may be stuttering. She also talks about the importance of receiving an evaluation and therapy from a speech-language pathologist with a high lev...

Do you have a child who tries hard to follow instructions, concentrate and do well in school, yet despite their best efforts, continues to struggle and fall behind? This child may have a learning disability/disorder, which affects how they receive and process information. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 1 in 10 school children are affected by a learning disord...

Heather Hillery discusses how she integrates canine assistance and companion dogs into her special education classroom. Learn about the process of training an assistance dog, the research-based benefits of having a therapeutic dog, and why Heather feels so passionately about volunteering to raise them. Also hear examples of how having the puppies in classrooms has positively impacted her students....