Clearly Speaking Speech Pathology Services

03/25/2024

How do you know if you have allergies, a cold, the flu, or Covid? All of these illnesses share similar symptoms and must be treated differently. Please don't assume that sneezing and runny nose are just allergies. There are several families still dealing with all these illnesses. Please get checked by your physician before guessing. Staying home will help keep them from spreading!

Knowing if you have COVID-19, a cold, the flu or seasonal allergies isn't easy. Find out about the differences between these illnesses.

12/13/2023

Is it allergies, a cold, Covid or a virus?

Check out this symptom comparison to help you.
Remember, children do not have to have a fever to be contagious.

If your child is having the following symptoms, please cancel your session and rest at home:
Sneezing, coughing, runny nose, headache, vomiting, diarrhea, or sore throat.

Please do not assume your child's symptoms are allergies unless checked by a medical doctor. Since your therapist is in very close contact with your child and often times, inside your child's mouth, coughing and sneezing symptoms will have to result in a cancelation. The attached article will explain! Stay healthy out there!!

Knowing if you have COVID-19, a cold, the flu or seasonal allergies isn't easy. Find out about the differences between these illnesses.

08/16/2023

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/if-you-were-exposed.html

Since school is back in session, there is an increase in illnesses varying from strep throat, colds, Hand-Foot-Mouth, and yes, Covid. Please revisit the CDC website for guidelines if you or your child has been exposed. Testing must be completed by a doctor's office on or after day 7 of exposure for any child exposed before returning to therapy, even if no symptoms are present. Home tests are definitely positive if you are positive BUT negative results can go either way. Therefore, get testing done at the doctor's office to be absolutely sure. Quarentines must be completed for 10 days before returning to the office since masks will not be helpful. I need to see your child's mouth for speech and be inside your child's mouth for oral motor and feeding therapy. As always, wash your hands and wash them often!

05/09/2023

Working on /k/? Grab some waffle blocks!
Use these words while making the blocks
Verbs: make, look, stack, kick, knock, smack, take
Take turns knocking it down!

Nouns: hide toys inside the blocks and open them up to name them: car, camel, traffic cone, snake, magic wand, monkey, captain

Have fun!

04/10/2023

02/19/2023

THIS

12/25/2022

12/22/2022

09/30/2022

Looking for something fun indoors to do this weekend since it will be raining? The Muse is a lot of fun and has so many things to explore for little hands! Check out the website!

Visit Knoxville's children's museum! Learn more about admission prices, memberships and more.

09/27/2022

Think you might have a tongue tie? Wonder if you should just leave it? What if you decide not to get a release for your child and just see how it will go? Maybe this will answer some of your questions.

09/21/2022

It’s time to begin working on foods for Thanksgiving! Many problem feeders and picky eaters are terrified of this holiday because of all the different foods. And parents become frustrated because all they want their child to do is “just take a bite!” Here are a few foods that I will be introducing to the children in feeding therapy. You can start at home by offering one food you hope your child will try. Use the strategies you’ve learned in therapy and watch them move up the steps to eating! Remember to keep it positive and have FUN!

07/25/2022

Fun ideas for children working on feeding!

SILLY ANIMAL TOAST - What a fun way to stat the day!
https://bit.ly/3OtSHNo

07/18/2022

Cut strips of felt, sew on a big button on one end and cut a slit on the other end.

Articulation drills
Say 5 words and add a strip! Targets fine motor as a bonus! Vary the size of the buttons for levels of difficulty. Connect them to make a long tail or make loop for a chain. How long can you make it? Great way to get high number of productions in a practice session!

Feeding
Button a strip for each bite you take, new food you tried, or new food you touched! Get all the strips connected and get a special prize or activity!

What else can you come up with to use these? The possibilities are endless 🥰

07/14/2022

Today we are playing Let’s Go Fishing with a twist! Write a number 1-5 on the bottom of each fish. Place them in the pond. Catch a fish and look at the number on the bottom. That’s how many words, phrases or sentences with the target sound your child has to say on his/her turn! This will generate a large number of productions that is needed to move into mastery. It’s easy to get 50-80 words in 20 minutes! Have fun 🥰

07/11/2022

Thanks to Play Mobil and this awesome school set to get preschoolers ready for school! Loads of language can happen with this toy! Simple or complex following directions, use of pronouns, spatial concepts, answering questions, role playing, vocabulary building, pragmatic, and so much more. It’s a favorite toy today!!

05/20/2022

05/20/2022

Should my child attend therapy? Consider these in your decision!
*** Imagine your therapist arriving for work with your child's symptoms. If it would make you uneasy, go ahead and cancel.
*** Since oral motor work requires contact with saliva, always cancel for runny noses, sneezing, and coughs. Transmission of bacteria and viruses becomes very high when dealing with any secretions.
*** Keep allergy medications on board at all times. If symptoms are present while taking these medications, talk to your child's doctor.
A cold is contagious - even without a fever.

05/05/2022

It’s going to be a tent day!!!!

04/25/2022

Play can help work through traumatic events. Today we did this to help a Little work through a car accident and helped her find the words to discuss the whole process. Great role playing, recall and answering questions. Thanks to Play Mobil for the life like toys ❤️

04/22/2022

Matchbox car races!!!!

Jazz up ordinary articulation drills with a friendly matchbox car race down a track such as this. See which car is the fastest after saying “X” number of practice words. ***Extra bonus by adding language to the mix by talking about first/last, next, descriptors for each car, -er/-est endings (faster/fastest, farther/farthest, etc.

HAVE FUN! 🚗 🚙 🚗🚙 🚗🚙🚗

04/06/2022

Mercer Mayer’s books are amazing for therapy! Grab a copy at the library or get your own off your shelf. This wordless book creates endless ideas for any child but try these specific areas for children 3.5 years and up.

Answer questions: where is the frog, who is crying, what is he doing, how does the lady feel, why is she mad, etc.

Spatial concepts: tell where the frog is
On the branch, in the bucket, over the trash can, etc.

Story telling: include correct syntax and longer sentences, use of descriptive words, etc.

Recall of information: read it through and then ask for it to be retold without the pictures.

Written expression: let the child become an author and write the story! Work on syntax, descriptors, vocabulary, sequencing, etc.

Articulation: increase phonological awareness by finding pictures that contain the target speech sound, answer questions about the story using good speech.

These are just to get you started. Have FUN!

04/05/2022

Tongue Tie Morphology

Decades ago, tongue tie was considered to be one thing: a tight band connecting the tip of the tongue to the top of the gumline. Over the last 15 years, we have increasing evidence that tongue ties can occur in different places. Here's a nice picture by Mikel Newman, DDS, a dentist in Indianapolis.

03/25/2022

Check out these great Speech & Language Strategies from ! Will you try some of these at home this weekend?

03/16/2022

Stop Moving Goalposts

If a baby has a tongue tie or lip tie and it's affecting how they are feeding, it's important that you approach the baby for the ACTIVE symptoms. It is not appropriate to say:
1) "Well, let's see if it affects his speech later on"
2) "She will fall and break the lip tie when she's older so no need to treat it now"
3) "If they have problems licking an ice cream cone or eating food, then we can address it"

This is an intentional attempt to deflect the attention away from the active feeding problems. If a child has webbed fingers and can't participate in piano lessons, would it be appropriate to say "Let's see if it prevents him from holding a pencil later on"? Of course not.

Stop moving goalposts. Focus on what's happening right now. For the parents out there who are told this, hold your ground. Demand a solution for what's affecting your baby right now. Don't allow a lactation consultant or ENT or pediatrician or grandparent to tell you to wait to see if it affects something else later when a tie is affecting things right now.

02/27/2022

The Eiffel Tower

Many providers (and savvy parents) will refer to this kind of a tongue tie as an "Eiffel tower" tie (for good reason). Why does this happen? Well, while it isn't a universal finding, I have only found it to be present when the tongue is tied. So not every tongue tie has an Eiffel component, but every Eiffel component comes from a tongue tie. The tongue tie is #1 in the picture, and the Eiffel part is #2.

I frequently get asked how and where and when I cut the Eiffel part of the tie. My answer is simple: I don't. I'll admit that I used to periodically do it, but as I've done more procedures, I've come to realize that the Eiffel tower isn't the cause of a problem, but rather a visible end result of persistent tongue tie. Treating just the Eiffel part doesn't actually do anything to improve tongue mobility.

The Eiffel is there because the tongue is still pulling on the inside of the jawline. If someone does a procedure correctly, that Eiffel part should disappear. If your child has that Eiffel right after a procedure, then I'd argue they've had an incomplete release. If the Eiffel forms after a procedure has been done, then the tongue has reattached. So what's important is that you retreat the CAUSE of the Eiffel rather than the visual symptom of the persistent tension.

02/18/2022

Ever wondered if your child's language is age appropriate?
These key milestones serve you as a guard 💂‍♂️ 😉

01/13/2022

11/29/2021

🥛 Got a kiddo who seems to survive on mostly milk? 🥛Got a little munch bug who likes to guzzle, then run & play, leaving the rest of the food untouched?
🥛Milk can provide essential nutrients for kids, but when kids just guzzle & go, it doesn’t leave opportunities to explore new foods & become an adventurous eater.

🤦🏼‍♀️Milk can cause a sudden decrease in appetite & desire for new foods, because…

🥛It’s filling. I challenge you to drink a mere 8 ounces of milk in the span of a few minutes. That’s less
volume than a typical tall latte & your stomach has a greater capacity for more. Yet, you’ll feel pretty full, almost immediately. Same for kids – they go from hungry to satisfied in a matter of minutes.

🧻It can be constipating if kids are drinking a lot. Constipation shuts down appetite, especially for new
foods. Too much milk can also impact iron absorption.

🤔What to do? If your child can self-regulate milk & sips on it while eating the other food, then no worries! But if they are too dependent on milk to fill little bellies, then serve low-fat milk in a small straw cup with a thin straw, so it’s not as easy to guzzle. When it’s gone, there’s still water & water can be refilled.

💕Parent mindfully & compassionately: “You do love milk! We will have some more with dinner.”

🍎What about snacks? Limiting milk to mealtimes helps kids focus on trying a variety of snacks. But, if you need a quick boost of energy, a small carton of milk with a straw is a terrific snack on the go.

🍪Remember, snacks are small with no seconds. A few cookies or some nut butter & safely-sliced pieces of apple are all delicious editions if milk is going to be the primary source of energy at snack time.

✨🥛✨The AAP recommends just 16 to 20 oz of milk for kids ages 2 to 5. Other dairy foods or dairy substitutes can be fine alternatives. It’s pretty simple: Lots of water, a bit of milk/milk substitute & plenty of variety of other foods. That’s it!