Brain Positive Speech Blog

 I want to set a scene for you. Imagine you are an autistic individual who requires regular supports throughout the day. You have a consistent routine that you expect every day. You have your clothes for each day of the week, you have your hygiene routine that is established throughout the day, and you have each meal planned and catered to your sensory preferences.  Now, imagine you start to notice that the empty corner of the living room now has a giant tree in it. For some reason, there are bright twinkling lights everywhere you go. These sounds, smells, and sights are all extremely different than what you're used to! You're also expected to go to social gatherings (sometimes multiple times a week) for practically two months straight all while distant relatives expect you to act neurotypical.  Sounds stressful, doesn't it? As an SLP, I've seen the holidays be a tough spot for our neurodivergent friends. As a neurodivergent person, I can be anxious going into the holid...

From Ms. Rachel to Cocomelon: Is YouTube okay for developing communication skills? The exposure to screen time in our youngest generation is a hot button topic for a lot of people today. As our kids continue to grow in a technologically diverse world, it becomes more difficult to prevent screen exposure. In fact, according to most recent research conducted by Brushe et al. (2023), children as young as 6 months old are getting an average of an hour to an hour and a half of screen time a day . This number only increases with age. In fact, during the earliest years of life, our screen time can practically double (or see 100% increase) per year (Brushe et al., 2023). I think if you’re old enough to remember a time before the constant bombardment of LED screens everywhere you go, you might wonder how this all happened in the first place. I’m right there with you! As a millennial, I grew up in the sweet spot between a pre and post internet world. I am young enough to have had a computer ...

  I’m going to ask you a handful of questions and see if it rings any bells for you. Have you ever thought about speech therapy for your child or loved one but don’t have the time to take them into a clinic? Have you considered therapy for yourself but feel like it’s too late to start? Are you worried about a ‘stigma’ that might come with seeing a speech therapist? Do you think that you, your loved one, or your child won’t respond well to therapy? Well what if I told you that there’s a way to easily access care from the comfort of your own home without the anxieties that come with seeing a provider outside of your safe space? Virtual speech therapy is a form of therapeutic intervention that involves using a virtual connection as a medium between the therapist and the client. Think of the computer as the “clinic” where you go to see your therapist. How do you do speech therapy through the computer? It will vary depending on the provider, but typically your therapist w...