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Words of the day

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The Alveolar ridge is the hard, bony, bumpy ridge between the top of the upper teeth and the hard palate. When an SLP is working on alveolar sounds with a client, they are referring to a class of sounds made when the tongue touches or is close to this part of the mouth. Alveolar consonants include /n, t, d, s, z, ch, l, r/.

ADLs, or Activities of Daily Living, are the things a child does every day like get dressed, brush their teeth, play with toys and more. Occupational therapists focus on ways to make ADLs easier for their patients so they can live more independently.

Pragmatics are the way we use language in a social way. This includes responding and reacting, inferencing, reading non-verbal cues and how to speak to a variety of audiences (e.g. how you communicate with a friend is different than with a teacher.)

Self-regulation is a buzz word we hear often these days, but it’s super important in child development. It sounds like self-control, right? It’s similar, but not quite the same. Self-control is a social skill that mainly requires limiting impulses. Self-regulation is more about having the ability to monitor and manage emotions and behaviors when faced with challenges or stress.

Intelligibility is a term we use in speech therapy to refer to how clearly a child speaks and how much of their speech can be understood. Many times the parents can understand the child, but others cannot. When an SLP evaluates a child’s speech they look at many areas: sound production, phonological processes, voice, resonance, fluency and their overall intelligibility.

Hypotonia also called low tone or floppy muscle syndrome, is when a child has poor muscle tone. It can present at any age depending on the cause but is normally diagnosed at birth or in infancy. Some signs can be A “rag doll” feeling when held, limbs that extend beyond a normal limit, problems with feeding and failure to reach gross motor milestones.

Dysarthria is a motor speech disorder caused by weak muscles in the face, lips, tongue and throat. These weakened muscles could be the result of brain damage from birth or an injury or illness. Speech language pathologists can help children with dysarthria to make their muscles stronger, use more breath to speak, slow down speech and other techniques.

Torticollis or wryneck is a twisting of the neck to one side seen in babies or very small children. Most torticollis is congenital (present at birth), but some cases are acquired (occurring later in infancy or childhood.) Once torticollis is diagnosed, a pediatric physical therapist will work with you on a stretching regime. An early diagnosis can speed recovery.

Joint attention is a term used in child development to mean when your child and another person share focus on the same object of interest. For example, while on a walk, you may initiate joint attention by identifying and pointing to a fire truck. It is a milestone that is extremely important in developing social skills and language that usually starts presenting around nine months and is well established around 18 months.

Routines-based interventions (RBI) integrate interventions into natural activities. For a young child this could be working on transitions at school, participating in circle time, getting dressed at home or requesting a snack. When developmental interventions are embedded into regular routines and activities, skills learned are functional and meaningful. RBI is for infants, toddlers, preschoolers and older children with developmental disabilities.

In-toeing, or pigeon toe, is when a child walks with their feet turned inward. Out-toeing is when feet point outward. It’s very common for toddlers to have a not-so-perfect gait when they start walking. Most of the time kids outgrown in-toeing and out-toeing by the age of three. If your child doesn’t seem to outgrow it, or they complain of pain or the condition gets worse, not better, over time, it might be time for an evaluation.

Language expansions are a tool we use in speech therapy to extend language. We repeat a child’s words and then add one to two core vocab words. Your child might say, “Dog!” and you could say, “I see dog!” or “Look! It’s a dog!” Modeling with expansion can be helpful to get your child combining more words.

The proprioceptive system is what allows us to understand where our body is in relation to our environment and how our body parts relate to each other. Kids who have proprioceptive issues may crash into things often, fall easily, stomp when walking, use too little or too much force when lifting or using objects and more.

Bottom scooting is when babies start to move on their diaper-clad butts rather than crawling on their hands and knees. Most babies switch to crawling within weeks of starting bottom scooting.

Forward chaining is an occupational therapy technique used to help kids learn multi-step tasks. The beginning steps are repeated over and over until they are mastered, and new steps are only added once the child becomes proficient in the first.

Apraxia of speech is a speech disorder in which the brain has difficulty planning the movement sequences required for speech. Unlike a speech delay or dysarthria where muscles are weak, children with apraxia have trouble coordinating the jaw, lips and tongue to form the correct positions to make a sound.

The brachial plexus is a network of nerves in the shoulder that carries movement and sensory signals from the spinal cord to the arms and hands. Children with brachial plexus injuries, either from birth or trauma, can lose sensation and motor function.

Kinesthetic learners need to move their body in order to learn most effectively. When our therapists discover this learning style they adjust their therapy techniques. They might use more tactile, manipulative teaching aids and give lots of breaks so the child can move.

Accommodations are the tools and procedures that help students with disabilities achieve equal access to learning and testing in school. These accommodations can be granted when a child has an IEP or 504 plan.

Ocular motor control is the eyes’ ability to find and focus on a target in the visual field. This skill is essential for reading and both gross and fine motor activities, such as catching a ball or using scissors.

Echolalia is the repetition of words or phrases spoken by others – the echoing of what someone says. It is common in toddlers acquiring language skills, but can persist beyond the early years.