Fostering Growth Mindset in Students with Speech & Language Challenges

Carol Dweck’s research on “growth mindset” supported my work with adults and children struggling with speech and language challenges. Early in my career working with elementary, middle and high school students, the biggest challenge was getting students to produce. No grades were given, the work being done was in the most difficult areas and many …

3rd Grade Communication Goals

Third grade expectations have changed!  It’s a pivotal year because children are beginning to move from  learning to read to reading to learn. If students have a strong language foundation then the transition is not difficult, but children struggling with reading, vocabulary development or comprehension will have a hard time. Here is ASHA’s  3rd grade …

Not Qualified for Services: Twice Gifted Students

Twice gifted students with learning problems can go through their entire academic career struggling with school work, but unable to receive services.  The struggle is primarily encountered on the home front.  Frustrated children and parents, battle through homework and self-esteem issues that leave everyone exhausted. Often twice gifted students’ strengths effectively hide their weaknesses. As …

Language Challenges Uncovered: The Foundation for Academic Achievement Part 2

If language is the foundation for academic achievement then what do language challenges look like in everyday life? There are many areas that can impact language including word finding, auditory processing, comprehension and As a speech therapist one of the most telling signs of word finding problems  in children and adults is the frequent use …

Language: The Foundation for Academic Part 1

The foundation of language chart above provides a simplified view of language development to show how early language development supports future academic achievement. Because we so often take language for granted and schools often downplay the impact of speech and language challenges after the third grade, it is  easy not to realize, that even small speech …

Life Long: Language-Based Learning Challenges

“My son is not confident”, says a concerned Mom at a picnic I’m attending. She goes on to say, “He seems to have difficulty understanding what people are saying and responding to them in an appropriate time frame, so he is struggling in college.”unicaLanguage-based learning challenges are lifelong. They do not cease at the completion …

Dyslexia: Should you tell them?

In the documentary called “Embracing Dyslexia,” a father asked the principal of his child’s school if he should tell his child that the child has dyslexia.  The principal says, “No!” Should you tell children with dyslexia, who are aware of their struggles that they have dyslexia or other language-based learning disabilities? Children know when they are …

Reading words or learning to read? Part III

It is a fact that students with language-based learning disability require more intense structured instruction over a longer period of time in order to acquire many aspects of language. In first grade my daughter was given the tools to be an engaged reader, but by 3rd grade she was using none of them. It was …

Reading words or learning to read? Part II

I’ve been frustrated this year with the level of reading instruction my daughter has received. What did I notice about my daughter’s reading abilities? She skipped words she didn’t know, and she confused small words like “of” and “off.” When I asked her indirect questions about stories she had read, she’d fall out on the floor screaming. Okay, I …