John, not his real name, a freshman was having difficulty managing his life on campus. Â He spent most of his time in his room playing video games or watching Netflix, went to bed a 2-3 am missed classes and was turning in late assignments. By midterm, not only had John gained weight, he had no …
Category Archives: Language
Reading Comprehension > Decoding Words
Reading comprehension is one of the most complex cognitive activities in which humans engage, making it difficult to teach, measure, and research. (2) Reading is not equal to just decoding words. In order to have excellent reading skills, children must have strong decoding skills, a strong language foundation, in addition to other cognitive skills. Reading …
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 …
Socializing with People on the Autism Spectrum
Board game meetups are a great place for high functioning people on the autism spectrum to socialize. I was part of a board game group that had several neurodivergent players. However, one player had a difficult time. Sometimes they said things that offended other players. They cheated when teaching new players which made their opponents …
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Communication Problems: Fighting Back
People with communication challenges write novels and poetry, create and sing their own lyrics, and give public speeches, but they sometimes need additional support.
Music Instruction Develops Executive Function Skills
My daughter often doesn’t want to practice her instrument, so much of my time and effort has been spent figuring out how to get her to practice her instrument, but I do because music instruction develops executive function skills and will improve other skills like math. Yesterday IÂ attended a yearly Martin Luther King event …
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“Airplane” not “Mama:” Language Development in Children with Asperger Syndrome
Language development in children with Asperger Syndrome is often typical for verbal language but delayed in language use. “Compared with those affected by other forms of autism spectrum disorders those with Asperger syndrome (AS) do not have significant delays or difficulties in language or cognitive development,” states the “Autism Speak’s” website.  Slow developing non-verbal language skills in children …
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Learning Styles: Are they a Myth?
We may be required to unlearn what we once thought was true about learning styles. Teachers must ditch ‘neuromyth’ of learning styles, say scientists Sunday 12 March 2017 20.01 EDT Last modified on Sunday 7 May 2017 12.28 EDT Teaching children according to their individual “learning style” does not achieve better results and should be ditched …
Speech and Language Deficits Impact Life
Recently the Museum of Science exhibited Leonardo da Vinci’s work. Â Recreations of his drawings were made into physical models. Â I was struck by his inventiveness and his ability to both write and sell his ideas. His communication strengths were obvious from his displayed writings convincing Ludovico Sforza of Milan to hire him to his elaborate …
Language is the Key to Academic Success
When there’s inequity in learning, it’s usually baked into life, Harvard analysts say. Source: The Costs of Inequality: Education Is the Key to It All – US News Language is the key to academic success. A few students from backgrounds with limited resources do well often because they love reading and in that way acquire the …