A primary role of management is communicating effectively with your team. Tom is  management at his company. He is working on a deal with a  senior manager and two junior level managers. One of the junior level managers is not performing to expectations. So far Tom has only vented his frustration regarding the poor performance …
Category Archives: Social Language
Why is my child with ASD still having difficulty with writing?
Recently I received an email about someone on the autism spectrum who had writing difficulties, even after receiving tutoring from Sylvan Learning Center and their schools learning disability center. Part of the reason Sylvan might not work for clients on the autism spectrum is because traditional writing interventions do not address the communication issues inherent …
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Speech therapy and motherhood
As a speech therapist, becoming a mom has been the second greatest learning experience of my career. Motherhood helped me understand, the far reaching impact of poor verbal expression and the role of speech therapy. It’s not just about whether you acquire vocabulary, but about learning to use language in a flexible way in order …
A visit to the dentist
So what does the dentist have to do with language? I recently visited one of the dental schools in the area. As I was waiting in the reception area a dentist came out in his suit with his mask partially covering his nose and mouth. He rushed out to say to another patient, “I will …
Could South Hadley been avoided?
In South Hadley a child killed herself because of bullying. Being someone who teaches social skills lessons I’m always struck with the fact that while we focus social skills training on students that “ have social skills deficits” in many ways teens who are experimenting and testing social skill also need guidance and training. There …
Schedule for this blog
I will post to this blog two times a month through June 2010. I’m always learning and discovering so this year I will share some of my observations and discoveries. I will write more about my specialty working with adolescent and adults. I especially like the intricacies of working with language-based disabilities, social language, accent …
Small talk: Who needs it?
Until I found out what an important role small talk can play in life, I was not a big fan. Some people are very good at it, politicians or sales people for example. Small talk is the initial conversation American’s use to establish contact and break the ice. Did you know that other countries like …