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Down syndrome and Fluency |
| Fluency refers to the smoothness and natural rhythm of one's speech. A person's speech may be considered dysfluent when any of the following is often observed; saying "uh" repeatedly in a sentence, pausing frequently prolonging the first sound in a word (e.g., mmmmom), repeating the first sound of words (e.g., b-bbecause), or "getting stuck" and repeating whole words (e.g., My, my, my name is Ben). |
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History of The PREP Program |
| The catalyst for starting PREP came from the Boswell family. I still remember the call from Jayne wanting private speech-language therapy for her son Greg. Meeting Jayne and Greg for the first time and in ongoing conversations with Jayne and her husband, Pat, I soon became aware of the lack of services in Calgary. That referral led to many and the seed was planted to start a preschool, so that services could be accessible and affordable for families. |
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“Handiwork” not “Homework” |
| Did you know basket weaving used to be a mandatory course for Occupational Therapists? It made sense because our job as occupational therapists is to help people master the jobs of daily living and for that you need strong and agile hands. In recent years the OT degree has moved more and more to an emphasis on science and research. I sometimes think we need to go back to our roots. |
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Spring Awakening |
| Spring is a time of new growth and new beginnings. After a long, winter, perhaps dormant because of cold and flu bugs, you and your child are hopefully eager to “spring” into action. It is well known that children often go through a growth spurt in the spring that can be physical, intellectual, and/or social. Just like flowers start to bud and bloom with the warmth of spring, so to do children! |
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Staying Included |
| It is spring when some school administrators thoughts turn to fall and parents receive some gentle and not so gentle reminders to “next year will you at least consider special education for your child”. Our job at PREP is to support families who want their child to “stay included” and that means in home, at school, in the community and yes, now in the workplace. |
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Classwide Peer Tutoring |
| Do you hear things like this from Teachers? Malia has trouble finishing her work by herself. She will play with her pencil or get out of her seat to talk with other students when they are working on assignments. Quinn is smart and likes to finish his work quickly. Because he works quickly, he often makes mistakes. He gets angry when I show him his mistakes and tells me he is not going to fix them. |
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Making Sense of Sensory Processing |
| When you drive late at night and get sleepy, do you shake your head or turn up the music or chew gum or eat salty chips or drink coffee to help stay awake. "Whatever it takes" is different for each of us because we all have different sensory needs. Using the senses to learn is something we all know is important but it is more than good vision and hearing. |
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Spring Fever Strikes! |
| It is a rite of spring in schools that after the week long spring break the pace of instruction increases, routines go out the window with field trips and outdoor activities, and the pressure to complete the prescribed curriculum before final exams intensifies. After all, there are only two months left in the school year! |
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Teach Your Student Wellness |
| The start of a New Year is indeed a time of thoughtfulness and renewal. Whether we achieve our resolutions is a matter of commitment, resolve and some luck, but there is definitely no harm in trying! Setting personal goals in the area of personal wellbeing and wellness is synonymous with the New Year. |
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Teaching Kids How to Act In Public |
| Breaches of etiquette can be a tough (and uncomfortable for some) subject to broach with a student or parent. However, these all important learned skills in the areas of dress, personal hygiene, appearance, and conduct are essential, if students are to present well to others in social settings. From appearance to conduct there are age appropriate social norms for children, youth and young adults. Abiding by these norms may be conforming but one positive outcome of conformity is acceptance. To not master basic etiquette skills is to risk the very real possibility of rejection or ostracism in social settings. |
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Turning Words Into Social Action |
| Lots of students can rehearse, role play and regurgitate social rules BUT when they are in a social setting with peers, they freeze or suffer from a high "forget" rate. In the debrief after the event, they once again can tell you everything they should have or could have done BUT they can't tell you why they didn't remember what to say or do. |
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The Pluses of Peer Tutoring |
| What a gift you give to all students when ample opportunities for peer tutoring are provided in your classroom. Peer tutoring starts in ECS with sharing the news of the day, moves to buddy reading in early grades, and culminates in science fair or other team projects in higher grades. |
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