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Time Management Strategies for SLPs

December 7, 2021

Do you get overwhelmed when it comes to managing your time with work? In today’s episode, we will talk all about time management strategies for SLPs and how to best use your time to be as efficient as possible.

Whether you are a brand new CF or have been a working SLP for over 20 years, time management is something we all deal with every second of every day. No matter the setting, whether it be in the schools, hospitals, private practice, etc. it always seems like there is so much work to do, but not enough time to get it all done. Eventually, this may start to feel extremely overwhelming and cause increased frustration or in worst-case scenarios the feeling of being burnt out!

4 Tips for Time Management Strategies for SLPs

1. Blocking Out Time:

Blocking out time each and every day will help you be able to manage all of those tasks that you need to get done. Take this even further and determine which area you need to focus on more, whether this be session planning, paperwork, or communicating with teachers. As you approach your blocked-out time on your schedule, determine which area to dive right into!

Placing a sign on your door to let others know that you are not available during your blocked-out time may help you be able to focus and get more done as well. Don’t forget to switch off or silent the notifications on your phone.

2. To-Do Bin:

Are you that SLP who has a stack of paperwork, mail, and miscellaneous papers all over your desk that you need to attend to? Try incorporating a “to-do-bin.” Place all of the papers into your bin and plan to empty this bin each week. This not only helps you to organize all of your “to-dos” into one space but also helps you visually see your to-do pile get smaller and smaller as you empty it out.

3. The “To-Do List”:

We all have to-do lists, whether it be on paper, in a planner, or even on our phones. Some of you may have to-do lists in multiple places! Take time to organize your way of keeping a “to-do list.” Start by forming just one list and keeping it in the same spot each time. Prioritize that list, ranking items on the list that are then most important or more urgent. Marking those items off the list that you complete is such a great feeling that will help you feel more accomplished.

4. Creating Systems for Frequent Tasks:

There are tasks and assignments that come up consistently whether that be for the same client or for multiple clients. For example, emails that you send out to parents and/or teachers or writing an IEP. Create systems for those frequent tasks and templates to help save time on repetitive tasks.

I hope you find some of these time management strategies for SLPs to be useful. Finding the best systems that work for you personally will help you stay more organized and on top of all of the things that you need to get done. Join me in my next podcast episode 86 in January where I will be talking about how to plan speech therapy sessions in a more timely and efficient way!

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Full Transcript of Podcast: Time Management Strategies for SLPs

Episode 85: time management strategies for slps.

You're listening to the Speech Space Podcast, a podcast full of tips and resources for SLPs. I'm your host, Jessica Cassity, and this is Episode 85.

Hey there everybody! Today, we are going to be talking about time management and how to best use your time to be as efficient as possible. Before we get started, I did want to mention that this podcast is brought to you by The Digital SLP membership site, which is a site that features time-saving interactive digital resources that are all teletherapy platform-friendly. You can learn more or sign up by going to thedigitalslp.com/digitalslp . All right, let's go ahead and jump on in and talk about some time management strategies for SLPs.

Determining how to best use your time impacts the ability to plan successful therapy sessions and become more organized and efficient with all tasks outside of direct treatment. Whether you are a brand new CF or have been working as an SLP for over 20 years, time management is something that we all deal with every second of every day. No matter the setting, whether it be schools, hospitals, private practice, it always seems like there's so much work to do, but not enough time to get it done. Eventually, this might start to feel extremely overwhelming and cause increased frustration or in worst-case scenarios, the feeling of being burnout, which I know is all too common with SLPs. So what can we do in order to better manage our time? So we're more efficient and effective in the work that we do day-to-day? Today, I'm going to share four tips that you can implement in order to help manage your time to become more efficient in your everyday work.

Tip number one is to block out your time. Many of us try to manage everything throughout our busy schedules, finding small breaks throughout the day to complete those important to-dos. Blocking out time each and every day will help you to be able to manage all of those tasks that you need to get done. So you don't wanna just have this lingering to-do list and no plan for when you're going to get it done. You actually wanna make sure that you set aside a chunk of time to get your to-do list done. So take this even further and determine which area you need to focus on more, whether this be session planning, paperwork, or communicating with teachers. And as you approach your blocked-out time on your schedule, determine which area you're gonna dive right into. So not only are you blocking off your time, but you're kind of segmenting and deciding where you're going to dedicate your time. You know, I think I've talked about this before, whenever we try to multitask, it can actually be detrimental. So putting all of your time or focus into one area and finishing that before moving on to another can be really helpful. Placing a sign on your door to let others know that you're not available during your blocked-out time can also help you to focus and get more done. This will help you to carry out everything you need to get done during your time without others interrupting or risking that 30-minute long conversation with another staff member. So going beyond that as well, you wanna make sure that you put your phone in "Do Not Disturb" mode because the thing is, it's so easy to get an alert on your phone and go down the rabbit hole of checking emails, text messages, social media, and you know, 20, 30 minutes has gone by and you're like, what has even happened in these last 20 or 30 minutes? So you wanna make sure that you not only put a physical sign out on your door, but you also wanna put your phone in "Do Not Disturb" mode as well.

Tip number two that I'm gonna share is to create a to-do bin. So if you are the SLP who has a stack of paperwork, mail, and miscellaneous papers all over your desk, then this one is for you. You want to try to incorporate a to-do bin. So you wanna place all of your papers into this bin and you want to ideally plan to empty this bin each week. So this not only helps you organize all of your to-dos in one space, but it also helps you visually see your to-do pile, get smaller and smaller as you empty it out. And that can be motivating, you know, as we see that we're kind of checking things off, like just like checking off items on a to-do list that can be motivating because we wanna reduce that pile. Now you wanna make sure that you do this on a weekly basis. Like I said, or if that seems like too much or not enough, then you want to go ahead and set a goal as to when this bin needs to be emptied. And that way you don't just leave your bin to get fuller and fuller for weeks on end. So it's really important to kind of set a regular routine maybe on Mondays or Fridays you empty that bin. Or like I said, you set a couple of days, maybe it's on Monday, Wednesday, Friday. You just wanna have some sort of regular rhythm where you're clearing out that bin and it's not just, you know, piling up more and more paperwork where it gets stressful when you look at it. So definitely implement a to a to-do bin if that's not something that you've done. It can actually be really helpful to reduce the clutter that's kind of spread out all over your speech room and then have it all in one nice little bin where it's all compact.

All right, moving on. Number three, the to-do list. I touched on that a little bit in number two. But you know, we all have to-do list, whether it be on paper, in a planner, even on our phones. You know, you might even have multiple to-do lists in multiple places. It happens. I personally do that. Sometimes I have one running on my phone and then I have one on my kitchen counter as well on a piece of paper. But you want to take the time to organize your way of keeping a to-do list. So start by forming just one list and keeping it in the same spot each time. That way you don't fall victim to having different lists in different places and forgetting things on the list or leaving a list behind that you needed. If you have it all on one list in one place, it reduces the risk of happening. So you wanna prioritize that list and you wanna rank the items that are the most important or most urgent. Those can either go at the top or you can put little stars next to them, but most importantly, you wanna mark off the items on the list as you complete them, because it's such a rewarding feeling and it actually can motivate you to get more accomplished. You know, whenever we're looking at a list and it's long and we haven't done anything on it, it can feel really overwhelming and cumbersome. And once we get started on that list, we start to feel more motivated and accomplished. So you wanna make sure that you're checking off those items on your list. And if you're like me and you do an extra thing, that's not on your list, you can add it to your list and check it off. That is not really a real tip, but that is a true confession of something that I do. And I would imagine that there are probably some of you listening who do the same thing as well.

All right. So let's move on to number four, creating systems for frequent tasks. So there are tasks and assignments that come up consistently, whether that be for the same client or for multiple clients. For example, say emails that you send out to parents or teachers or writing IEPs. Another example might be sending home a slip explaining homework each week. So one great strategy that can help cut down on time spent on those things and make you feel more efficient is to create systems for those frequent tasks. So let's take sending emails to parents and teachers is our first example. This is something that you likely do for most of the students on your caseload. Now, instead of recreating a new email, each time you can create a system where you have an email template and you just have to fill in the essential information for that specific student when forming the email. So creating weekly or daily or monthly, or however often you send out these emails, a template for your students that can be a really helpful thing. And then you can just tweak it based on goals and, you know, the personalized recommendations that you wanna send out in that email, but having a template is a great place to start. Another example is IEP writing. There will be multiple IEPs to write throughout the school year, as I'm sure that you are all very aware, but instead of starting from scratch each time, create a system, create a template. You might create a checklist that you can use for each IEP that you write as well, reminding you of each step that you need to take in the process of writing the IEP and then having the template for the IEP, which I'm hoping that most of you do because writing an IEP from scratch is giving me nightmares, just thinking of it right now. Once you've written, you know, different IEPs for different tests that you administer or different, you know, areas that you're assessing, you can kind of have different templates for those different areas and then repurpose them and modify them to make it applicable to the student that you're currently assessing or evaluating. So finding the best systems that work for you personally will help you stay more organized and on top of all the things that you need to get done. Once you can become a little bit more organized in your methods and systematic about how you run your day-to-day, once you put some forward thought into that, and kind of do some loading organization, then you are ready to dive into your session planning.

So join me for our next episode on how to plan your sessions in a more timely and efficient way. That will be Episode number 86. We will not be having the podcast the second Tuesday of December, because we are gonna be breaking for the holidays. However, we will be back in January. And like I said, we will be talking about session planning and how to be more efficient in your session planning. And that will be Episode 86 in January. So I hope that you all have a wonderful, wonderful holiday season. As always, if you have any requests for podcasts, you can reach out to me at [email protected]. And if you would like to access the show notes from today, you can head on over to bit.ly/TSSEP85 . Thanks so much for tuning in and we'll talk again soon.

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EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS/MEMORY · BIRTH THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL

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Organizing executive function, Part One: Identifying and assessing for SLPs

Information geared toward slps on executive function is (ironically) anything but organized. here's a rundown of what slps need to know about ef basics and assessment..

January 7, 2023

The term “executive function” has gotten a lot of press lately. Clinically, we use it when a person is struggling to meet curricular, work, or social demands. This is a good thing because the reality is that executive function is involved in just about everything people do, and pretty much drives learning. Let’s look at what executive function is and the role SLPs and speech therapy play in serving people with executive function difficulties.

What is Executive Function?

Executive functions are the cognitive processes that help us filter, plan, and prioritize learning . Camuñas et al. called them “brain steering skills,” which could be a good definition to borrow in our work with younger kids. We set a goal, figure out and plan how to achieve that goal, and then execute our plan. We adjust and perfect the plan as we go along, and eventually, the new thing we’re learning becomes so automatic that it takes less cognitive energy to do it (mastery!). Put like that, it sounds so simple. But these are pretty involved processes that contain a lot of moving pieces and parts.

We can start by thinking of the specific skills included under the executive function umbrella. These are often included in direct measures of executive function (e.g., on cognitive tests), but they also find their way into many of our language tests (e.g., repetition tasks rely on working memory) and therapy activities.

Attention . Attending to something. This includes orientation and sustained, selective, and divided attention.
Working memory . Holding information in your mind and manipulating it as new information comes in.
Shifting/flexibility . Switching tasks or shifting your thought process.
Inhibition . Ignoring thoughts or details that are not important to the task at hand or stopping yourself from doing something that doesn’t fit the situation.

Executive function assessment and treatment, The Informed SLP

What does executive function have to do with therapy or IEP goals?

The smaller, more specific skills combine to help us do larger tasks , which we often consider part of executive functioning, too. We frequently see these in indirect measures of EF (e.g., parent, teacher, or self-reported measures). You might also see these pop up in IEP goals and objectives because they’re the functional skills SLPs and other interventionists address in educational and vocational settings:

Task initiation
Persistence, even when an activity is hard
Self-regulation/self-monitoring, including re-evaluating your plan or goal as you go along
Transitioning from one activity to the next
Problem-solving
Organization
Time management
Inferencing and critical thinking

The larger processes influence success in academic, vocational, and social settings as children become more independent. We can think of these as the “big picture” life skills that are often the overarching goals of educational and vocational training: reading/writing, meeting expectations at work, independently managing finances/a household, maintaining relationships, etc.

What are the signs of executive function deficits?

The items on these lists are all too familiar to SLPs because many of our clients and students have difficulty with them. ADHD , autism, language disorder , learning disability, TBI, and many other diagnoses are associated with executive function difficulties . In some cases, these difficulties can fly under the radar for a long time. Have you ever had a referral for a student who looks just fine on paper? You know, the kid whose grades don’t reflect what you see in your standardized testing? Or the student who is “smart, but just doesn’t apply themselves…if they would just try harder and stop being so lazy.” These are the kids who often miss out on services until they cross a threshold where they can no longer compensate for their difficulties. Studies indicate that college students with ADHD, for example, are at a much higher risk for academic probation, leaving college without a degree, and experiencing financial problems in adulthood.

From our clinical experiences, there are a few time points when executive function difficulties become more obvious. In clear clinical cases (e.g., kids who get diagnosed early), you might see signs in the toddler years related to social attention or attention to activities and initiating social interactions. This can look like either reduced or intense focus, or difficulty transitioning. But what is that?

Let’s take it back to those foundational skills–this kind of disorganization comes with difficulty inhibiting unimportant tasks in order to reorient and sustain attention to the important tasks (and/or remembering what you’re supposed to be doing in the first place). In more subtle presentations, these checkpoints are often related to increased expectations and independence (read: less external executive support from adults): 3rd/4th grade (and the transition from learning to read to reading to learn), and transitions to middle school, high school, and college.

Before we move on to assessment and treatment, we need to tackle one important question: Who is responsible for treating executive dysfunction?

If executive function skills are the foundation for learning, does this really fall into our scope, or is this an area SLPs should leave to other professionals? We’re stretched thin enough as it is (enough, in fact, that our own executive functioning is questionable at best on some days). The short answer is that EF touches just about everything a person does, so most educators have a role in assessing and supporting executive skill development. But EF skills are strongly related to language and communication, which means that SLPs are typically involved when a student exhibits executive dysfunction. To add to the IEP goal bank-esque list of larger skills we described above, elements of executive function influence language development, vocabulary, syntax, pragmatics, inferencing and predicting, following directions, answering questions, play, and social interactions . Clearly, these fall right into our scope, but our work will overlap with that of other members of the evaluation and intervention team. For example, self-monitoring can be practiced across multiple areas of the curriculum. And as we’ll see in our EF treatment review, it’s best practice to target these skills in functional and meaningful activities with repeated practice.

A note on hot versus cool executive function and the role of SLPs

Most of what we’ve talked about here is what's referred to as cool executive function . These skills are more in the academic realm and are likely addressed by teachers, intervention specialists, and ADHD coaches. Hot EF skills are related to emotional regulation, motivation, and affect , right within the scope of mental health professionals. Children who have difficulty with hot EF might struggle with controlling their emotions and persisting when a task is hard or dysregulating. SLPs tend to get involved in both hot and cool EF because both kinds are connected to language, social communication, and behavior.

Considerations for the assessment of executive function skills

We need to understand how executive function skills influence a person’s everyday activities to round out our usual assessments. In practice, school-based SLPs are usually interested in the functional processes rather than the discrete skills themselves. This makes sense—when the school psych begins explaining cognitive scores in an ETR meeting, you’re probably thinking about how you can translate that to school success rather than how to help your student master the Wisconsin Card Sort . In most cases, school teams can administer an indirect executive function test like the BRIEF , which will help highlight how EF skills affect the child at school and at home. See more in this research review on EF testing (including a link to a free tool).

All that said, SLPs assess executive functioning all the time! Language and EF are closely intertwined , and many of our language assessment tasks include elements of executive function. For example, tasks of listening comprehension or sentence repetition rely pretty heavily on working memory. We can also note our observations on attention, self-monitoring, and emotional regulation during the assessment process.

For more assessment ideas, this Perspectives piece by Jill Fahy (available for free to ASHA SIG members) discusses elements of executive function and walks you through what to consider as you plan and complete a comprehensive assessment. In addition to standardized testing, the paper suggests conducting classroom observations .

It also provides guidelines for developing activities that help you see a child’s executive function skills in action:

Create a difficult but doable task. This could include planning recipes, outings, science experiments, or whatever is of interest to the child.
Give your student a measurable end goal, but do not provide instructions on how to get there.
Offer materials to complete the task. Some of these materials should be irrelevant or unrelated to the end goal.
Let the student work it out! Don't step in to prevent your student from failing; they have the chance to use EF skills to address their problem. The skills they employ, or not, are important information for your assessment.
Use your observation to build the student’s executive function profile in conjunction with your other assessments. What did you notice about attention, planning, inhibition, impulsivity, shifting, initiating, adaptations, and persistence in this functional task?

In Part Two (published June 2023) we'll discuss executive function goals, accommodations, and interventions! But this was lot of information, so let’s engage our executive function skills and summarize, shall we?

Assess using a combination of standardized testing (including your language testing and any cognitive testing that was conducted), indirect assessment, informal tasks, and observations to note attention, memory, inhibition, and flexibility.
Connect strengths and weaknesses to the student’s functional performance in daily activities.
Apply what you’ve discovered to develop goals, determine accommodations, and plan interventions.

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Become a member of The Informed SLP to access our full database of evidence-based resources and reviews of the latest clinical research to answer your most important clinical questions. Plus, you earn CE credit for everything you read or listen to. Browse our research reviews or join now.

Camuñas, N., Mavrou, I., Vaíllo, M., & Martínez, R. M. (2022). An executive function training programme to promote behavioural and emotional control of children and adolescents in foster care in Spain. Trends in Neuroscience and Education. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tine.2022.100175

Fahy, J. (2014). Assessment of executive functions in school-aged children: Challenges and solutions for the SLP. Perspectives on School-Based Issues. https://doi.org/10.1044/sbi15.4.151

Fahy, J. K. & Browning, D. K. (2021). Adolescent language therapy: Syntax and semantics for reasoning and planning. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups. https://doi.org/10.1044/2021_PERSP-21-00017

Friedman, L. & Sterline, A. (2019). A review of language, executive function, and intervention in autism spectrum disorder. Seminars in Speech and Language. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0039-1692964

McDougal, E., Tai, C., Stewart, T. M., Booth, J. N., & Rhodes, S. M. (2022). Understanding and supporting Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in the primary school classroom: Perspectives of children with ADHD and their teachers. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-022-05639-3

Senter, R., Chow, J. C., & Willis, E. C. (2022). Speech-language pathology interventions for children with executive function deficits: A systematic literature review. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools. https://doi.org/10.1044/2022_LSHSS-22-00013

Yu, Y., Li, H., Tsai, C., Lin, C., Lai, S., & Chen, K. (2020). Cool executive function and verbal comprehension mediate the relation of hot executive function and theory of mind in children with autism spectrum disorder. Autism Research. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.2412

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Speech Time Fun: Speech and Language Activities

193: Time Management and Mindset for Busy SLPs with Theresa Harp

Are you getting a little overwhelmed with time management? Not sure what to work on? Maybe feeling a little bit of self-doubt?

Well, you are going to love my guest on this episode of SLP Coffee Talk! Theresa Harp is here to talk about time management for busy SLPs. If you feel like you just don’t have the time to get everything done, you’re going to love her practical, tactical tips for changing your mindset and getting your time back!

Theresa Harp, M.A., CCC-SLP, LSLS Cert. AVT is a certified speech-language pathologist and time management coach for busy SLPs. Shortly after establishing her private practice in 2014, she had her first children—twins—and began to experience that all-too-familiar struggle of juggling work life and home life.

Fast forward four years (and two more kids) later, her growing interest in time management strategies led her to establish Theresa Harp Coaching, a coaching practice that supports other busy SLPs with how to manage their time—and their mindset—in their home and business.

Theresa helps her clients become more aware of how their thoughts and values drive the way they spend their time. Theresa’s experience as a speech pathologist, busy mom, and private practice owner makes her the perfect coach for other women who are looking to regain control of their time so they can build a life they love.

In This Episode You’ll Discover:

Why SLPs struggle so much with time management and burnout
Practical strategies for if you feel like you’re stuck on the hamster wheel
Why managing your time is like budgeting your finances
Why cookie-cutter strategies just don’t work for everyone
How your mindset dictates how you spend your time
Mindset strategies to use at work

I hope you enjoyed this conversation with Theresa! I know so many SLPs can truly benefit from these tips and tricks for tackling your mindset and time management. It’s time to ditch the overwhelm and get your time back.

If you loved what Theresa had to say and want to learn more from her, you can visit her website , follow her on Instagram , and tune into her podcast! She also has a Facebook group you can join for busy SLPs.

Want thematic materials that will cut your time spent planning significantly?! Join SLP Elevate today and get monthly high-interest materials perfect for your older speech students! Get your time back and have fun at slpelevate.com !

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A: Because she will let it go.

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Tune in to Theresa’s podcast

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Join her Facebook group for busy SLPs

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Teaching Time Concepts in Speech Therapy

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I’ve been thinking about WH questions and ways to break down these questions to target within therapy. As I was working on my post about WHEN questions , I started thinking about how embedded time concepts are within this question. If students don’t have a good understanding of time, it will be difficult for them to be accurate on answering WHEN questions. Here are a few activities you can use to help your students understand time concepts.

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Teaching time concepts.

When teaching WHEN questions, I often start by teaching some time concepts and/or calendar concepts. Most of our time concepts are abstract (and some of them are subjective.) For example, “in a minute” rarely means an actual minute. My eight year old reminds me of this frequently-he is always telling me that it’s been a minute and I’m still not doing what I told him I would.

Concepts such as soon or later are also difficult and dependent on what the speaker considers to be soon. It’s helpful to encourage families or teachers to use these concepts followed by as specific time to help our clients learn about how time passes and to understand these concepts.

For example, if a student asked, “When will we go to recess?” The teacher would respond by saying: “Soon. We will go to recess after you do 5 more math problems.” If we continue to model this, eventually the student will start to understand what “soon” or “in a minute” means.

Teach Sequencing

In general, children learn to understand the order of daily routines before they comprehend time words. Have your students or clients sequence the steps for daily routines such as tooth brushing, getting ready for bed or playing a game. Model and show them what they did first and what they did last to teach temporal concepts.

Teach Me Language is a book which has a variety of structured worksheet tasks to teach language skills to children with autism.

One of my favorite suggestions from this book was to sequence time words from biggest to smallest amount and vice versa. The book comes with cards you can copy and laminate to work on sorting with your student. I try to use hands on activities when I can-so I use stacking cups to use in therapy. We start by stacking the cups from most to least amounts. I like being able to put the cups inside of each other to demonstrate how 6o seconds fits exactly into one minute, and that 60 minutes fits into one hour. All of these grow to fit into a month/year etc.

Once the client is able to sequence you can also strengthen comprehension by talking about which word is “more.” (Ex. Which is more time one second or one minute?”

It’s difficult to teach abstract concepts, so I’m always looking for ways to make concepts more concrete. Timers are a great way to teach the passage of time. For instance, if you were saying that you were going to the library soon (or even in 5 minutes) you can set a timer so that your student can start to learn what that amount of time means and what it feels like.

I’ll be honest. I’m a time optimist. I’d tend to set times based on what I think would be the best time vs. logically thinking through how long a task would take. I’m still holding out for a Star Trek’s transporter to get me places. It is likely that I would benefit from some executive functioning training. If you work with older students make a list of common activities (play a video game, brush your teeth, do your reading homework etc.) Have them guess how many minutes that takes. You’ll be surprised at their answers. Then have them use a stopwatch or the stopwatch app to actually time them doing the activity. Then you can work on planning their day based on the time they have available.

Use Calendars:

I buy extra calendars at the beginning of the year from the dollar store. We write down activities we’ve done in therapy on their calendar and talk about what we did last week and the our plan for the next month. We can talk about what holidays occur in different months and also talk about concepts like today, yesterday and tomorrow.

Looking for more time activities? Check out how I teach before/after concepts in therapy.

Improve compliance by teaching first/then in therapy.

QUESTION: Do you use timers in therapy? What activities have you used to teach temporal concepts. I can’t wait to read about it!

Also, if you thought this post had some good ideas, I’d be super pumped if you could share this post on Facebook or Pinterest!

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Time Concepts for Speech-Language Therapy – Months, Seasons, and Holidays

I don’t know about you, but I have students that just don’t seem to “get” time concepts. They’re the ones who ask me, “Do I see you today?” every time they see me in the hallway, or will “When will it be Halloween again?” five times in a month.

I finally decided I needed to target these skills, but how? I tried pulling my calendar off the wall and using that for a few sessions, but I realized my students just didn’t have the foundational concepts down, and needed specific practice targeted at these skills. So I created this :

This 50 page unit is divided into three sections, each of which build upon the previous unit. It starts out with months, then moves to seasons, and then moves to holidays.

Each section includes: – Master reference sheet – Sorting activity (seasons and holidays only) – 24 (seasons) or 32 (months and holidays) question cards – 6 (holiday) or 8 (months and seasons) interactive book – 4 worksheets for take home practice

These activities can be used over multiple sessions and with multiple students in a session over the course of an entire year. They could be used in either individual or small group speech-language therapy sessions or in a special education classroom setting.

Tell me, do you have students that need this practice, too?

PS: Have kids that need help with days of the week, tomorrow, yesterday, next week, etc.? I have another product in the works for these concepts, too! 🙂

February 12, 2019 at 9:29 am

Hi! I’m not sure if my other comment went through since I never got a confirmation. I have a lot of kids who struggle with this and I am want to write IEP goals for them. Do you have any suggestions for goals? Thank you!

February 15, 2019 at 2:45 pm

Hi, Gillian! I tend to use this in conjunction with my answering “When” question goals. I have a few that only needed work on “when” and “why goals,” so I made my goals a bit more specific than I normally do – such as student will correctly answer “when” questions referring to months, “when” questions referring to seasons, “when” questions referring to holidays, etc.

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Easy Exercises for Improving Executive Functioning

Source: learnnc.org

Living in a digital age, most of us rely heavily on electronics to keep ourselves scheduled and organized. Why? Because the cognitive burden of storing so much information in our heads can be overwhelming. We can thank or blame executive functioning for this- the coordination of our brain’s many components that help us remember, organize, prioritize and problem solve. For many children with executive functioning disorders or struggles, language processing can be a significant challenge. In fact, children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) often have executive functioning challenges that specifically should be addressed in speech therapy . Just like organizing a drawer, organizing your thoughts can be challenging when memory, impulse control and reasoning are impacted.

Source: learningworksforkids.com

Executive functioning is important to address in speech therapy because it can impact at child’s ability to participate not only in the therapy session but in the classroom, life and conversation. What exactly is executive functioning? These are skills that include all the elements of organizing and carrying out a task fully – like planning, recall and organizing. Barriers to this can include poor time management, distraction, and difficulties with language concepts. A child with this challenge may not finish his or her work on time or have difficulty following or remembering the instructions and may been additional supports. To address these challenges try some executive functioning exercises:

Construction Organizational Supports Together

Children who struggle in this area need help surrounding time management. Together, create tools that allow them to organize multi-part tasks (while of course making it fun). Children can benefit from simple to-do lists, calendars or timers. If the child has access to mobile technology, take advantage of the millions of apps dedicated to making our lives easier and help set up some supports. The app Paperless will help create check lists, while the app Time Timer can show a child how much of an activity is left. Children who are using this technology are likely at a level where teachers and SLPs should encourage them to be independent- ask them to reference or check off items on the list to help them manage accordingly.

Source: headupnow.com

Games are always a great way to encourage critical thinking skills, if you pick the right one. Board games or social games that elicit opportunities for problem solving are good to play and opportunities where adults can provide support in the form of 1.) pre-planning (discuss the elements of the game ahead of time. The pieces, the plan, the goal and how the child will go about doing it) and 2.) talking aloud. Help the child through the problem solving and organizational process by talking aloud and 3.) listening and following direction skills. Great games and activities include:

Board games: Clue and Monopoly are classic examples, but also remember simple memory or card games that involve a little strategy and recall of the specific rules.
Table games: Try building or construction projects where children must plan out what they’re going to make and the pieces they’ll need to do it. Try the Angry Birds tabletop game for this as well.
Pretend play: Grab a plastic shopping cart, your chef hat or be the customer in a pretend game. Food themes lend themselves to a lot of multi-step processes. Remembering and fulfilling fictitious food orders during play restaurant while talking about how to cook an serve a variety of foods could be great fun.

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10 practical cognitive therapy activities

I’m sharing 10 practical cognitive therapy activities that I’ve done with my patients recently, with suggested SMART goals. Details have been changed to protect privacy.

Free DIRECT download: 17 SMART cognitive goals (cheat sheet). ( Email subscribers get free access to all the resources in the Free Subscription Library .)

Sample goals .
Sample goal .
Related Eat, Speak, & Think posts .
Your cognitive therapy activities .

Scheduling appointments

One patient I worked with was having trouble scheduling appointments.

Disorganized
Not taking notes during the phone call.
Waiting too long before adding the information to her calendar.
Using a monthly calendar with small boxes.
Messy and hard to read.

I recommended that she get a planner, which her daughter picked up. I taught the strategies:

Have planner open to avoid double-booking.
Take notes during the phone call.
Read back the information to confirm details.
Write in planner immediately.

When I went in for the next couple of sessions, I looked at her planner to see if I could understand it. Then I asked her questions about it. And finally, I had her call and make a new appointment. I could have asked her to confirm an appointment if she didn’t need to make a new one.

I listened to her side of the conversation to make sure she was gathering the correct information and confirming it, then watched as she wrote the information in the book.

That was all she needed. She was independently making and keeping track of her own appointments accurately when I discharged her.

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Sample goals

Patient will demonstrate:

Ability to add new appointments to personal planner with 90% accuracy independently to improve ability to manage own schedule by 12.31.19.
Understanding of personal schedule by answering comprehension questions with 100% accuracy independently to improve ability to participate in desired activities by 12.31.19.

Organizing information

Another patient complained that calling doctors and the home health agency was a hassle. He had the phone numbers written down in various places, so it was an effort to find the information to make the calls.

He’d been using a smart phone for awhile, but his daughter had only entered family contacts. He was open to learning how to enter new contacts into his cell phone. So I spent about ten minutes during one session teaching that skill and guiding him to practice by adding a few home health and MD numbers.

At the next session, he told me that he tried adding another one on his own but got stuck. So I retaught that part and had him write down a reminder note about how to do that step.

At the following session, he had added more of his doctors and even included the addresses. He said that it made making phone calls really easy, and he wasn’t procrastinating anymore.

Patient will demonstrate ability to:

Add at least 5 new contacts to electronic contact book with 100% accuracy independently to improve organization of information for daily tasks by 12.31.19.
Make at least 3 phone calls using electronic contact book with 100% accuracy independently to improve ability to communicate with medical professionals in a timely manner by 12.31.19.

Daily writing to improve attention and memory

Another patient I worked with recently had pretty significant impairment of attention, memory, and executive function skills. She reported various problems which were frustrating to her:

Difficulty remembering strategies from PT and OT.
Trouble remembering recent conversations.
Not oriented to the day of week or the date.
No longer able to read for pleasure
Couldn’t sign her name (or write functionally).

One activity I started her on was to write in a notebook every day. In the beginning, she started off by copying the day of the week and the date with the help of her husband. And she signed her name over and over (the OT started that) as homework.

We built up to her writing the day of week and the date, copying her daily therapy schedule down, and then adding one of the strategies she was working on for each therapy.

On days when she didn’t have therapy, I had her write down a brief note about something that she did that day.

By the time I discharged her to outpatient therapy, she:

Could remember key recommendations from PT, OT, and ST.
Was oriented to time from memory.
Could sign her name.
Was remembering recent events without referring to her notes.
Could write short sentences (with errors).

Patient will:

be oriented to day of week, date, and time using visual supports as needed with 100% accuracy independently to improve daily function and reduce frustration by 12.31.19.
recall at least 3 recommendations from any therapy with 100% accuracy independently using visual supports as needed to improve safety and independence by 12.31.19.

Word finding

Another patient was having mild difficulty with word finding, which was very frustrating for her. I taught her Semantic Feature Analysis (SFA), which she learned how to do very quickly. I also taught her word finding strategies.

In therapy, we did a variety of word retrieval exercises for two reasons. First, to give her the opportunity to use the word finding strategies when she failed to retrieve a word. And second, to identify challenging exercises to assign for homework.

I also asked her to complete at least one SFA each day, ideally using a word that she really had trouble retrieving in her normal conversation.

She worked diligently, and when I discharged after six sessions she was independently using the strategies and was experiencing far fewer word retrieval failures (less than once a day).

ability to use at least 3 word finding strategies during moments of word finding failure on 4 of 5 opportunities to improve communication and reduce frustration by 12.31.19.
no more than one un-repaired word-finding failure during 30 minutes of conversation independently to demonstrate improved word-finding skills for conversation by 12.31.19.

Using YouTube for attention and memory

Another patient I worked with recently had left neglect, with general attention and memory deficits. His wife really wanted him to be able to focus on television and then be able to discuss what they watched. He was happy to work on anything that would help him.

I found a seven-minute TED talk, divided into three parts, that I knew he would enjoy.

The first time he watched it, he was very excited and talked during the video. After it was over, he said how much he liked the video but his comments were only tangentially-related. He couldn’t recall any specific details independently.

So I taught the strategies of paying attention and noticing the details. We then watched the time lapse section from 0:50 to 1:58 and I asked him to tell me what he could remember. He could not remember the four specific examples: the mushroom, the creeping vine, the air traffic, and the ship traffic.

We worked on remembering those four examples using WRAP: writing, repetition, association, and picturing it (visualization). By the end of the session, he was able to watch that part of the exciting video and then state the four examples. He worked on studying the video for homework, and we continued in this way.

By the end of therapy, he was able to recall at least eight specific details independently and several more when given a question prompt. Ideally, I would have had him watch a new video to see if his performance was improved, but we ran out of time with the reassessment and discharge.

Sample goal

demonstrate ability to recall at least 5 specific details from information recently heard or seen with 100 percent accuracy independently to improve ability to engage in leisure activities by 12.31.19.

Remembering spouse’s name after brain surgery

I treated a young man recently after brain surgery who was persistently calling his wife by his ex-wife’s name. As you can imagine, this was embarrassing for him even though his wife didn’t seem overly bothered by it.

In addition to treating general word-finding and memory deficits, we focused on her name. I taught the WRAP strategies of writing, repetition, association, and picturing (visualization).

Then I had him write her name 10 times which imagining her face and saying her name each time he wrote it. I suggested doing that every day until he wasn’t mixing the names up anymore. Finally, I helped him to find an association that would help trigger the word when he was in conversation with her.

This is a fictional example to preserve privacy, but the idea is the same. His wife’s name was Marla, and he created a little phrase “I’m married to Marla” that he would think when he saw her. This way, he was sure of her name and it reduced the anxiety of possibly mixing the names up in conversation.

We spent perhaps 10 minutes total in therapy on this issue. When I returned the following week, he reported that he was no longer mixing up the names and was no longer feeling stress about it.

Sample goals:

independently use recommended strategies to recall wife’s name in 9 of 10 opportunities by report or observation to reduce stress and embarrassment by 12.31.19.
demonstrate the use of at least 3 memory strategies for recalling preferred information with 100% accuracy independently to improve recall of important information by 12.31.19.

Basic executive function skills

I recently worked with a patient who was impaired in all areas of cognitive-communication. It seemed that working memory and executive function skills were impacting her the most.

Her specific complaints included:

Difficulty remembering and following directions.
Unable to complete basic reading and writing tasks.
Trouble maintaining the topic in conversation.
Difficulty remembering recent information.

We started off with functional activities: activities that she would do in the course of her normal day. Such as using the TV remote, maintaining a conversation, and sequencing the steps to get up from the wheelchair. I modified in various ways: simplifying, visual supports, written instructions, discussing and then doing (even down to the single step level), and modeling for imitation. I even tried spaced retrieval with errorless learning. However, I wasn’t seeing as much improvement as I’d have liked.

So we switched from these real-life activities to apps on her iPad. After trying some different things, we ended up using the iBrainH D app and Tactus Therapy’s Visual Attention and Writing apps .

We focused on learning and using strategies to slow down and improve accuracy, error detection, and error correction. For instance, I taught her to point to and/or verbalize each element, compare to the target, and double check her work.

This approach seemed to work better. When I discharge her to out-patient therapy, she had improved from a “severe” to a “mild” cognitive communication impairment per the CLQT+ . She was maintaining the topic of conversation at least 80% of the time, and she improved to only needing min assist with standing up from the wheelchair.

demonstrate understanding of at least two cognitive strategies by independently using them during functional activities in 4 of 5 opportunities to improve participation in daily tasks by 12.31.19.
maintain the topic of conversation for 3 turns in 4 of 5 opportunities to improve functional communication and reduce frustration by 12.31.19.
verbalize and demonstrate the correct sequence for safely standing up from the wheelchair with 100% accuracy across three trials to improve safety by 12.31.19.

Massed practice for visual neglect

Another person I worked with had left visual neglect. His main complaint was difficulty reading because he was missing information on the left. Although he was fully aware of his deficit and with the slightest cue would correct himself, he was not consistently using the strategy independently.

Neither a bright-colored guideline or a written reminder worked for him. He continued to require a verbal cue to use the strategies to detect information on the left.

One activity that we did that was helpful was to have him page through a catalog and report what was in the top left corner on each page. After several correct answers in a row, then I would introduce a distractor question and then have him turn the page. When this was easy, I made it harder by asking him to name the third thing down on the left side of each page.

In this way, he had multiple opportunities to practice his skills in a short period of time.

Sample goal:

locate the top left corner of reading material (e.g., paper, calendar, cell phone) using recommended strategy independently within 10 seconds in 9 of 10 opportunities across 3 sessions to improve functional reading by 12.31.19.

Remembering to use the call bell

A gentleman I’m working with in an assistive living facility has recently started wearing a bracelet with a call button. He’s supposed to use it to obtain assistance for the bathroom, but he’s been forgetting. In talking with him, I don’t get the sense that he is deliberately avoiding using it.

We’re using spaced retrieval with errorless learning to train the use of the call button.

Prompt question: “What should you do when you need to use the bathroom?”
Response: “Press the button and wait” and demonstrate.

We just started this past week, and I’d guess it would take another week or so to take effect (if it will help). While spaced retrieval with errorless learning doesn’t work for everyone, I’ve had many good successes with it.

independently verbalize and demonstrate the recommendation to press the call button when he wants to use the bathroom with 100% accuracy across 3 sessions to improve safety by 12.31.19.

Using supports to be oriented to time

Sometimes, just making sure the tools are in the right place is all that is needed: clock, calendar, or a digital combination.

One recent patient had a digital calendar * that was recommended by a physical therapist, but she wasn’t using it. It was just another bit of decoration on the shelf that she wasn’t paying attention to.

I used spaced retrieval with errorless learning to train her to use it in two session (and confirmed it in each subsequent visit).

Prompt question: “What should you do when you want to know the time or the date?”
Response: “Look at the clock” and then read off the time and the date.

Not only was she using the digital calendar independently when I returned the following week, but she was also independently oriented to the day of the week and the month (i.e. from memory).

*This is an Amazon affiliate link. As an Amazon associate, I may earn a small commission on qualifying purchases. There is no extra charge to you, and it will help keep Eat, Speak, & Think sustainable.

verbalize and demonstrate the independent use of the electronic calendar to determine the current day of week, date, and time with 100% accuracy across 3 consecutive sessions to improve ability to participate in desired activities by 12.31.19.

Related Eat, Speak, & Think posts

5 easy steps to remember names .
Collaborative goal setting to identify meaningful cognitive goals .
How to use spaced retrieval with errorless learning to improve memory .
Writing SMART memory goals for a reluctant patient .
Treating cognition in the real world .
Improve aphasia outcomes by creating intensive home exercise programs .

Your cognitive therapy activities

What are some of your recent cognitive therapy activities? Leave a comment below!

Featured image by kang_hojun from pixabay .

Lisa A Young M.A. CCC-SLP

Lisa earned her M.A. in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Maryland, College Park and her M.A. in Linguistics from the University of California, San Diego.

She participated in research studies with the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) and the University of Maryland in the areas of aphasia, Parkinson’s Disease, epilepsy, and fluency disorders.

Lisa has been working as a medical speech-language pathologist since 2008. She has a strong passion for evidence-based assessment and therapy, having earned five ASHA Awards for Professional Participation in Continuing Education.

She launched EatSpeakThink.com in June 2018 to help other clinicians be more successful working in home health, as well as to provide strategies and resources to people living with problems eating, speaking, or thinking.

How to help adults regain the ability to write
Better AOS outcomes with a focus on participation
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Home health SLP survey results may surprise you

Loving your blog. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you, Mireya!

I’m a graduate student treating a person with aphasia in therapy this semester. This is the first website I’ve found that has been truly helpful for my adult client, Thank you so much!

Thanks so much for sharing your feedback, Kristin! I’m happy to hear you’re finding something helpful on my site. Good luck with your client and your program!

[…] 10 practical cognitive therapy activities. […]

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Serving children in St. Petersburg, FL. Call today to get started at (727) 201-3434 .

Bridge Speech Therapy

Bridging the gap in speech, language, and literacy skills for children of all ages.

OUR MISSION

At Bridge Speech Therapy, we are committed to helping children bridge the gap between speech, language, and literacy skills in their most convenient setting. We know that every child is unique, and it is our mission to identify strengths, address communication challenges, and work alongside parents and teachers to attain meaningful goals.

WHAT SETS US APART

Our private practice is uniquely positioned within the community to offer services that suit each family's needs. We work collaboratively with parents, teachers, and professionals within Pinellas County to treat the whole child. Everything we work on in therapy supports what the child is doing at home and in the classroom.

OUR SPECIALTIES

We specialize in the evaluation and treatment of speech, language, and literacy disorders for children of all ages--including in-depth evaluations for reading disorders and dyslexia.

We combine evidence-based approaches with engaging activities to provide individualized therapy to every child we serve.

LOCATION OF SERVICES

We are available to meet in your home for therapy. Our home-based services make therapy accessible for everyone, either in person or over teletherapy. No need to add more commute time into your schedule!

We offer individual therapy services at our clinic, conveniently located in NE St. Petersburg. Our family-friendly clinic space is thoughtfully organized to facilitate your child’s engagement, focus, and learning!

We work collaboratively within preschool and private school settings to provide therapy specific to your child's needs and goals. We communicate with parents through emails, phone calls, and notebook entries so that you are always aware of your child's progress.

MEET OUR TEAM

Cara bridge, m.s., ccc-slp, owner, speech pathologist.

I am a nationally certified speech-language pathologist (SLP) with over 18 years of experience assessing and treating communication disorders in a variety of settings. I earned my B.S degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders at Florida State University, and my M.S. degree in Speech-Language Pathology from The University of South Florida.

After years of working in schools, private clinics, and early childhood centers, I founded Bridge Speech Therapy to build a more collaborative model of therapy within the community. I believe that children thrive when all of the adults on their support team have a shared vision, and I am proud to work within that philosophy.

In the past several years I have dedicated my professional development time to the fascinating area of literacy. I am fully equipped with the knowledge and skills to assess and treat all areas of language and literacy disorders. I utilize a whole child approach, focusing treatment on the individual child's deficits, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

My husband and I are both St. Pete natives, and we have three amazing children (ages 12, 10, and 4). On the weekends, you can usually find us at the baseball or soccer field watching our children play. We enjoy swimming, biking, and camping together as a family.

Jessica Stofan, M.A., CCC-SLP

Speech-language pathologist.

Jessica Stofan received her B.A. in Communication Sciences and Disorders and her master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology from The University of Florida.

Jessica enjoys working with preschool and school-age children with speech sound disorders. In her free time, she can usually be found at some sort of ball field watching her children do what they love.

Krysti James, M.S., CCC-SLP

Krysti is a New England native that fell in love with Florida while studying at Nova Southeastern, where she earned her master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology.

She has been a speech therapist for over 16 years and has experience working in public and private schools and daycares and providing in-home therapy. She loves collaborating with teachers and families to help children succeed in their learning and living environments. She also enjoys working with the adult population in the nursing home settings.

Krysti has one darling daughter. She and her husband enjoy taking her to explore the many fabulous parks in the area.

Christie Hollis, M.S., CCC-SLP

Christie grew up in New York and then South Florida and attended the University of Florida. After college, she worked for the Lindamood Bell Center, where she then decided to pursue her her master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology at Florida Atlantic University.

She has been practicing in the field for over 3 years and has experience working in the clinic setting with a wide range of client needs. Christie's greatest interests are in the areas of language and literacy.

She and her husband reside in St. Pete and love all that the area has to offer.

GETTING STARTED

C lick here to schedule a free phone consultation with Cara Bridge. During the call, we will discuss your concerns, answer your questions, and make a recommendation for the next steps.

Services will begin with an in-depth evaluation, which will reveal your child’s areas of strength and support needs. This process allows us to create an individualized plan with targeted therapy goals.

Following the evaluation, we will schedule your child’s therapy sessions at a time and in the setting that works best for you! Recommended session frequency will vary and is based on your child’s goals.

Payment Information

Bridge Speech Therapy is dedicated to providing the highest quality of care by focusing our time during therapy on the client, rather than on the paperwork necessary to accept insurance. Therefore, we do not bill any insurance companies directly or act as a participating provider for any insurance plans. We will provide clients a statement of services suitable for submission to your insurance company should you choose to request reimbursement.

We are an approved direct pay provider for the Family Empowerment Scholarship (formerly the Gardiner Scholarship). Contact us to learn more about FES-UA.

Pediatric Speech Therapy in St Petersburg

A child is like a piece of paper on which every person leaves a mark.

~ robert heinlein.

Clinic: 4200 4th St. N. Suite B. St. Petersburg, FL 33703

Phone: 727-201-3434

Email: [email protected]

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Specializing in intensive episodes of care for adults and children.

Our Philosophy

Here at Because You Can, our staff of experienced doctors, speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, behavior analysts, and teachers believe everyone is unique and learns in a different way. Whether recovering from a major incident or just learning to communicate, we believe that intensity is the key to success.

Adults and children with communication disorders are often given limited opportunities to participate in therapy with a therapist who specializes in their unique diagnosis. Here at Because You Can, we believe that a diagnosis is just a starting point, and that each individual should have the opportunity to grow in their own unique way.

Specialties

augmentative and alternative communication (aac) therapy.

Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) Therapy

ADHD/Executive Functioning

Articulation

Complex Communication Needs

Dysarthria

Literacy Evaluations

Math (K-College)

Occupational Therapy

Phonologic al Delays/Disorders

Receptive and Expressive Language Delays/Disorders

Reading (K-College)

Social Skills

Call to schedule an evaluation and let us help you help your loved one to meet their full potential!

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An amazing organization with such a caring and compassionate staff. The impact that Parc has had in our community over the past decades speaks for itself. The CEO Michelle especially exudes professionalism and trust that we all are in search of. If youre looking for a great non-profit to support financially or with volunteer hours choose Parc.

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I absolutely love all of the love and support my daughter gets from Kristine Guidice Kris is so incredibly caring and passionate about helping my daughter reach her goals I love how she communicates to me through the Dojo app. We are always greeted with a smile and I couldnt be happier with all the services she has provided for us Thank you for being such an amazing part of this community

My 19-year-old son Alex is autistic. He is a good kid but has no friends and needs daily care and direction. In many ways he is very independent showering general hygiene he even can cook. But his mother and I wanted to see him succeed in life to have a job responsibilities friends to interact with daily a chance to grow into becoming an adult. He just was not going to get that simply living with Mom and Dad.Then we heard about Parc Center. Every counselor and autistic resource we knew of rated Parc highly. My wife and I spent part of a day at Parc Corp. Office their training facilities as well as one of the housing locations personally touring with Brian Rothey AVP of Adult Community Programs and Michelle Detweiler the President and CEO. They were so reassuring calm and excited to show us everything making us feel at home and so excited to have Alex be a part of their family. Even the current residents went out of their way to say hello and greet us.His private room was perfect. He shares a very large bathroom with his neighbor William all very similar to college dorms. The main kitchen was huge and unique with a chef preparing meals daily. The staff was pleasant caring and engaging and very helpful to answer all our questions.Alex has now been placed at Curry Villas and been there 3 months. His Mother has stopped worrying about him and his adjustment period and Alex is so excited and loves being there offering so many new adventures and of course freedom from Mom and Dad like all teenagers. But we have seen him grow-up in such a short time and Parc has been the best thing we have ever done for Alex.He is continuously challenged and evaluated offering him opportunities both fun and to help him grow mentally making him feel a part of society. He will do a Facetime with us several times a week sharing his accomplishments that he is so proud of.We know we made the best decision with Parc Center simply by seeing Alex so happy and slowly becoming the young man we want him to be.Thank you Parc for all you do and living up to your standards.

My family has benefitted form Parc Center for Disabilities for well over 40 years. The love and care the staff have given to my sister who lives at the Bert Muller Home is amazing. Pinellas County is lucky to have such an wonderful organization who impacts the lives of so many.

I had the pleasure of touring the Parc Center for Disabilities last week and was moved to tears with the wonderful things this organization is doing for children and adults with disabilities in the Tampa Bay and St. Pete area. If youve been looking for an organization to volunteer with or provide donations to this is it.

I have been involved with Parc Center for Disabilities since 2016. We strive to do great things for their participants and team members. Much has changed - and will continue to evolve - under our new leadership. Spring boarding from the best of our history into a future where all individuals are treated with dignity and respect where participants have exceptional experiences each and every day where team members are valued supported rewarded and have fun where donors have extreme confidence in our funding stewardship and where YOU will find meaningful work volunteer opportunities and a safe place for your loved one to grow learn and belong.

It is said that you are only as strong as your team. Well I was put in touch with Brian Rothey AVP of Adult Community Programs and he went above and beyond to not only share with me all the program options available at PARC for my adult daughter but he took the time to educate me on steps to take regarding the Medicaid Waiver process. In the world of people with disabilities information is our most precious resource. It often feels like mining for gold very difficult to find information that is just the right fit for the individual needs of our loved ones with disabilities. Brian took the time to provide me with resources and contacts that will help make my daughters transition to life after school a great one. Through his willingness to jump in and help in a moments notice lets me know that Brian and the team at PARC truly have the best interests of people with disabilities at heart.

This place is Amazing. If you want to meet people who really care about your Special Needs Loved One and who treat them well then this is the place for...

Ive had the pleasure working in the preschool at PARC since I was 18. Now Im 51 The last 10 years or so Ive been a part of Family Focus. Which I love...

Ive had the pleasure to be apart of PARC for nearly two years now and Ive enjoyed seeing clients discover capabilities within themselves through so many of the programs that PARC offers. Staff are incredibly passionate about helping those with intellectual disabilities succeed on a daily basis in areas such as art music employment culinary the list goes on. I hope to continue working here for years to come. This organization is truly an asset to the St. Petersburg community.

We have been supporting PARC for over 20 years now and are familiar with all their programs from supporting infants to adults with developmental disabilities. PARC is full of compassionate people who are there to serve. I am proud to support such a great organization

The folks at PARC do amazing work. The facility here is world class as are the people. If you get a chance stop by and purchase some art work. The funds go...

Frequently Asked Questions

Speech therapy is almost always recommended for autistic children since many people with autism have difficulty with social communication. Even if a child is very verbal and says a lot of words, they might need to work on communication skills like:

responding to questions
starting or ending conversation
changing conversation topics
using gestures like pointing
understanding other people's body language

Speech therapy is a big focus in early intervention for autistic children and is usually the starting place for recently diagnosed kids. There is a critical period in the brain for language development and so, it's really important to teach language and communication skills as early as possible, especially if there are any delays in that area. Your child will learn effective ways to communicate which will help them grow into more independent and confident individuals.

It might be obvious when a child struggles with speaking —they are very quiet, say only a few words, or don't speak at all.

Spot speech and language delays like a doctor here .

The goal of speech therapy is to help your child communicate effectively with other people across all environments. This may take the form of using gestures, simple signs, verbal speech, and Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC).

Some other common things speech therapists can help with:

Nonverbal skills, such as signs or gestures
Forming speech in a clearer way
Communicating thoughts and feelings clearly
Understanding and responding to questions
Discerning facial expressions and their corresponding emotions
Noticing and understanding body language
Feeding and swallowing

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is a therapy rooted in the science of learning and behavior. Using principles of ABA, children and adults can learn to improve their communication skills, social skills, and daily living skills while also addressing problematic or challenging behaviors. The primary goal of ABA therapy is to teach helpful skills that promote independence and reduce harmful behaviors. Here's our complete guide to everything you need to know about ABA therapy .

It's a big decision to make for your family! Applied behavior analysis (ABA) seeks to improve communication skills, introduce productive habits, and reduce harmful behaviors. Watch out for ABA providers who look to "cure" autism.

High quality ABA therapy does exist where the goal is not to “fix” children, make them appear “less autistic”, or change who they are. The goal is to help people learn all that they can so they can live to their potential while embracing their unique, individual personality traits. Here's our complete guide to start and end ABA therapy .

ABA is usually covered by insurance if you have an autism diagnosis. Autism is typically the only diagnosis insurance will authorize for ABA services since its benefits have been researched extensively.

Always check with your specific insurance plan to confirm that ABA is covered for your child’s diagnoses and that the provider you are seeking care at is in-network. Here's our complete guide to everything you need to know about ABA therapy.

Check out The Beaming Health Transition to Adulthood Action Plan ! It's a customizable step-by-step guide that walks you through the most important actions you can take as your child transitions to adulthood.

Autistic adults, like all individuals, have diverse skills and interests. Here are six examples of popular jobs among autistic and neurodivergent adults:

Computer programming and IT: Many autistic adults have a natural aptitude for logical thinking and attention to detail, which can make them well-suited to careers in computer programming, software development, and other areas of IT.
Engineering: Roles in engineering also require logical thinking and attention to detail, as well as the ability to solve complex problems. Autistic individuals may find engineering particularly rewarding due to the opportunity to design and build structures or systems.
Science: Many autistic individuals have a fascination with science and may be particularly drawn to careers in fields such as biology, chemistry, or physics.
Art and design: Some autistic individuals have a keen eye for detail and a strong visual sense, which can make them well-suited to careers in art and design.
Writing and editing: Autistic individuals may have a strong attention to detail and the ability to focus intensely on a task for long periods, which can make them effective writers and editors.
Entrepreneurship: Some autistic individuals may be well-suited to entrepreneurship, as they may have a unique perspective on business and may be able to identify unmet needs in the marketplace.

It's important to note that these are just a few examples, and there are many other careers that may be well-suited to the strengths and preferences of autistic individuals. Ultimately, the best career for an autistic person will depend on their individual interests, skills, and abilities.

No, there are no jobs that autistic people should avoid. Autistic people, like neurotypical people, have a wide range of skills, interests, and abilities, and can excel in many different types of jobs.

However, some autistic people may find certain jobs more challenging than others, depending on their individual strengths and weaknesses. For example, jobs that require a lot of social interaction or have unpredictable schedules may be more difficult for some autistic individuals, while jobs that involve focused, detail-oriented work may be a better fit.

Ultimately, the best job for an autistic person will depend on their individual skills, interests, and needs, as well as the accommodations and support available in the workplace. It's important for employers to create inclusive and supportive work environments that allow all employees to thrive, including those with autism.

Get in touch with PARC

IMAGES

15 Effective Speech Therapy Exercises for Adults: Using a Monthly
Calendar Task
Why is Using Speech Therapy Calendar Activities in Your Daily Routine
SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPY: Visual Schedule Boards
Automatic Speech Routines
Executive Functioning Activities Time Management Task Cards, OT, Speech

COMMENTS

22 Executive Functioning Activities for Adults
In this post, you'll find executive functioning activities for adults in speech therapy—plus free PDF worksheets!
21 Practical Cognitive Tasks That Work
21 practical cognitive tasks to improve attention, memory, and problem solving. Read the article for ready-to-go speech therapy treatment ideas and our most popular free PDF!
Time Management Strategies for SLPs
Determining how to best use your time impacts the ability to plan successful therapy sessions and become more organized and efficient with all tasks outside of direct treatment.
15 Effective Speech Therapy Exercises for Adults: Using a Monthly Calendar
These are the tools that your patient will use during memory tasks, and then in their daily lives. 1. Orientation Exercise. For patients with moderate to severe memory impairments, use a monthly calendar to work on orientation. Have the patient fill out: The year.
Organizing executive function, Part One: Identifying and assessing for SLPs
All that said, SLPs assess executive functioning all the time! Language and EF are closely intertwined, and many of our language assessment tasks include elements of executive function. For example, tasks of listening comprehension or sentence repetition rely pretty heavily on working memory.
193: Time Management and Mindset for Busy SLPs with Theresa Harp
Fast forward four years (and two more kids) later, her growing interest in time management strategies led her to establish Theresa Harp Coaching, a coaching practice that supports other busy SLPs with how to manage their time—and their mindset—in their home and business. Theresa helps her clients become more aware of how their thoughts and ...
Helping Students With Executive Functions—What Is Our Role as SLPs?
Strengths and weaknesses School-based SLPs can sift through the list of skills under the executive function umbrella—task initiation, impulse control, focus, time management, working memory, accepting change, task completion, organization, self-regulation—and figure out which aspects need improvement. Once we draw a clear picture of our students' issues, we can move on to identifying ...
Teaching Time Concepts in Speech Therapy
Teaching time concepts doesn't have to be boring. Check out these functional activities for ideas on teaching time concepts.
Time Concepts for Speech-Language Therapy
These activities can be used over multiple sessions and with multiple students in a session over the course of an entire year. They could be used in either individual or small group speech-language therapy sessions or in a special education classroom setting.
Time Pressure Management
Time Pressure Management is a strategy that helps decrease stress after traumatic brain injury. It teaches you to anticipate time pressure and make a plan so your brain feels less overwhelmed.
PDF Leslie Bilik-Thompson
Many of the tasks in this section can be used two ways: you can either focus on one target area at a time (e.g., speech intelligibility or word finding) or you can integrate skills to focus on a number of target areas within the same task (e.g., speech intelligibility and word finding or speech intelligibility, word finding, and expressing ...
Easy Exercises for Improving Executive Functioning
Construction Organizational Supports Together Children who struggle in this area need help surrounding time management. Together, create tools that allow them to organize multi-part tasks (while of course making it fun). Children can benefit from simple to-do lists, calendars or timers.
7 Executive Functioning Strategies for Adults PDF
In this post, you'll find step-by-step executive functioning strategies for adults—plus free PDF worksheets for your speech therapy patients!
Teaching Time Concepts
Teaching Time Concepts. This 35-page resource is loaded with activities to support speech-language pathologists and students that are working on time concepts! Practice understanding a schedule, reading a calendar, understanding the length, passage, and sequence of time, and all related vocabulary! This is a digital resource that was created ...
Time Management
Time Management Time Management is the ability to prioritize the steps needed to complete a task and schedule them with adequate timing to complete the work satisfactorily. A student needs to know how to estimate time needed to complete tasks.
10 practical cognitive therapy activities
10 practical cognitive therapy activities I'm sharing 10 practical cognitive therapy activities that I've done with my patients recently, with suggested SMART goals. Details have been changed to protect privacy.
PDF HANDOUT-ABLE: Cognitive Strengths/Areas for ...
HANDOUT-ABLE: Cognitive Strengths/Areas for Treatment, Based on a Full Speech Pathology Evaluation A full cognitive-communication evaluation has been conducted, and the following strengths/areas for improvement data are available for review, in order to describe direction in treatment. Listed below the strengths/involved areas are definitions of these terms.
Functional Time Management
Time management is an important and complex executive functioning skill that impacts the ability to navigate day to day life. This therapy material works on addressing time management skills that may be difficult for individuals with cognitive deficits, in a meaningful and relevant way.
11 Cognitive Speech Therapy Activities for Adults Free PDF
11 Cognitive Speech Therapy Activities for Adults. 1. Calendar Tasks: Fill In A Monthly Calendar. Calendar tasks can make great cognitive speech therapy activities for adults. For the first task, have a blank monthly calendar or planner handy, depending on your patient's preferences (for a blank template, download our guide, Functional ...
Bridge Speech Therapy
Bridge Speech Therapy specializes in pediatric evaluations and therapy for speech, language, and literacy disorders. We offer in-depth evaluations for reading disorders and dyslexia. Bridge Speech Therapy works with children of all ages in St. Petersburg, FL.
Speech Therapy
Because You Can is a speech therapy center servicing adults and children. Evaluations and intensive therapy for speech and language disorders, dyslexia, AAC, aphasia, apraxia, articulation, receptive and expressive language delays/disorders, math, and reading.
Speech Therapist in Saint Petersburg
Speech within reach therapy services is a clinic providing speech language therapy to pediatrics and adults with a variety of disorders and delays. Mission Statement: Our mission is to provide speech and language therapy in a natural environment.
PARC
Speech Therapy, ABA Therapy, Adult Day Programs + 6 more Address: 3190 Tyrone Blvd N | Saint Petersburg, FL 33710 Rating: 4.61 (92 reviews)