The new school year is approaching and it’s time to begin to get yourself prepared for the exciting challenges that you will soon face. Whether you are a novice or expert at beginning of the school year preparation, there are always new strategies that you can learn. There are a multitude of items that you can accomplish prior to actually setting foot on a schools campus.

Do you know an infant or toddler experiencing some of these difficulties? As therapists we are able to identify if there is an issue or problem, but not always able to pinpoint what that problem is. Below is a list of developmental milestones in regards to physical development.

 Well it’s Summer! Some of us are still working with children and families in the schools completing ESY, while some of us took the Summer off and are home with our own children.   Either way, you will probably be in the mood for some fun, energy releasers for the children.

Summer is an excellent time for school-based therapists to learn new techniques, acquire new skills and review best practice. In my school district, I have shorter days during Extended School Year (summer school), giving me a little more breathing room in my schedule. This extra time allows me to read and review materials from courses I have taken in the past. It also enables me to register for a couple professional development courses that I have wanted to take.

Once again, it is time for the annual ASHA Schools Conference. This year, it will be held in Las Vegas at the Mirage Hotel and Casino, July 16-18. Thursday July 15^th will open up the conference with registration and 6 minute speed-networking in the evening.

School systems across the country are calling for special education and related services that are effective and cost efficient. What is one change you would recommend in the way that services are delivered within the school setting that would cause them to be more effective or more cost efficient?

The end of the year is finally here. It’s time to start saying goodbyes to students for the long 2 month hiatus. It’s also time to start packing up boxes of therapy materials and preparing the therapy room for your departure. It’s always a bittersweet and exciting time. As you leave your schools, there is just so much to accomplish.

Summer is quickly approaching. My school district’s last day of school is June 25. Some students participate in an extended school year summer program, but not all parents choose to send their child to “summer school.” Here are some ideas to get you started on crafting some summer home programs for your students.

The end of the school year signals a time to Reflect and Celebrate. Please submit a brief statement about one of your major SUCCESSES this year.

I just finished reading Malcolm Gladwell’s book Blink. It’s a book about snap judgments, rapid cognition, and thin-slicing. Read it. It’s pretty good. I write all of that to say that it’s not a book on leadership per se, but in one chapter he refers to an Army General giving a lesson about leadership.

April was an exhausting month. It was both OT awareness month and Autism awareness month. That's a lot of awareness for 30 days! Oh and don't forget the beginning of the IEP marathon to the end of the year.

This month I decided to utilize my students as advocates for OT and OT month. After a discussion about OT, I went through what each student was working on.

The warm weather is here! Make therapy fun and “think outside the house or classroom”.   Kids love to explore and what’s more exciting than the outside world?  As therapists we have “carryover” instilled in our minds. Outside and community based activities are natural ways to facilitate speech and language, incorporate movement and sensory experiences and overall cognitive, cultural and social development.

Recently, a new speech pathologist joined our school district. When we met, she was very excited because she explained that she loves to do co-treatments with PT. She wanted to know if we had any shared students that might be appropriate candidates for co-treatments. As it turned out, none of our shared students ended up being appropriate for collaborative sessions, but her comment inspired me.

May is Better Speech and Hearing Month. I take great pride in this month because it highlights the various communication disabilities that SLPs strive hard to make better for those impacted by them. Communication impairments afflict everyone from the young to the old. And, I find that even though I have worked in the schools for over a decade, there is still a significant deficit in the amount of knowledge out there amongst teachers, parents and students themselves.

March is over. Which means that school is 3/4th's of the way complete AND that it is now April. April is OT month! I feel like every year I want to do something to help make the teachers and professionals more aware of what OT is and what an OT's in the schools do. I have decided this year to go about it a little differently. I am going to try to create a handout for teachers and professionals with regards to OT and what they encounter everyday-desk height, typing on the computer, healthy habits, and where appropriate include information regarding students and OT.

Just about this time of year, I begin to feel like I need some rejuvenation in my therapy sessions. One of the most fun ways to achieve this is through a toy shopping spree. On my spring vacation I did a scouting expedition with my mom, who is a speech-language pathologist in Northern California. We found some really fun toys to share!

As a therapist in the schools, it’s inevitable that you will encounter students afflicted by Autism.  It’s a disability that we are all too familiar with on a daily basis.  April is Autism Awareness month. Some interesting facts about Autism as stated by autismspeaks.org:

Through the New Leader's program we all were tasked with creating a career focus plan. One of the biggest benefits of this exercise was the requirement that we put our plans in writing for review by Dr. Blosser and other key leaders; in other words, accountability. When I wrote my plan, I selected tangible goals such as attending key workshops & trainings followed up by incorporating the teachings into my school based practice.

When asked by others, “Are you crafty?” my answer to this question is a big fat “NO!” And as a result of this, the school year is nearly three fourths complete and I find myself recycling art activities to go with my language and speech lessons from years past. Frustrated and tired of doing the same old crafts year in and year out, I decided to start doing some research.  By just consulting the web and doing a search, I have found a plethora of websites dedicated solely to kids crafts.

I can’t believe February is already over! Right before Winter Break I was so stressed out! So, I had decided in December to try something new with my kids come the first of the year. I made these cool signs. One said “Look what I can do…” and then there are 2 skills on each of the other posters (supine flexion/prone extension; jumping jacks/ski jumps; table/crab; sit ups/push ups; jump rope/juggling).