NEW: Free APP from TOCA BOCA - Toca Kitchen Monsters - this is the "lite" version of Toca Kitchen. Try it for FREE first and if your child likes it, you can purchase the full version for $1.99. This is an interactive app with sound activated sequences, e.g. cooking, cutting, blending, boiling water, microwave. Two monsters make funny noises when they are eating - and when they don't like a food. Check out newly added resources at www.preschoolspeechsource.com.

Interesting read from Pam Marshalla - The Oral Institute - "Van Riper and other developers of traditional articulation therapy regularly used a wide variety of tools/objects in articulation therapy when teaching dissociation, grading, direction, and positioning of the articulators for phonetic placement. Tools/objects were used when other auditory, linguistic, and cognitive means failed to stimulate correct phoneme productions. To call these activities "non-speech" methods seems to misrepresent the historic purpose objects have served in articulation therapy. Student clinicians need to be taught how tools/objects were used in phonetic placement, and professionals need to consider how these methods might help their clients with oral sensory-motor delay/dysfunction. More empirical research is required in this area. "
Pam has provided a summary of 86 objects that have been used for oral motor activities and she explains the stated purpose.
I have found pairing oral motor with sound production has been a successful strategy to help children develop the muscle memory to produce sounds - for example alternate blowing a horn, recorder,harmonica,etc.. then producing B, P, making a tissue move when whispering "puh", blowing through a straw and making a feather move. Check out the Flip Book from Super Duper. Each page has 3 flips of pictures to practice simple CV combos and is considered a staple in our program. Blowing bubbles (which encourage lip pursing and proper breath control) alternating with production of SH, CH, J sound has provided success for our children as well .

Just received this info from Advanced Brain Technology
The Auditory Brain - July 3rd

Sound Brain Fitness Series

These monthly, 60 minute teleseminars cover wide ranging topics intended to help people transform their lives through a better understanding of sound, music, and the brain. Alex frequently invites industry experts to join him as his special guest and reserves time for Q&A.

Next: The Auditory Brain

Guest: Seth S. Horowitz, Ph.D

Host: Alex Doman

Date/Time: July 3, 2012, 8pm ET (1am GMT)

• Description
• In evolutionary terms, hearing is a universal sense - there are no normally deaf vertebrates. It is highly adaptive to hear because sound lets you usefully detect what is going on at great distances even out of line of sight.
• Hearing is a mechanical sense - it has the fewest processes between the sensation and the perception.
• Hearing is the fastest sense; understanding it gives you a sense of the math behind the mind.

More

Register for this teleseminar

Free preschool e-book apps

Smart Apps for Kids - has the following carefully chosen FREE Apps listed on their site. Just because an app is free doesn't mean it's good. I have reviewed 100's of free apps and am selective in the apps I recommend.

Open Wide Snap - By kid-e story books - about a crocodile who needs his teeth cleaned - this story can easily be modified for a child who needs a simpler story line. Select "Read It Myself" - the word "SNAP" is voice activated on every page when you press the "Next" arrow. Reader has an English accent. It is a redundant-predictable story. It's very cute! This is a great tie-in with the book "Five Little Monkeys Sitting In a Tree and "The Wide Mouth Frog."

Hide, Run Growl - By kid-e story books - Mommy's paw is too sore, so mommy can't hunt today. The little tiger cub hunts for mommy and goes on an adventure. Each page "Growls" when you press the "Next" arrow. Read by same reader as above and can also be modified for a child who needs a simpler story line.

6 Favorite Apps from Duck Duck Moose

Duck Duck Moose - NEW: Trucks - First thing I did was turn off the music on the front screen. This is an interactive app is embedded with a variety of sounds and movements within 5 venues - car wash, dump truck, tow truck, garbage truck and car parade. In car parade the traffic light works - car stops with red light, car moves slower with yellow light and car stops with red light. Many opportunities to follow directions,encourage expansion of MLU, target vocabulary such as action words, attributes, location, etc. My favorite apps from Duck Duck Moose are the interactive songs - I usually turn on the music , but there is an option to record the story yourself. I have used them for working on cause & effect with pre-verbal children, sequencing, following directions, sound imitation:   Video posted at www.preschoolspeechsource.com
Wheel on Bus - Great for labial sounds b, m, p, labeling objects & actions $.99
Old MacDonald - Sound association, label animals and actions $1.99
Itsy Bitsy Spider - Great for s sound $1.99
Baa Baa Black Sheet - Great for labial sounds $1.99

Draw & Tell - Think out of the box with this app - very useful for working on multi-step directions. You color sheets or create your own design. You can work on directions while coloring and increase level of difficulty by using the "Stickers." There are a variety of stickers to choose from. So, for example there is a picture with 2 cows and a barn. You can move 3 stickers to the bottom of the
screen and tell the child to "Put the cat on the black cow, the dog next to the barn. You can save your pictures for the next session and alter the activity (reducing or adding directions) as needed. $1.99

Maverick Software - "More Grillin" App and More!

Maverick Software is a name to remember. Their apps are only .99 (except for More buffet) and they are all related to food topics. They are similar to the Shoe the Goose apps (e.g. cookie doodle) with an added attraction of sound activation. Click on link to take you to the App Store or type name in App Store located at the top left of this screen. I personally purchased "More Grillin" which is perfect to use this time of year. You grill all different types of food on the grill (as it makes a sizzling and flipping sound) , add bread, sauce, toppings, side dishes and dessert. I really like this app for sequencing following directions and MLU (especially agent + action + object, e.g. I'm eating hamburger.) It gives you instructions as you go from one step to the next. First you choose the food you want to grill by tapping on the picture at the top of the screen and then tapping on the grill. You tap the word "cook" and it sizzles. There is an actual flame on the grill. You then can flip the food and then add food to your plate by tapping food from the top of the screen and then tapping plate. You can then add sauce,toppings, a side dish and dessert. This app was a real hit with the preschoolers. This may be a nice app to use with children who are picky eaters as well. Here is a list of other $.99 cents apps for the iphone an ipad, and links offered by Maverick Software:
More Donuts, Cupcakes, More Breakfast, More Pie, More Toast, More Sundaes, More Cookies, More Popcorn, Snackerdoodle, More Salad, More Pizza,

More buffet (1.99....250 foods from 19 countries )
If you decide to purchase any of these apps, be cautious of the company, Sunstorm Interactive - they have similar titles and offer products for free. The screen is difficult to read, there are numerous ads, pictures are poor quality, and there is not much for free.

I just added more time saving forms I've used for years when working with language delayed children. They can be found in Ricki's Printable Forms at www.preschoolsource.com:  First vocabulary, First Functional Vocabulary (based on Bloom & Lahey) , Question Hierarchy  and Be Good Speech Model.

New Resources Added

New Articulation resources are posted in the Resources Section - you can download free pictures for every sound.  
Kidssoup has been added to the Resource section under themes. Subscription is only $26.99 a year and well worth it.  Many of our therapists use this site.    Save time and money.Get instant online access to more than 5,700 theme-based preschool and kindergarten teaching resources and crafts.Covers all the topics and themes you want to teach throughout the year.  Store and organize your favorite resources in your own filing cabinet in your Resource Box.

Welcome Everyone!