Welcome to another “Real Speech Room”. This time we are featuring a guest post by Christina Cook, M.A., CCC-SLP of Quiet Corner Speech & Language LLC in Woodstock, CT.
This room just looks like so much fun doesn’t it?!
Christina says…
“My clinic is the only private practice speech therapy clinic in the area! Although I have been in private practice since 2012, I only opened the doors to my clinic in July 2013 (having previously done home visits). It has been a dream of mine to open my own clinic for several years now, and it is exciting to have finally achieved that dream and be able to conduct therapy sessions as I see fit, to best meet the needs of my private patients!
Although I market myself as working with children and adolescents from birth to age 14, the majority of my private patients are age 5 and under. I work mostly with language (i.e., functional communication), and many of my patients have a diagnosis such as autism or cerebral palsy. Their parents often come to me to supplement the services that their child is receiving at school. I use a family-centered approach and involve the parents directly in their child’s therapy.
My therapy space is divided into different sections which can be used to target a variety of skills.
In the “kitchen area,” I have a large play kitchen, pots and pans, cups and plates, and a variety of utensils. I have play food representing the main food groups, as well as wooden food that can be “cut” to practice functional skills. There is also a table at which the children can sit and “eat,” or serve food to me or their parent. Here we can learn and practice using important food-related vocabulary, as well as social skills. Role playing can be used to teach social routines.
Pretend play is fun when we use the doll house or the toy castle! We can act out different scenarios, practice turn taking, and learn vocabulary related to our families and even different objects found in the home!
At the “home” station, we can practice greetings and learn how mailboxes work! Peek-a-boo is brought to a whole new level when we can peek out of doors and windows, and even through the cat door!
We can practice taking care of the “baby” panda bear and use social language to put the baby to bed, wake her up, and even feed her a bottle! We can role play and use language to tell what baby needs (“I’m tired, I want to take a nap”), and we can practice following simple directions and learning verbs in context.
Rocking on the rocking horses is not only fun, but a great way to learn how to request permission, request more, and appropriately end an activity. Children are encouraged to use and imitate vocalizations when we neigh like horses!
Lego blocks….well, those are self-explanatory!
At my clinic, I don’t mind messes…
…children have an entire chalkboard wall where they can draw and create their own works of art! This is great for giving and following directions, describing, asking and answering questions, and encouraging motor imitation with props.
At the fine motor table, we complete puzzles, lace beads, and play with shape sorters and stackers. We practice asking for more, imitating animal sounds, sequencing, and a whole variety of other skills!
At the toy work bench, we can practice fine motor skills, sequencing, following directions, hand-eye coordination, requesting, and so much more! Who doesn’t love building?
On the indoor playscape, kids learn how to request turns, ask for more, imitate sounds (“wheee!”), play peek-a-boo through the peep holes, complete familiar phrases (“ready, set, ___”), and even learn positional concepts as we crawl through the tunnel under the bridge, walk on the bridge, and more!
You can find out more about Christina here on her website or follow her on Facebook or Pinterest.
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