Reading and understanding social context is key to good pragmatic skills

Reading and understanding social context is key to good pragmatic skills...

Nov 27, 2015 by Teresa Sadowski MA CCC-SLP

Today I am publishing a retread article I first wrote for examiner.com back in 2012. I thought about this article after presenting a paraprofessional training last week. The attendees asked if I could give them some specific examples of pragmatic difficulities in more typical students. While I was able to provide examples, my response wasn’t as organized as I would have liked. I think I will be sharing this article (or improving on the article) next time I present to paraprofessional or parents. As always suggestions and comments welcomed. Teresa Reading and understanding social context is key to good pragmatic skills When kids are taught “context” most classroom teachers are usually referring to the context of a story. Students, especially the ones who have non verbal learning disabilities, aspergers or even just lack social...

7th grade and the SLP

Aug 27, 2015 by Teresa Sadowski MA CCC-SLP

Yesterday I received a question that had to do with transition to 7th grade “I find it difficult to transition students from 6th grade to middle school, meaning targeting appropriate goals/etc. What are the areas you find critical to this age? Do you have a screening tool you give to your students? What are the main areas you look at to gauge success in junior high/middle school?” First lets talk briefly about 7th grade. 7th grade, no matter what middle school model your school has, is a significant bump up in academics, expectations, higher order language (understanding and usage, texts, adult usage, peers……) and higher order thinking. 7th grade is the year the speech and language students dismissed from therapy a couple of years ago will end up back on your radar. The reason...

The Glory of Multiple Meaning Words…….Run or Run or Run...

Aug 11, 2012 by Teresa Sadowski MA CCC-SLP

Understanding multiple meaning words is one of the first higher order language tasks that most children acquire naturally through reading and basic instruction. Younger children will also pick up dual meanings through kid type songs, jokes and phrases. For those students who demonstrate even slight language delays or impairments, understanding multiple meanings can be challenging. Without awareness and understanding of multiple meaning words, students may experience decreased comprehension, misunderstandings and the biggest problem of all ….they have difficulty understanding humor and slang. Basically these kids won’t “get it.” So how do you teach the concept of multiple meanings? First the students have to learn that multiple meanings exist. The best way to start is with simple words. My all time favorite word is “run.” According to dictionary.com there are over 150 meanings for the...

The School Speech Therapist

Jan 26, 2012 by Teresa Sadowski MA CCC-SLP

Welcome to The School Speech Therapist. If you don’t find what you are looking for please ask. Enjoy Teresa...