Speech with Lisa

Music has a unique way of carrying history straight to the heart. As we approach a massive milestone in our nation's story—the 250th anniversary of the United States—I found myself reflecting on the incredible journey that brought us here. That reflection turned into inspiration, and today, I am thrilled to share my latest original song: "A Nation Proud and Strong." This piece is a musical journey through the defining moments of America's birth, honoring the profound sacrifices of the early patriots and the careful, deliberate debates that shaped our Constitution. It is a tribute to our past, but it is also an invitation for all of us today to keep giving our best to build a bright future. 🎶 The Story Behind the Lyrics When writing this song, I wanted the lyrics to be both accessible and meaningful, making it easy for young minds to connect with deep historical concepts like the three branches of government and the concept of a "quarter of a millennium." He...

 We live in a world that moves incredibly fast. Between managing our busy schedules, keeping up with daily responsibilities, and navigating the constant stream of news on our screens, it’s easy to feel a little disconnected from the bigger picture. We often look for ways to anchor ourselves back to what really matters: connection, unity, and a shared sense of purpose. Lately, I’ve been channeling these reflections into a creative project. I sat down and wrote a short, simple patriotic song called "Land of Liberty." While it’s a brief piece, music has a beautiful way of taking big, complex ideas and turning them into heartfelt truths we can all relate to. More Than Just a Symbol When we look at our flag, we see a symbol of our history and a representation of our country. But symbols are only as strong as the people who stand beneath them. The true strength of any neighborhood, town, or nation isn't found in a piece of fabric—it’s found in our daily choice to show up for on...

  🧠 New Research Alert for Medical SLPs and ICU Teams 🗣️ If you work with recently extubated patients, the Yale Swallow Protocol might display suboptimal sensitivity and specificity for detecting aspiration. This recent study by Marvin, Thibeault, and Ehlenbach explores the sensitivity and specificity of the protocol in identifying aspiration risk right after extubation—critical information for speech-language pathologists and interdisciplinary care teams. 📌 Key takeaways: ✅ Efficient, bedside-friendly protocol ✅ Strong performance in high-risk patients ✅ Supports safer decision-making post-extubation A valuable read for anyone supporting medically complex populations or refining their dysphagia screening procedures. #MedicalSLP #DysphagiaManagement #ICUCare #YaleSwallowProtocol #SpeechLanguagePathology #InterdisciplinaryCare #EvidenceBasedPractice #SLPResearch -post generated with assistance from AI-

  🌟 Helping Kids Find Their Voice 🌟 This week, I read a little about working with children who stutter and how they often feel anxious about speaking—especially when called on in class. Simple but powerful ideas from cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) to help! Instead of just avoiding the scary speaking moments, we gently explored the thoughts behind the anxiety—like “Everyone will laugh at me” or “I’ll mess up and sound weird.” Together, we practice replacing those thoughts with more helpful ones: ✨ “Everyone messes up sometimes, and that’s okay.” ✨ “I can take my time—I’m doing something brave.” We pair that with small, safe speaking challenges to help build confidence step by step. The best part? By the end of the session, the child can say, “I’m proud of myself. I didn’t hide.” Speech therapy is about so much more than sounds—it’s about courage, growth, and helping kids believe in their ability to communicate with the world. 💬 Have you ever tried challenging your anxio...

#theuglyduckling #hanschristianandersen

Write a song or two for Christmas! That's what I'm doing. Here's a little tune to brighten your holiday. #merrychristmas2023🌲⛄❄️🦌

I couldn't find a freely available song for kids with easy guitar chords and Tier 2 vocabulary for Halloween, so I wrote one!  Check out the video and enjoy with your littles if you like. #eeriehalloween #singersongwriter

#children'slit #isurvived

It's disability pride awareness month! Celebrate by reading one of the books suggested by the New York Public Library. I am reading Paperboy by Vince Vawter about a boy who stutters. I love the book, and I identify with the story of a boy who is misunderstood because of his disability. Prayers for everyone who has a disability and may have been misunderstood or mischaracterized because of it, and prayers for all those who work with people who have disabilities. If you would like to advocate for having a disability specialist in your church congregation so that more people can be included in your gospel activities, check out the following: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/callings/disability-specialist?lang=eng. I personally believe that having ward and stake disabilities specialists would result in exponential growth of wards and stakes since up to one in four adults in the United States have some type of disability. https://www.nypl.org/blog/2022/07/01/celebrating-disa...

#childrenslit #summer

  Jim Trelease has written a great book called The Read-Aloud Handbook .  He published the seventh edition in 2013, and an eighth edition titled Jim Trelease's Read-Aloud Handbook  was published in 2019.  In the seventh edition, Jim Trelease tells the story of a boy from Russell, Kentucky, a town with a population of 3645, who scored a perfect 36 on the ACT.  People wanted to know what prep course he had taken.  The prep course consisted of the parents reading to their children for 30 minutes a night, event after their sons had learned to read.  This reading aloud experience translated into a love of books, and the home was full of books.   Jim Trelease also talks about an admissions director from Amherst College who says he's never met a student with a high verbal SAT score who wasn't a passionate reader, and nearly all of those students recall being read to.   Jim Trelease points to these numbers:  Children spend 900 hours a ...

#childhoodapraxiaofspeech #apraxia

March 2 marked the birthday of Dr. Seuss.  Experts including the faculty of Peabody College at Vanderbilt University talk about the value of Theodore Geisel's books for children.  They talk about how children need to learn to manipulate sounds and have rich experiences with words and language.  The rhymes, rhythms, and made up words in Dr. Seuss books help stimulate something called phonological awareness, which is an important pre-reading skill.   Ann Nealy of Peabody talks about the cleverness behind the made-up words in Dr. Seuss books and Jeanne Wanzek of Peabody talks about how the stories involve problem-solving and critical thinking. Check out these websites for more information: https://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/departments/sped/news/dr_seuss_new_book.php https://www.best-books-for-kids.com/reading-dr-seuss.html#:~:text=Reading%20aloud%20helps%20children%20develop,books%20aloud%20is%20especially%20good.  

This photo is from @pricklypearpediatrictherapy.  Did you know that apraxia of speech may affect as many as one to ten children out of every 1,000?  These children may have difficulty coordinating the movements of the mouth and tongue and may only have a few consonants and vowels in their repertoire.   They may have inconsistent errors in their speech and speak slowly, and they may have voicing errors, vowel errors, and stress pattern errors.  Children with CAS may benefit from early identification and motor approaches such as short, frequent, intense practice sessions.  Motor approaches can also be complemented by linguistic approaches that help children internalize phonological rules.  Sometimes sign language or an electronic communication device can be used when intelligibility is low.  

I made a little video about some benefits of bilingualism.  Watch to found out more... What languages are you learning?  This week I am brushing up on my Spanish and my ASL.  #bilingualism #languagelearning

Some benefits of bilingualism from @latina.speechie.  Thank you! And from NPR, https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/11/29/497943749/6-potential-brain-benefits-of-bilingual-education: Did you know that students in a dual-languge classroom outperformed peers in English reading by a full year?  Learning a second language can even help protect against dementia.   #secondlanguagelearning #bilingualism