Let's Talk...Vacation! Linky

This summer is just all about linky parties! Kim over at Activity Tailor is inviting everyone to link up and talk about their summer vacation, and I'll be doing just that!

I've actually had quite a bit going on this summer...

Check out everyone else's posts here!

First, I graduated... Yay! I now officially have a BA (Honors) in Comm. Science and Disorders! I received Honors (the real title is 'Bachelor of Philosophy', or a B.Phil, modeled after the Ph.D) because I did an undergraduate research project & thesis and did the whole she-bang of writing it (50+ pages) and defending it in front of a committee. Now, onto my Master's in the fall! We'll see if I do a Master's thesis! 

graduation! 

Then, I hung around my university until the end of May so that I could work in the research lab and go to my first conference! The conference was for the Acoustical Society of America, which encompasses any type of acoustics you can think of-- speech and auditory acoustics, underwater acoustics, architectural acoustics... there was even a presentation on the acoustics of roasting the perfect cup of coffee. Say what?! 

It was interesting seeing all the different talks on these various topics, although I mostly hung around those that related to speech and hearing. There were also several poster sessions, and the post-doc in our research lab was in one, so I stopped by to see how he was doing.

Over all, it was a great experience... so now I can't wait until ASHA this fall. It'll be my first time there!

My delegate and I! 

And why will I be there? Well, I'm now the 'Regional Councilor' for Region 1 in National NSSLHA! In late June I had my orientation at ASHA's headquarters and got to meet all the other incoming regional councilors and delegates. It was a great experience and I learned a lot about NSSLHA and leadership! So, my delegate and I are now extremely excited to get the ball rolling on activities and other things for our region (PA, CT, NH, VT, MA, ME, RI, Quebec and Nova Scotia.)... And one of the perks about being on National NSSLHA's Executive Council is that I get to attend the ASHA convention and help run NSSLHA Day! So I'll be seeing you guys there!

Since then things have calmed down a little bit... I'm now visiting my boyfriend who lives in Spain. I'm here until next Thursday. After that we'll both be traveling back to the US so he can visit for a month. (He's leaving two days before I begin my Master's program!) So far we've had several BBQs with his friends, gone to the beach, went to some town festivals and visited Bilbao and Durango (both in northern Spain, where he lives.)... Soon we'll visit his aunt and uncle who live near Burgos, and we might even visit Segovia where there are some Roman aqueducts!

What've you all been up to this summer? Will you be at ASHA this fall??

Summer Time Therapy Activities Linky!

Check out the Link-up here!

What are two of my favorite things? Summer and linky parties! So, as you can probably tell, I'm excited to join Simply Speech for her summer-themed linky! Although I am not yet a licensed SLP (I'll be beginning grad school this fall), I babysit and work in a daycare, so I'm constantly working with children and trying to find a fun way to (secretly) build their speech and language skills in the process. These are some activities I've done with kids that I think would also be good for speech therapy! As you'll soon see, I love keeping kids active and away from screens, so here are a few hands-on type of activities that I like to do:

image source

- Bubbles- There's a good reason that everyone loves bubbles! First, now that it's summer, you can play with them outside and not worry about a sticky floor. More importantly, they are inexpensive and can entertain kids for a long period of time. In fact, I was able to entertain 4 kids for 40 minutes with bubbles one day! You can use the small bottles, or use the larger wands that come in different sizes depending on what you want to target. They're good for teaching directions. descriptor words, and even breathing control!

Image Source: Flickr (cc) Bugga Bugs

- Pretend Camping- This can be done indoors or outdoors depending on the weather. Children can practice directions by making a tent and making "s'mores"with the real ingredients not heated up or with toys. You can even add in sight words or articulation practice by writing phonemes or words on paper and taping it to the bottom of the toys. Then, just have the child put the sounds or sight words together as he/she builds the s'more. Another fun camping-themed activity is campfire songs! These can target voice issues (like talking to quietly or too loud), articulation or turn-taking.

Image Source: Flickr (cc) Tom

- Parachute- If you have a group, then a parachute might be great for therapy. Each color can correlate to a specific task that the child has to complete. So, say you have two children working on articulation and another working on using adjectives, then red can mean 'say X phoneme or descriptor word in 5 words', while green is 'describe two things in the room with your phoneme or descriptor words'. It's a simple way to combine everyone's goals while working on social skills.


Click here to see what other's favorite summer speech activities are!