Difficulty with the Curriculum When we think about academic difficulty for students, we often think of the curriculum or the subject matter (e.g. math, social studies, science, English, etc.), which can be remediated with tutoring. However, what most people don’t know, is that there is a lot more that impacts a child’s academic success than […]
Parkinson Disease Parkinson disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease that deteriorates parts of the brain over time because of a loss of dopamine (Suchowersky et al., 2006). Parkinson disease impacts a variety of motor movements including those necessary for speech (e.g. tongue, lips, or jaw movement), swallowing, and limb movements including legs and arms can […]
When we hear and understand speech, our auditory system has to perform a rather complex task of recognizing and interpreting sound. The process of recognizing and interpreting sound or speech involves the entire auditory pathway from the ear itself on through the brainstem and finally up to the temporal area of our brain. Auditory Processing […]
Parents and families are key to helping children develop speech and language skills. Children learn a large portion of what they know through indirect teaching (e.g. watching their parents or people in their environment), so it is important to consciously focus on the way you interact with your child. Consider some of the following techniques […]
Our voice is produced when our two vocal cords, located in our voice box or larynx, vibrate together. This vibration happens when air comes up through our vocal cords and produces sound. If one or both of the cords are not working properly, you will experience a voice problem. To help minimize vocal chord irritants, […]
Communicating with older adults can often be difficult due to the physical, psychological, and social changes associated with aging; however, this difficulty also occurs when communicating with an adult with a speech or language disorder. Some great rules of thumb when communicating include: reducing background noises and distractions such as the radio, the television, or […]
“My son is in grade three and is having difficulty in school with reading, spelling and math. His teacher suggested we have him tested for APD? Is this a good idea?” Auditory Processing Disorders can significantly affect a child’s listening, communicating and learning. Research has shown that APD can in some cases, can be the […]
Children with auditory processing disorders (APD) display a number of symptoms. Geffner (2013) provides a summary list of 16 behaviors that are considered red flags for APD in children. Not all children with APD will display the same types of behaviors, but this list gives a good indication of what APD can look like in […]
We live in a pretty noisy world; we are surrounded by the noise of cars, transport trucks, loud music, construction noise, and machinery noise, recreational noise from motorcycles, snowmobiles, chainsaws, power tools and the list goes on. By now most of us know that repeated exposure to certain volumes of sound can damage our hearing. […]
If you hear ringing or other sounds in your ears or head after listening to your I-pod, it’s likely an indication that the listening volume is too high and you may be damaging your hearing. Tinnitus is the term used to describe sounds that someone hears in their ears or head that do not come […]
