{Review} Superflex Superdecks

I am a HUGE fan of Social Thinking products and this next one doesn't disappoint!  Check out... Superflex Superdecks!!

This product, intended for children ages 8-11, helps students to become more flexible social thinkers by further practicing skills that they have learned.  Included in this material are:

- Information and general instructions booklet
- 4 copies of Unthinkables and Thinkables reference cards
- 4 copies of the five-step power plan
- 1 Unthinkables card deck
- 1 Thinkables card deck
- 1 Situation card deck
- 1 Strategy card deck

The information and general instructions booklet has you covered.  This book takes just a few minutes to read and will have you all set to get started with the decks.

The Unthinkables and Thinkables reference cards offer a quick review and description of the characters in the program.  The cards can also be used with the card deck games.

The five step power plan also offers a review of the steps to follow when facing a difficult social situation.  Thank goodness for the power pals!!

Here is a look at the card decks:

The Unthinkable and Thinkable card decks can be used as a match up game.  The goal of this game is to determine which Unthinkable is "put to rest" by the Thinkable.  (The back of the Thinkable and Unthinkable reference cards includes the answers.)

The situation card deck includes various situations in which Unthinkables are found.  The goal of this game is to determine which Unthinkables are at work in the given situation.  (Possible answers are included on the back of the reference card.)  Examples of situation cards include:

* "You fidget and lean back in your chair even though your teacher has asked you to sit in your chair the right way."
* "When your mom asks you to help put away the dishes, you don't say anything.  You just keep watching your favorite TV show."
* "You get upset and yell at your classmate because he wants to sit in the green chair - because YOU want to sit in the green chair!"

The strategy card deck includes various strategies that can be used when the Unthinkables are up to their usual high jinks.  The goal of this game is for children to think about which Unthinkable could be defeated using the strategy on the card.   (Possible answers are included on the back of the reference card.)  Examples of strategy cards include:

* "Notice where your group is so you know where to put your body to be part of the group."

* "Ask yourself, "How will they feel if I say this?"  If they would be hurt or mad, keep it in your brain."

* "Ask yourself, "Is my comment connected in some way to what the group is talking about?""

What I love about this product:
- The Superflex program, in general, is so creative and so engaging for adults and children alike.
- This one material offers at least four different games/ways to use the product.  (There are also many other ways that these cards could be used as well!)
- My favorite card deck is the situation card deck.  I find that practicing communication skills before using them out in the "real world" is so beneficial for children.  They can role play and get feedback about their interactions.

This FANTASTIC social skill product can be found for $40.00 HERE!


Disclaimer: This item was given to me for review.  No other compensation was provided.  The opinions expressed here are solely my own.

{Review} SpeechPage Products

SpeechPage products are some of my favorites!!  They are extremely durable and provide great, colorful visuals to assist students in improving their speech and language skills.  (And for any organization junkies out there, SpeechPage products come in easy to store bags, have hole punches, and/or are bound by a ring so there's no risk of losing pages or parts of the activity!)  Today, I will be sharing products with you to target wh-questions, opposites, and articulation.

Interactive Wh-Questions ALL 6 WH COMBO! 3A3B is an awesome new resource from SpeechPage.  This material covers who, what, where, when, why, and how questions.

Each card includes 15 different questions (for a total of 90 questions) and has picture cues for both the question and the answer for maximum visual support with this skill.  I LOVE this resource and will definitely be getting a lot of use out of it!  Although it can be used for drilling practice, the activity is much more fun when colorful pictures and velcro are involved!  This material is usually $39.99, but is currently on sale for $34.99!!

Here is a closer look at one of the questions.  (Q: "What do we put into a washing machine?" A: "Dirty laundry.")

The next product, Interactive Opposites 5A, is simple, yet extremely useful and includes various levels so that it can be used with students as their skills change.  This activity includes fifty different antonyms in five different pages: two introductory level pages, two middle level pages, and one high level page.  All of the words/concepts on the page include opposite words on the top that have been velcro-ed to their antonym. This activity makes boring drilling way more fun and interactive!  This material is usually $32.99, but is currently on sale for $27.99!!

Last, but not least, is 48 Illustrated S or R Tongue Twisters 6A!  This is a great way to work on articulation - especially carryover of targeted sounds.  The material includes short tongue twister phrases that can easily be mastered, instead of long sentences.  This activity includes:

- 1 /r/ target page
- 1 /s/ target page
- 1 /s/ vs. "th" target page
- 1 /r/ vs. /w/ target page
- 1 /s/, /l/, /r/ target page
- 1 /s/ blends /r/ page

One of my favorite aspects of this item is the opportunity for data collecting.  The right side of each picture includes the numbers 1-3 and 1-10.  Just grab a dry erase marker and chart, or let the student chart, correct vs. incorrect productions!  The material includes cute and colorful pictures that illustrate each tongue twister for added fun!  This item is currently $15.97!

As always, SpeechPage does a great job of creating materials that are fun, easy to use, and will definitely stand the wear and tear of everyday use!  All three of these products are sure to make daily appearances in my therapy room and perhaps yours as well!


Disclaimer:  These items were given to me for review.  No other compensation was provided.  The opinions expressed here are solely my own.

{Giveaway} "Seasonal Speech and Language Homework: Spring"

I'm so excited about my newest TpT product, which is why I've decided to do a giveaway!  Introducing... "Seasonal Speech and Language Homework: Spring"!!!  Check it out and then enter the rafflecopter giveaway below!!

Homework targets include:
* articulation
* vocabulary
* context clues/definitions
* wh-questions
* synonyms/antonyms
* multiple meaning words
* sentence structure
* attributes
* grammar (subjective pronouns, objective pronouns, possessive nouns, irregular past tense verbs, irregular plural nouns)
* problem solving
* perspective taking
* idioms
* similes
* metaphors
* functions
* categories
* main ideas/details
* inferences
* conjunctions

Themes include:
- Earth Day
- Mother's Day
- Cinco de Mayo
- St. Patrick's Day
- Easter
- March Madness
- Baseball
- Gardening
- Bugs
- Miscellaneous Spring Activities

Here are some sample pages!

 Articulation

 Articulation

Articulation 

You can get this 95 page material to simplify your therapy life HERE!!!

You can also enter the giveaway below for a chance to win a {free} copy!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

{Review} Stars in Her Eyes

One of my favorite aspects about the field of speech-language pathology is that it is a career in which an SLP never stops learning.  When I was asked to review Stars in Her Eyes, I never knew just how much I would learn about an area that I felt I knew a good deal about already!  This book doesn't just present facts about autism, it brings personal stories to the forefront and gives the reader a different perspective than they likely have ever had before when working with children with autism.

Dr. Linda Barboa brings together thoughts, experiences, and advice from speech pathologists, teachers, and parents of children with autism in a book that highlights the following areas:

* the basics (diagnostic process, demographics, causes, prognosis)
* red flags (communication, sensory issues, social skills)
* knowing your team members (educational professionals, medical professionals, community, the parents' role)
* interventions (behavioral interventions, programs based on learning theories, biomedical interventions)
* schools (choosing a school, programming)
* resources (knowing your rights, respite care, camps, funding)
* home life (self-care, disruptive behaviors, family life, relationships)

What I love most about this book is its structure and the advice from those who have spent so much of their time working with children with autism.  Topics begin with information from Dr. Barboa.  This ranges from general information to personal experiences.  Then, each of the contributing authors add their own experiences and advice in a perfect collaboration.  It feels more like a conversation than a typical book, yet the insight from the authors is invaluable for other parents, teachers, therapists, and anyone who works with a child with autism.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone working with a child with autism for interesting insight and advice.

To find out more about this book, please visit the Tate Publishing website.


Disclaimer:  This item was given to me for review.  No other compensation was provided.  The opinions expressed here are solely my own.

{Review} Minimal Pairs Academy

I'm excited to share yet another comprehensive, go-to app with you from Smarty Ears, called Minimal Pairs Academy!  This app is designed to help children with phonological sound disorders improve their speech sound production skills.  Both listening and discrimination abilities are addressed in this app that uses targets at the word and phrase levels.

First, you can adjust the settings if needed to customize the app for the student(s) that you are using it with.

Add individual players as you'd like.  This app can be used with up to four players at one time.

Next, select the goals that each student will be working on.  Examples of target areas include:

- cluster reduction (/l/, /r/, /s/)
- deaffrication
- final consonant deletion (broken up into various sounds)
- final devoicing
- fronting
- gliding
- initial consonant deletion
- prevocalic voicing
- stopping (broken up into various sounds)

Here, I've selected velar fronting to be the target.

There are four different ways that a student can work on their goal area.  First, is auditory bombardment where a student listens to a word and finds the picture to match the word.

Next, is auditory discrimination, where a student must choose the picture to match a verbally stated word that highlights the difference between the minimal pair productions.

Then, there is production practice where the child must say the targeted word.  The minimal pair appears on the other card, but if the student produces the targeted word correctly, then there is no need to discuss the other flashcard.

Finally, phrase completion allows a student to pick between two words to complete the phrase.

One of my favorite parts of this app is the detailed data collection.  For each task, the app tracks the following:

- process targeted
- correct answers with and without cues
- session length
- number of participants
- overall accuracy
- task type

Talk about detailed data collection!!

What I love about this app:
- The data collection is my favorite part of this app.  I love that I can focus on giving my undivided attention to the student(s), instead of also trying to collect data at the same time.
- With 25 different phonological sound disorder target areas, this is an extremely comprehensive app that targets a wide range of speech sound errors.
- With four different tasks to target errors, this app can be used with students with varying skill levels.

You can find this fantastic app to target phonological sound disorders for $19.99 HERE!  OR... You can enter the rafflecopter giveaway below for a chance to win a free copy of the app!!!


Disclaimer: This item was given to me for review.  No other compensation was provided.  The opinions expressed here are solely my own.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

{Review} iPractice Verbs

Here's yet another great app from Smarty Ears!  iPractice Verbs allows children to practice present tense verbs, present progressive verbs, regular past tense verbs, and irregular past tense verbs at the word, phrase, and sentence levels.

Before you get started, I highly recommend watching the tutorial.  It only takes a few minutes and teaches you valuable features of the app.

Here you can adjust the settings and add a new player.

By clicking on "modify database", you can choose regular or irregular verbs to work on and/or choose the individual verbs that you would like to target.

Then you're all set to add your players.

You can choose between flashcards and "find it" which includes locating a specific picture to match a verb in a field of four pictures.

Next, it's time to choose the verb tense and determine if you'd like to work on the verb at the word, phrase, or sentence level.

Here is an example of the flashcard option.  This part of the app provides basic drilling practice.

Here is the "find it" option where students must determine which picture best matches the sentence provided.

Data collection is a snap because the app takes care of it for you!

The app also provides 16 different verb tense homework sheets that can be sent home with the child.

What I love about this app:
* It provides homework!  Just print out the homework for the student and wa-la!
* You can select the individual words that you'd like to target, so you can include specific words that you've been working on with the student or new ones that you'd like to introduce.
* It targets present tense verbs, present progressive verbs, regular past tense verbs, and irregular past tense verbs at the word, phrase, and sentence levels, which allows for differentiation and a lot of practice no matter what level the child is at.

You can find this awesome verb app for $9.99 HERE!!  OR... You can enter the Rafflecopter giveaway below for a chance to win a free copy of this app!


Disclaimer:  This app was given to me for review.  No other compensation was provided.  The opinions expressed here are solely my own.

a Rafflecopter giveaway