MISC. SLP RESOURCES ONLINE-part 1

Good Morning Everyone! It's Monday and a perfect time to start anew especially if last week was miserable. By now everyone working in public school is back into the swing of things, so we will do likewise and get back into the swing of sharing useful information to make your day just a little easier.

Last year we focused on specific topics like AAC and Autism, but today we are going to begin a series on general SLP resources that are available online. Some of the sites we will be highlighting you may be familiar with, while others you may not, and then some of them you may have just forgotten about.

Today our focus is on the magnificent Cindy Meester. http://meesterc.wordpress.com/ Her blog is simply wonderful (I'm trying to break myself from saying awesome all the time, although her site is AWESOME.) She has been writing and sharing for a few years now and as a way of introduction let me share her first blogged words because they explain better than I could what Cindy is all about:

"10/09~Welcome! I started this site to share a variety of links I have found on the web. Hopefully these links will help students (along with their families) improve their speech and language skills. I also hope other speech language pathologists will find great ideas, materials and resources to use."

Since that day Cindy has diligently added to her offerings and now has a website that is a staple in most of our lives. Thanks Cindy! You ROCK!

When you go to her site you will immediately notice a list a mile long, on the right side of the screen. You can click on those for some very useful links and such. She has so much information to share that it has been cataloged for you. In fact, I'm so impressed with all you can find there, that I'm going to list it here:


Links links & links!!!
3:1 Service Model
Articulation Ideas & Materials**
Articulation/Apraxia
ASHA & MSHA & more SLP Resources
Aug. Comm. & Assistive Technology
Autism
Autism Groups(MN)
Awards/Sticker charts
Better Speech & Hearing Month
Boardmaker-visuals & pictures
Book Units (& adapted)**
Breathing Exercises
Bulletin Board Ideas**
Continuing Education
Convert to PDF
Create your own… video social stories and cartooning
Create your own…board games & more
Cued Speech
Current Events Resources
Disability Awareness- videos, etc.
ELL- English Language Learners
Evidence Based
Forms**
Freebies & Lessons Plans
Games online – MATH
Games online – Stuttering
Games online -Language
Games online- 20 questions
Games online-Articulation
Games online-Bullying
Games online-Early Learning
Games online-Variety
Games to play online – Search by keyword
Games- cooperative & more**
Great online stories
Holidays-Celebrations
Idioms
IEP Goals
Intervention suggestions
iPod/iTouch/iPhone/iPad and therapy
Left-Right Games
Listening Skills
Movie inspired activities-
Music for Speech
My Games!**
NASCAR
Norms for neurological and developmental foundations of speech acquisition
On-line Speech Language Therapy
On-line use materials
Phonic/Sound Visual Methods
Phonological Awareness
Picture Recipes
Poetry Links for kids
Positive Behavior Intervention
Products to order
RTI- Response to Intervention
Selective Mutism
Sign Language
SLP & Special Ed Groups & Blog Pages
SLP Logo Items
SMART board
Social Jeopardy Games & S.O.D.A.
Social Stories
Social Thinking (1 of 4)- LINKS, etc.
Social Thinking (2 of 4) – MATERIALS**
Social Thinking (3 of 4)- SUPERFLEX
Social Thinking (4 of 4) – VIDEOS
Speech/Language Information for Parents- developmental norms
Stuttering
Teacher Tube
Theme Units
Therapy Resources- categories,vocab, syntax & more
Turning Point
Velcro & Laminating
Video Modeling
Voice
Word Retrieval

...and that is just the link topics....you click on that for more information on each of those topics! See why I'm highlighting Cindy and calling her magnificent, wonderful, and awesome? She is.

If you are currently making use of her site you'll understand why I highlighted her, if you've never heard of her you'll be just as impressed, and if you have forgotten about her then you'll thank me for the reminder.

As we close, we want to remind you that we 2 Gals do sell a few useful products that we have created and invite you to browse our website www.2galsspeechproducts.com

Have fun with your kids this week.
Leah and Dean

"TEACHING ALL STUDENTS"

Hello, Hello, Hello! It feels like forever since I have gotten to sit down and share with you. I am back now and excited to write this blog today not only because of the content but also because I have truly missed writing these posts. In case you are wondering how the move has gone, I can say that I am about 85% completed. (Yes, a true SLP always specking in percentages.) Mostly the maze of boxes is gone but I still have bare walls and windows, but that is the part I love... the decorating of my house to make it my home! Enough of me, now on with some useful information for you.

Today I want to highlight a fellow I have discovered via Twitter, Jeremy Brown. He is a Special Education teacher who, in my opinion, is not just a Special Ed teacher but a "special teacher." Jeremy is that guy with whom you wished you could work as an SLP because he truly puts his students education first. He is also very tech savvy, which really endears him to my heart, since I am so lacking in that area. He writes a blog along with Patrick Black called "Teaching All Students" http://teachingall.blogspot.com/p/about-jeremy.html which I am highly recommending you add to your list of AAC resources. He is very involved in the podcast, "Edceptional" http://edreach.us/category/ed-casts/edceptional/ another great resource. If that wasn't enough, he also hosts #spedchat on twitter. You can contact Jeremy on twitter @teachieteacher.

Now that you have an idea of who this guy is let me tell you a little about his blog site and the podcast. The blogspot "Teaching All Students" focuses on technology, special education and learning for ALL. There are several tabs on the top of the page that will take you directly to specific topics. As a run of the mill SLP working with a myriad of exceptional kids, I think you will be especially interested in the topics of apps, IWB, Switch accessible activities, tools and resources. You will need to explore those on your own because they are too vast for me to elaborate upon. Trust me when I say that if you are working with kids who have communication devices or alternative communication needs this blog is your Go To site.

"Edceptional" is a podcast in which Jeremy is actively involved along with his cohorts Patrick Black and Deb Truskey. As you would expect it focuses on all things related to special education and technology. This is a great way to stay up to date with what's new and what's happening! If you enjoy listening to podcasts this is a very good one to work into your week.

It is great to be back and I look forward to seeing you next week. Until then have fun in therapy this week!

Lean and Dean
www.2galsspeechproducts.com

MOVING DAY IS HERE

Good Morning Everyone! I hope you have had a wonderful 3 day weekend enjoying the last of the summer holidays.

We have BIG NEWS: this morning. 2 Gals Speech Products is moving! Actually just one of the two gals is moving but it happens to be the one who has the office in her bedroom. Thus, we will be offline beginning tomorrow Tuesday, September 6, 2011 until Tuesday September 13, 2011. Sorry for the inconvenience, but I know you understand.

The only contact information that will be changing is our physical location and our fax number. Those are:

2 GALS SPEECH PRODUCTS, LLC
1725 W. LAKEVIEW DRIVE
UNIT 50
JOHNSON CITY, TN 37604

FAX: 423-202-7156

You can still find us on the web at www.2galsspeechproducts.com or toll free at 866-930-3098. Or you can email us at info@2galsspeechproducts.com

See you next week from Tennessee!

Leah and Dean
www.2galsspeechproducts.com