Friday, January 27, 2012

January Update

January has been a month of listening activities in the speech room. In communication therapy students who are working to improve their articulation skills have been focusing on judging their speech production and self-monitoring. Children may rate their speech or listen for errors and correct their own mistakes. Some of the children have enjoyed listening to recordings of their voice to hear how they sound to other people. These activities help them to use clear speech and make corrections independently. Students are encouraged to rate their speech when completing speech homework.
Students with language goals have practiced listening to stories and retelling events. They have identified characters, setting, problems, and solutions in the narratives. Mrs. DeYoung may ask them questions to check comprehension and thinking skills. Students are beginning to develop their own stories with good story grammar. Other groups have worked on following oral directions and listening to descriptions. The groups have practiced listening to others and taking turns giving and receiving instructions. Children have been challenged to follow directions or answer questions without having the information repeated. Sometimes it is tricky to respond correctly on the first try!

Friday, January 20, 2012

Asperger Syndrome

Asperger's syndrome, a form of high functioning autism, is an increasingly common disorder seen in school-age students. There is some dispute among experts as to whether Asperger's syndrome and high functioning autism are the same thing, Tony Attwood - an authority in this area - believes that the terms are equivalent in clinical practice. (Attwood, 2007) Children with Asperger's syndrome have typically developing intellectual and language skills, but often have great difficulty with social language. On the face of it, the most recognizable problem these children display is an absence of empathy for the person they are talking with. Other prominent features of the syndrome are a fixation or obsession for one particular topic and flat, monotone voice prosody. For more information, see www.speechlanguage-resources.com

Friday, January 13, 2012

Attributes of a Critical Thinker


  • asks pertinent questions

  • assesses statements and arguments

  • is able to admit a lack of understanding or information

  • has a sense of curiosity

  • is interested in finding new solutions

  • is able to clearly define a set of criteria for analyzing ideas

  • is willing to examine beliefs, assumptions, and opinions and weigh them against facts

  • listens carefully to others and is able to give feedback

  • sees that critical thinking is a lifelong process of self-assessment

  • suspends judgment until all facts have been gathered and considered

  • looks for evidence to support assumption and beliefs

  • is able to adjust opinions when new facts are found

  • looks for proof

  • examines problems closely

  • is able to reject information that is incorrect or irrelevant

Ferett, S. Peak Performance (1997)