Helping Kids Thrive

Guest: Jamie Tyson-McOmie, Speech Language Pathologist & Orofacial Myologist

In this episode Nicole introduces Jamie Tyson McCombie, a pediatric speech-language pathologist, teletherapy expert, and certified orofacial myologist. Jamie dives deep into the niche topic of orofacial myofunctional disorders (OMDs), explaining their impact on speech, swallowing, eating, and even sleep. She outlines the evaluation and treatment process, emphasizing the importance of specialized training for effective therapy. Listeners will learn how OMDs can affect children's development and the role of school-based SLPs in identifying and recommending treatment. The episode concludes with insights on teletherapy options for OMDs.

• 00:00 Introduction to Huddle Up and Podcast Overview
• 00:57 Exciting Announcements Coming Soon
• 01:16 Meet Jamie Tyson McCombie: Expert in Orofacial Myology
• 01:26 Understanding Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders (OMD)
• 03:51 Effects of OMD on Speech, Eating, and Sleep
• 08:24 Treatment and Evaluation of OMD
• 11:49 Finding the Right Specialist for OMD
• 24:42 Role of School SLPs and Telehealth in OMD Treatment
• 30:38 Conclusion and Upcoming Announcements

Guest: Shelley O'Donnell, MS CCC-SLP In this episode, Nicole sits down with Shelley O'Donnell, a pediatric speech language pathologist, to discuss the intricate connection between communication and behavior in children. Shelley shares her professional insights and personal experiences as a mom of a child with a language delay, offering practical tips for parents to help their children express their needs and reduce negative behaviors. The conversation highlights the importance of a team approach, consistency across different environments, and practical strategies like using visuals and giving choices to support children's communication and behavior.

• 00:00 Introduction to Huddle Up and Podcast Overview
• 00:58 Meet Shelly O'Donnell: A Speech Language Pathologist's Perspective
• 01:58 Understanding the Link Between Communication and Behavior
• 03:04 Shelly's Personal Experience with Her Son's Language Delay
• 06:24 Practical Tips for Addressing Communication-Related Behaviors
• 10:19 The Importance of Consistency Across Different Environments
• 15:38 Handling Meltdowns: Strategies and Tips
• 24:00 Final Thoughts and Encouragement for Parents

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Guest: Sandy Dorsey, M.S. CCC-SLP, Founder of Smiles for Speech

Have you ever wondered what it's like to parent a child with a disability in another part of the world?

In this special episode of Helping Kids Thrive, Nicole sits down with Sandy Dorsey, an international speech language pathologist, global advocate, and the founder of Smiles for Speech, a nonprofit organization on a mission to increase access to information and resources for children with disabilities worldwide. Together they talk about their experiences working with organizations and families across the world to discuss similarities and differences of what the parenting experience looks like based on location, culture, and access to resources.

Episode Highlights

• Overview of Smiles for Speech and their recent work internationally
• Similarities and differences in parenting children with disabilities across various countries/cultures
• Sandy's favorite experience from her work: A mother advocating for her son and families in similar situations

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Guest: Mikey Carroll, MS, LPC

Do you ever find yourself wondering as a parent how to set expecations for your child? How do we help them reach their full potential, even if that looks different from other children around them? Add in disabilties or delays of any type and it can get even more tricky.

Here to chat with Nicole today on the podcast is Mikey Carroll, a Licensed Professional Counselor. Together they explore ways to both accept yourself and your child as you both are and set expectations that are realistic and individualized to your child specifically.

Episode Highlights:

• The principles of DBT and how they relate to today's conversation
• Tips for accepting your child (and yourself!) where they are
• Tips for managing expectations

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Guest: Samantha Kauffman, MOT, OTR/L Tummy time is an important building block for neurological and physical development. It supports skills such as fine and gross motor, vision, sensory processing, and more. But if your baby hates tummy time or you're parenting an older child with disabilities, it can be challenging to get in activities that support this development.

During this episode, Nicole chats with pediatric occupational therapist, Samantha Kauffman, MOT, OTR/L, about the importance of tummy time and some activities that you can incorportate with your children.

Episode Highlights:

• Importance of tummy time for development
• Tummy time with infants: how much should we do?
• Importance of tummy time for older children
• Activities to promote tummy time & prone position in older children

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Guest: Amy Schnacker, OTR/L

If your child has difficulty with feeding, it is likely that you have heard some common parenting advice associated with feeding children - things like "don't let your kids play with their food, that's disrespectful" or "they'll eat when they're hungry." While many of these things are true for most children, they are not true for all.

During today's episode, Nicole chats with occupational therapist, Amy Schnacker, OTR/L, to discuss 10 common feeding myths. Amy breaks down the truth behind the way that our kids eat and how we as parents can best support them.

Episode Highlights:

• Myth 1: Eating is the body's #1 priority.
• Myth 2: Eating is instinctive.
• Myth 3: Eating is easy.
• Myth 4: Eating is a 2 step process.
• Myth 5: Children shouldn't play with their food.
• Myth 6: If a child is hungry, they will eat.
• Myth 7: Children only need to eat 3 meals a day.
• Myth 8: If children wont eat, it's because of an organic problem or a behavioral problem.
• Myth 9: Certain foods should be eaten at certain times of the day.
• Myth 10: Mealtime should be a quiet occasion.

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Guest: Morgan Johnson, MSW, LCSW

Practicing gratitude seems like a really simple concept, but for some reason most of us go through life without making it a regular habit during our days. We often choose to focus on what's going wrong - what needs to be fixed or done - instead of what is going right.

During this episode, Nicole sits down with Morgan Johnson, a licensed clinical social worker, to discuss the benefits of practicing gratitude and some practical ways that we can begin to incorporate this into our family rhythms and routines.

Episode highlights:

• Benefits of practicing gratitude
• Why it can be challenging to practice
• Practical ways to incorporate gratitude into our routines
• Resources: The Science of Happiness (Yale), Gratitude Meditations on Youtube, Gratitude Apps

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Guest: Melanie Almada, M.S. LMFT

Establishing a growth mindset builds resiliency, perseverance, and an intrinsic sense of worth. These are things that every parent desires for their children, but how can we ensure that our child develops a strong growth mindset instead of becoming fixed in an "I can't" mentality?

In this episode of Helping Kids Thrive, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Melanie Almada, chats with Nicole about the importance of helping our children develop a growth mindset and some practical ways to encourage this development.

Episode Highlights

• Growth mindset vs. fixed mindset
• Benefits of establishing a growth mindset
• Ways to encourage growth mindset in children
• Additional Resource Recommendation: Mindset The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dwek, PhD.

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Guest: Amy Schnacker, OTR/L

The holiday season is full of fun and excitement - lots of time with family and friends, cookie decorating, present wrapping, songs, events, the list goes on and on. And while the holidays are a special time of year, they can also be overwhelming.

In this episode of Helping Kids Thrive, Nicole speaks with pediatric occupational therapist, Amy Schnacker, OTR/L, about holiday stress and sensory overload in order to help parents better understand how their children may be experiencing the sensory input around them and develop practical strategies to help.

Episode highlights:

• Considerations of sensory input specifically to the holiday season
• Proactive solutions to helping prevent sensory overwhelm
• Tips and tricks to help your child process during a busy event
• Ways for you as a parent to cope with unexpected changes in plan

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Guest: Jackie Wight, MA, LPC

Helping children navigate through social media is definitely uncharted territory for a lot of parents that grew up before the era of smartphones and tablets. With the rise of popular sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, it comes to no surprise that it has greatly impacted how children grow up, and how they handle their face-to-face social interactions. From increasing rates of depression and anxiety, it's definitely become a growing concern amongst parents of digital natives.

While it feels almost daunting and impossible, in this episode Nicole is joined by licensed professional counselor, Jackie Wight, who shares important insight into just how social media can affect a child's mental wellbeing, and what can be done to protect kids in this new developing digital space.

If you found this helpful for your journey as a parent, check out our other episodes here!

Episode Highlights:

• The data behind social media's impact on mental health
• Why children are at a particularly vulnerable age
• Your role as a parent in their digital world
• Concrete strategies we can apply for our children

Additional Resources:

• The Big Disconnect by Catherine Steiner-Adair
• Child Mind Institute
• Common Sense Media
• Mayo Clinic Research

Connect:

• Huddle Up
• Jackie Wight | LinkedIn