Helping Kids Thrive

Guest: Debbie Anzelone, Special Education Consultant

Have you ever wondered what FAPE is? Or LRE? What is the difference between an accommodation and a modification? IEP meetings can be filled with a lot of education heavy language and terminology which can create a barrier to parents being as involved with the IEP process.

During this episode, Nicole is joined by Special Education Consultant, Debbie Anzelone, to answer a listener question about special education terminology. Nicole and Debbie give definitions and context around commonly used terms in an IEP meeting, including examples, to help parents feel more confident as they participate on the IEP team.

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Guest: Kay Simon, M.S. CCC-SLP

In the US Public School system, the language of instruction is Mainstream American English (MAE), a specific dialect of English. If a child enters the school system that has not previously had exposure to MAE, this transition can be difficult as they add the need to learn another dialect of English to the list of academic concepts that they are expected to master. As a child works to learn and use this new dialect, if a teacher or school district isn't familiar with the student's native English dialect, they may determine that the student is making language or even cognitive errors and refer for a special education evaluation.

In this episode of Helping Kids Thrive, Nicole sits down with Kay Simon, a bidialectal speech language pathologist with experience working with children from various dialectal backgrounds. They chat about what this transition to school looks like for some students and how parents can come alongside their children and school districts to ensure that the appropriate challenges are addressed as their child grows in their education.

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Guest: Adriana Capuano, M.A. CCC-SLP

Augmentative & Alternative Communication (AAC) is a communication system that is helpful for children who do not have functional communication. Often we think of this as being for only nonverbal children, but there are actually many different situations that AAC can be used in order to boost effective communication for children.

Listen in on this episode of Helping Kids Thrive as Nicole talks with speech language pathologist, Adriana Capuano, about the basics of AAC - what it is, how a team decides what kind of AAC is needed, and how it is used in a school and home setting. She talks at length about best practices for teaching a child to use an AAC system and how we as parents can encourage our children and advocate for them within school and social settings.

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Guest: Brya Hanan, M.A., LMFT

Positive affirmations is a little bit of a buzz word topic with people posting images of letter boards on their bathrooom or videos of dads and daughters reciting them back and forth. But are there actually benefits to using positive affirmations with our children and if so, how do we do it realistically?

In this episode of Helping Kids Thrive, Nicole is joined by Brya Hanan, a licensed marriage and family therapist and certified family trauma professional to discuss how our words affect our children (for better or for worse). You will learn how to use positive affirmations with your children (sneak peek: it's not just a set sentence that you have your child repeat), the benefits of using them regularly, and some "dos and don'ts" of what to say.

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Guest: Aimee Buckley, Founder of Study Help, Inc.

Does your child struggle with motivation to complete homework tasks after school? Do you find that every evening is a fight in order to get homework accomplished?

During this episode of Helping Kids Thrive, Nicole is joined by Aimee Buckley, a high school teacher and the founder of Study Help, Inc., an online tutoring platform that connects top quality teachers with students who are looking for a better understanding and academic skills. She shares tips and tricks that parents can use to motivate their children to complete homework and some examples of how to make this learning fun.

To learn more about Study Help and how to get your child set up with an academic tutor visit https://study.help/.

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Guest: Kayla Plutschack, OTD, OTR/L

Does your child have trouble remembering directions, staying on task, keeping track of their things, or completing projects/routines independently? It could be a difficulty with executive functioning skills.

In this episode, Nicole is joined by pediatric occupational therapist, Dr. Kayla Plutschack, for a discussion around executive functioning skills. They discuss the 7 components of executive functioning and how these skills affect a child not only at school, but in every day life. She gives insight into how to recognize these difficulties in your child and increase their independence.

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Guest: Rebecca Lofthouse, LCSW

According to the CDC, suicide is the second leading cause of death for teens and according to the World Health Organization, "half of all mental health conditions start by 14 years of age but most cases are undetected and untreated." As licensed clinical social worker, Rebecca Lofthouse, mentions during this episode, treatment for mental health conditions is vitally important so, it really is an incredibly important topic for us to be discussing with our teens.

Through this conversation today, you will feel empowered as a parent to not only identify mental health concerns with your teenage child, but also have some strategies in your back pocket for how to talk to them about it and support their overall mental wellness. Prevention is the only course of action against suicide, and if we can step in for our children at the first sign of a mental health concern, it not only could save their life in more extreme cases, but will definitely lead to the development of emotional processing and coping skills that will build resilience in our kids as they transition to adulthood.

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Guest: Hannah Scotten, M.S. CCC-SLP

If you have a child that produces sounds incorrectly, it can be challenging to understand why this is happening. While, we know that parents are not speech therapists (nor should they feel like they need to be), it can be helpful at times to know more about what could be affecting your child's speech.

During this episode of Helping Kids Thrive, Nicole chats with speech language pathologist, Hannah Scotten, to provide information about speech sound errors. They talk through the 3 aspects of speech production: articulation, voice, and fluency, and give insight into how these areas affect the way a child is understood. Hannah breaks down speech sound errors and gives examples that a parent might notice. She also provides suggestions for how to help at home.

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Guest: Debbie Anzelone, Special Education Consultant

If you're a parent new to the special education scene, IEP meetings can be intimidating and the documents can be overwhelming.

In this episode, special education consultant, Debbie Anzelone, speaks with Nicole to provide a parent's guide to IEPs. They discuss what happens in an IEP meeting, how parents can best prepare for an IEP meeting, and what is included in an IEP document. Debbie is recently retired from the public school system where she served in various roles within special education including 10 years as the Supervisor of Special Education Related Services at Prince George's County Public Schools in Maryland, USA.

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Guest: Kristin Davis, M.S. CCC-SLP

Do you struggle to help your child learn to read? Are you confused by rules your child is learning at school and knowing what reading level you should be choosing for your child?

During this episode of Helping Kids Thrive, Nicole is joined by speech language pathologist, Kristin Davis, to discuss a parent's role in helping their child learn to read. They discuss fun ways to encourage literacy development at home, how to know if books are too easy or too challenging for your child, and the difference between literacy teaching strategies like whole language and phonics based approaches.

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