Helping Kids Thrive

Guest: Christine Loeb, M.S. CCC-SLP

Have you ever wondered what counts as a baby's first word? Did you know that there are things you can do to encourage your baby's language development even before they start talking?

During this episode, Nicole and Christine (both SLPs and mommas of toddlers) discuss infant/toddler language development. Christine shares practical tips for encouraging language development during play and routine activities to fit with a parent's busy life and gives an overview of expected language development within the first two years of a child's life.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• ASHA Language Development Chart (0-1)
• ASHA Language Development Chart (1-2)
• Instagram Accounts to Follow: @teenytalkers, @speechsisters, @raisinglittletalkers

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Guest: Jayna Niblock, PhD, OTD, OTR/L, BCP, BCTS

In this episode of Helping Kids Thrive, Nicole and occupational therapist, Dr. Jayna Niblock, discuss ways that parents can help their children get good sleep. During the episode, Jayna shares about the importance of sleep, warning signs that parents can watch for to determine if their child is not sleeping well, and practical tips for creating a sleep routine that is flexible and works for your family. She also shares some of her favorite sleep tools that can be used to encourage restful sleep in our children.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire
• Sensory (Lycra) Sheet or Body Sock
• Weighted Blankets
• Pillows (for deep pressure/boundaries)
• Dreampad
• Alarm clock with lights
• Room darkening curtains
• Breathe Like a Bear (Deep Breathing book)

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Guests: Veronica Farrior + Megan Moran

This episode of Helping Kids Thrive features two speech language pathologists, Veronica Farrior and Megan Moran. Veronica and Megan were recently interviewed on the "Let's Talk About Representation" podcast and join us today to explore ways to help raise children who are inclusive of others. During this episode, Veronica and Megan chat with host, Nicole, about what it means to be inclusive, why representation is so important, and practical tips for parents seeking to raise inclusive kids.

Helpful resources from today's episode:

1. Children's Books: Antiracist Baby by Ibram Kendi, Little Red and the Very Hungry Lion by Alex Smith, and Liam's First Cut by Taye Jones (also find this SLP author on instagram at @havingoursay)

2. Parent Resource Sites: Doing Good Together, Embrace Race

3. Cultural Competency Guide

For more information about Huddle Up visit www.huddleupcare.com.

Guest: Stephanie Hanrahan

This episode of Helping Kids Thrive features Stephanie Hanrahan, a parent of two children with autism. Two years ago, Stephanie became weary of social media pressure to appear perfect and she made her private journal public. Since then, she has achieved viral success as a writer and speaker.

During this episode, Stephanie tells her story of becoming a mother and receiving a diagnosis of autism for both of her children, along with navigating a rare heart condition with her husband. She gives advice for parents just starting on this journey of raising children with special needs and encourages parents to recognize who their children really are - their beautiful, loving, unique selves.

Find more of Stephanie at www.tinklesherpants.com or on instagram at @tinklesherpants.

For more information about her non-profit organization visit www.labeledandloved.org.

For more information about Huddle Up visit www.huddleupcare.com.

Guest: Amanda Hain, Speech Language Pathologist

During this episode, Nicole chats with speech language pathologist, Amanda Hain, about practical ways to help your child produce speech that is more understandable to others. She shares tips and tricks to help parents determine HOW they make speech sounds in order to help coach their child to produce better speech sounds, as well as additional suggestions for children who are especially difficult to understand.

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Guest: Brooke French, Speech Language Pathologist

In this episode of Helping Kids Thrive, Nicole talks with licensed speech language pathologist, Brooke French, about how we as parents can be purposeful with the play time that we have with our children. During this episode, she challenges us to practice full presence play, shares insight into how play develops as a child grows, and gives practical tips regarding how we can make the most out of our play time with our children.

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Guests: Elyse Rossman, Occupational Therapist, and Aliece Barklage, Speech Language Pathologist

In this episode, Nicole is joined by certified occupational therapist, Elyse Rossman, and licensed speech language pathologist, Aliece Barklage to discuss how parents can use common household toys/items to target different developmental skills.

Through the expertise of these two guests, parents will learn how an occupational therapist might use toys differently than a speech therapist to target a different developmental skill set. Toys selected for this episode include:

• farm puzzle
• shape sorter
• bubbles

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Guest: Rebecca Lofthouse, Licensed Clinical Social Worker specializing in grief and loss

In this episode of Helping Kids Thrive, Nicole is joined by Rebecca Lofthouse, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a specialty in grief and loss. Rebecca and Nicole converse about the loss and grief associated with the events of 2020 and Rebecca shares her perspective and professional opinion on how we as parents can learn to process the loss we have experienced in 2020. She gives practical advice for parents looking to both process through their own loss and help their children process as well.

Resources mentioned on this episode:

• Grief and Loss Camp for Kids: Comfort Zone Camp
• Blogs + Online Resources: What's Your Grief?, Grief Share, Heal Grief

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Guest: The Huddle Up Team

In this special holiday edition of Helping Kids Thrive, the Huddle Up (previously DotCom Therapy) team shares some of their favorite holiday traditions.

From all of us here, we wish you happy holidays and a warm end to 2020!

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Guest: Carey Llufrio, M. Ed, Board Certified Behavior Analyst.

In this episode of Helping Kids Thrive, Board Certified Behavior Analyst, Carey Llufrio, pops in to chat with us about Applied Behavior Analysis. Discussed in this episode are the following questions:

• What is ABA?
• What are the four functions of behavior and how do we as parents determine the function of our child's behavior?
• Who would benefit from ABA?
• What is the difference between ABA and Discrete Trial Training?

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