In this episode, I explore the connection between emotions, regulation and child development, and why emotional safety can be such an important foundation for learning.

I share a real-life example from my work with a child and reflect on what happened when a learning opportunity became emotionally challenging. From there, we explore co-regulation, frustration tolerance, the emotional environment adults create, and how our own nervous systems can influence the children we support.

Whether you’re a parent, caregiver or professional working with children, this episode is an invitation to look beyond behaviour and consider what might be happening underneath it — and how we can support children not just to learn new skills, but to feel safe enough to grow.

Today's episode is a recording of my talk presented at the 11th Annual Durban Mental Health Symposium. The theme for the symposium was 'Neurodiversity and Neuroplasticity: Implications for Psychosocial Practice', and my talk was centered on self-advocacy and why this is the actual focus of speech therapy.

In this episode, we look at what developmental pace is, how it is unique to each individual and how differing paces can be hard to understand and accept.

In this episode of Merisa the Speechie, we explore why children may present so differently across environments — and why progress seen in one setting doesn’t always transfer into another. We unpack the role of environmental set-up, the level of support a child truly needs, the impact adults bring into interactions, and the importance of collaboration between the people supporting the child. This conversation encourages us to move beyond asking “What’s wrong with the child?” and instead consider what the environment may be communicating to us.