Our gestalt language processors (otherwise known as intonation babies!) benefit so much from having musical language input.

I'm seeing this firsthand with Music-Directed Speech Therapy -- a unique service we offer which is carried out by a board certified music therapist (Kaelyn!) and overseen by me (Halle!) based on my SLP treatment goals.

I've been integrating music so much into my practice, even though music therapy is (definitely) not my background! Lately, I've been loving creating songs to go with activities that emphasize easily-mitigable Stage 1 gestalts. I made this song up today during a session and it's here to stay!

Did you catch all the gestalts?

1. Spin the wheel
2. Do it again
3. What will we find
4. Open it up
5. Close it

Let me know if you try this (or something similar) with your GLP! 

September 30th marks the 3rd National Truth & Reconciliation Day, a day where Canadians reflect upon the experiences and history of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities in Canada, and to acknowledge, reflect, and learn about the injustices they faced through the residential school system and the ways it continues to affect Indigenous Peoples in Canada today.

We wanted to provide some resources with ways you can participate in this day, either in-person (events listed for Thunder Bay, ON) or through virtual or self-paced learning options.

Click here to watch recordings of the NCTR Lunch & Learns. 
Click here to see the list of 48 books by Indigenous writers compiled by Cree author David A. Robertson. 
Click here to explore Indigenous Canada, the 12-lesson online course from University of Alberta. 

Remember, this day is just a reminder of the learning (and unlearning) of Canadian history that we should be aware of everyday.

We hope to see you all with your orange shirts at school tomorrow and on Saturday Sept 30 for National Truth & Reconciliation Day!

Let's take a closer look at communities within Northern Ontario!

Did you know only 6% of Ontario's total population lives in Northern Ontario but is spread out over 88% of Ontario's land mass?

You can see why we need to fly in to visit our communities! Take a closer look at where I'm based versus where I travel for SLP services in Northwestern Ontario (NWO)!

This is a little snippet from a regular speech session with a gestalt language processor (not even a Music-Directed Speech Therapy session with our board-certified music therapist, Kaelyn!). I'm not a music therapist, but I'm learning more everyday about how our GLPs respond and thrive with music in their intervention, and I'm getting more comfortable bringing music into practice thanks to both Kaelyn and @crescendo.communication. 

I'm really excited to continue learning more about how we can support our GLPs through music.

Fun fact: I sang in a children's 4-part choir for 8 years, and I wrote songs in my teen years. I'm having fun playing around and improvising in sessions - and hey, that's what stage 2 mitigation is all about!

Take a peek into a child-led treatment session with a gestalt language processor in Stage 2 of Natural Language Acquisition (if you'd like an overview of the Stages, check out our chocolate analogy).

This child LOVES plants, and spontaneously said "duck sitting on the milk thistle," which I suspected was a Stage 2 utterance ("duck sitting" + "on the milk thistle"). I repeated this back to him, and played around with OTHER variations of that utterance, such as "duck sitting" + "on little blue" or "on the tree."

This stage is super fun because gestalt language processors start becoming flexible with language and can be more specific while still maintaining the "frame" of the original utterance.

Remember, our kids learn BEST when we don't have an agenda with an activity (even a book!) and target their goals naturally as they come up.

Also, it's too good not to share, but my Little Blue Truck minis from @speechtreeco pair perfectly with the giant Little Blue Truck book from @entershinebookshop, and ALL 4 of my kids today LOVED it.

Do you have any questions about Stage 2?