The Speech Hub

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a developmental disorder that begins in early childhood.
ADHD affects your brain’s executive functioning — and your ability to self-regulate and control thoughts, words, actions and emotions.
ADHD is often misunderstood. It can cause problems:
concentrating
becoming distracted
being hyperactive (sometimes)
being impulsive
Around 1 in every 20 Australians has ADHD. While ADHD is more common in boys — it’s under diagnosed in girls and adults.
Find out more at:
https://www.adhdawarenessmonth.org

It’s ADHD awareness month.

This will be the last transition to school for our family.
Sue Larkey has some great tips for transitioning to school. https://suelarkey.com.au/tips-for-transitioning-2018-start-planning-now-ghy/
Sensory/Environment: New sounds, movements, uniforms etc.
People: Who will be their teacher, assistant, which students will they know, who to go to for help, getting to know office staff, etc.
Visuals: Map of the school with toilets, classroom, bags, office, library, etc.
Video /Film on Ipad: Video of the new school, environment, and teachers is wonderful as they can play over and over. Make sure you show the environment HOW it actually looks; for example video of busy locker area, playground full of students rather than empty.
Social Scripts/Photo Books: Create social scripts or photo books that show the child information.
Photos: Class teacher, important staff, toilets, bubblers, etc.
Playground: Routines and activities, equipment, games in playground.
Do they want friends? Who do they know already? Clubs they can join.
Lunch routine: Practice using lunch box, container, drink bottle, etc.
Calendar: Use a calendar to show when their visits will be and they will start in the new class.
Getting to school: Bus, walk, car. Practice the routine, discuss what to do if late or raining. (Some students are best dropped off right on bell others love morning activities in playground).
Calming Strategies: Ensure the child knows where in the new environment they can go to calm or access their sensory

Holidays can feel overwhelming for neurodivergent children, here are some great tips from to make Christmas more inclusive for everyone.

Sharing literacy resources with the children at Yaro Village Kindergarten at Malolo Island. What an amazing experience visiting this school.

Making spelling fun by using Pokémon cards. We use the the sounds write method to break up long words into parts to sound out and spell. Using your child’s interest makes it more motivating to learn.

Do you know it takes 10 exposures of a new food before our brain decides if we like it?
Trying Feijoa for the first time, swipe across to see how we felt about it. Let’s just say we’re still learning to like Feijoa.
This was still a great opportunity to explore the food in a fun way.
‘I wonder what colour the fruit will be inside?’
‘What does it smell like? Does it have a big or small smell?’
‘Do you think it will be sweet like pineapple or sour like lemon?’
‘I wonder if it will be dry or juicy?’

Have a fussy eater? Involving your child in the meal prep is a great way to expose them to new foods without any pressure. Experiences such as chopping and mixing allow your child to see, smell and touch the food. All steps closer to eating new foods. Swipe across to see what was served and what was actually eaten.

‘I spy…’ making therapy fun whilst working on our ‘s’ sound.

Celebrating Neurodiversity week and all that make us beautiful and unique.

DIVERSITY IS BEAUTIFUL

This week we celebrate Neurodiversity Celebration Week!

Neurodiversity Celebration Week aims to bring about worldwide neurodiversity acceptance, equality and inclusion in schools and workplaces

Via Diversity Kids
Source: Erin Human

Thinking of all the kids starting and returning to school this year. Maggie Dent always has the best tips for helping with these big transitions.

ABC News Stories: Expert tips for making the transition back to school as smooth as possible For many students, it's the start of a new chapter, with some beginning the classroom journey in kinder or prep, others making the big move to high school.