Growing Kids Therapy Center

Interested in learning more about S2C and working with your child? Check out our parent cohort, taught by our amazing Practitioner Kelly Berg, starting in February.

See what one parent had to say about it:
"Taking this course, gave me the wind in on my sails that I needed to homeschool my son and dedicate our days to really diving into S2C. This has been the best decision I have ever made and I just wanted to thank you and everyone involved with S2C. My son is thriving from it and it has only been a month and a half."

This is a great opportunity to enhance your skills and connect with other parents.

To register, email: [email protected]

Even snowmen support S2C!!! We couldn't all make it into the office because of the snow day today but Kelly and our awesome intern, Kate, made it there and even had a little fun building this cutie!

"What Every Nonspeaker Wants Their Doctor to Known"

Check out this awesome blog by Gregory Tino.

What Every Nonspeaker Wants Their Doctor to Know | I-ASC Lately I am having some health complications, and it has made me realize how fortunate I am to have a method of communication in which I can participate in my own healthcare. You see…I am epileptic in addition to being a nonspeaking autistic. Lucky me. I do know that not…

We hope your holidays have been great so far, here is some Christmas fun with our Conspiracy Conundrum group and the GKTC staff.

Read before present time!! Here are some great tips for coaching your speller's motor to open their own gifts this year:

5 Ways to Increase Accessibility During the Holidays | I-ASC Sometimes, it can feel like there is no time to create accessible moments for nonspeakers. Here are 5 Ways to Increase Accessibility During the Holidays

If you have some holiday downtime and want to get some spelling practice in, here is the newest lesson that I-ASC has shared:

The Christmas Truce of 1914: A Moment of Peace Amidst War | I-ASC World War I started in August 1914. The main countries involved were Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire (on the Central Powers side), Great Britain, France, and Russia (on the Allied Powers side). Most soldiers figured the war would be over quickly, and they'd be home with their families i...

Inclusion is so important always but definitely don't forget about it on the holidays too!

Planning an inclusive holiday season | I-ASC With Black Friday in the dust and December in full swing, we have started planning festive dinners, parties, and get-togethers (even via computer screens!)

For the holidays, this blog could be good to share with visiting family. It even has a song to go along with it!

Silent Holiday | I-ASC We often imagine the holidays filled with cheer but that may not be the case for Nonspeakers. Sometimes those that are visiting don’t know how to treat us.

We are going to be sharing a few holiday blogs by spellers as reminders of things to think about for the holidays. Here is the first one:

SELF ADVOCACY FOR THE HOLIDAYS | I-ASC All right, Spellers, we are headed into that time of year, which some call the “most wonderful time”, and others find difficult, and many find to be a mix of both fun and stress. What does this have to do with advocacy and Spellers & Allies? I say the more…

It's here!

Order your copies of In Words We Trust now! Now is your chance to give the gift of "soul food" just in time for the holidays. It is the season for some spirituality... spirituality on the go! Read what some neurodivergent individuals think about spirituality.

Just $8 a copy!

Order yours here: https://growingkidstherapy.com/.../in-words-we-trust.../

Keep your eyes out for an update on virtual copies to be available soon.

Shared from I-ASC but such an important topic to share and discuss! Thanks Will!

The Spellers & Allies Advocacy Network is calling on all spellers and others in the Spellerverse to please join us in educating healthcare professionals about nonspeakers and our method of communication. It's so simple to do!

Just provide the 2-page Spellers and Allies informational handout to the members of your personal healthcare team and to your friends and family who work in healthcare. Then, share your personal story with us about a medical condition that could not be diagnosed or treated adequately when you were unable to communicate.

Click this link to learn more about the campaign:
https://i-asc.org/advocacy.../disability-aware-healthcare/

Click this link to submit your story for I-ASC to share: https://drive.google.com/.../1ebLMFN7Cxg15TkAxW.../view...

Will's Story:
The first migraine I had was when I was twelve. It was horrible especially because I am a nonspeaker and I had no way to tell anyone I had one.

I usually had five migraines a week and no one knew. The migraines lasted most of the day. I endured it stoically.

I started spelling when I was 21 years old. I was eventually able to tell my mom about my migraines. I went to a Developmental Optometrist for treatment.
After six months of treatment my migraine intensity and frequency decreased. I am able to talk to my doctors and tell them how I feel now. Being able to communicate about my migraines is why I was able to get them treated. Thanks to a doctor who listened to me spell.

Keywords... whether you are new to S2C or need a refresher, let's take a look at what keywords are and why we use them.

When you are reading a lesson to your speller, you will come across words that are capitalized - these are our keywords. Keywords can be a number of things and chosen for a number of reasons.

1. Proper nouns (people and places) - places and people can have unique and interesting spellings that our speller may be able to spell phonetically but it might not be correct in that instance. Whether it's JOHN or JON, or those names that have 100 different spellings like KATLYN, KATELYN, KAITLIN, CAITLIN, CAITLYN, etc. We should provide the proper spelling so they know what it is in that context.

2. Main point - remember when you teacher would write certain words on the whiteboard during a lesson to bring special attention to the topic? Well we do that too!

3. New vocabulary - think of these as the words that are not used as frequently in every day conversation, words with complex spelling, or specialized words to a topic. When we learn new things, it is nice to know how to spell it.

When you come across these keywords in your lesson, make sure to spell them out loud and write them down on your keyword sheet. This allows for your speller to have the opportunity for the visual and auditory input of that new word to enhance learning.

So, don't forget your keywords when you are working on lessons!