More... Animated shorts we love!

A little over a year ago we did a blog about animated shorts and how to use them during therapy. We still love them and use them and wanted to share with you some of our new favorites!

Lifted

It’s like a driver’s test for an extraterrestrial! This fun animated short is about one of our “out of this world” friends learning how to navigate a spacecraft. It’s super cute and there are loads of opportunity to incorporate speech and language into this one including: Articulation, Verbs, Grammar, Inferencing, Pragmatics: Feelings Problem solving, Story Grammar and retell

Mike’s New Car

Mike is pretty excited about his new car. Do you think Sully will like it? Share this animated short with your students to find out. There’s an abundance of targets in this one, but here are some recommendations: Articulation/Phonology: fronting, Vocabulary:  Antonyms, Synonyms, Verbs, Pragmatics, Problem Solving, Feelings, Prepositions, Inferencing, Story Grammar and Retell

Gordon Goose

This is a short, animated short and can be used when you only have a few minutes to spare. Gordon is busy at work when he realizes what a beautiful day it is. What does he decide to do… work or play? Your students will get a kick out of this one and learn a lot too! Here are some targets: Vocabulary: Synonyms, Antonyms, Verbs, Prepositions, Grammar, Inferencing, Wh- Questions, Pragmatics, Problem Solving, Feelings, Story Grammar and Retell

*If you like this one, check out the Holiday edition Gordon Goose: Christmas Tree.

Trouble in Paradise

The island life! Will this crab figure out what is going on when a new visitor arrives to his own little island?! This is a great short to work on: Articulation/phonology: especially /r/ blends, fronting, Vocabulary, Wh- questions, Prediction, Increased sentence length, Grammar

Alike

This is a creative animated short that is great for helping all to see the bright side in everything and reminding all of us to have a little fun! This animation is great for many speech and language targets including: Opposites, Pragmatics, Problem Solving, Feelings, Vocabulary, Adjectives, Verbs

Animated shorts are great to add to your therapy activities whether you are in person or on-line. Want to see how Trilogy Therapy uses them in action? Click our demo page and we’ll show you how we use animated shorts while providing therapy to anyone, anywhere!

Get Moving and Talking...Anywhere, Anytime

Trilogy Therapy has simple tips to continue fostering minds and bodies of our precious kids, anywhere, anytime!

Lo-Tech Options for PT at Home

Charades - Encourages motor planning and control

Potential Categories

• Animals (Flamingo, Frog, Duck, Cat, Chicken, Dog, Snake, etc)

• Sport Activities (Baseball, Volleyball, Golf, Hockey, Basketball, etc)

• Musical Instruments (Guitar, Piano, Drums, Trumpet, Flute, etc)

Balloon Living Room Volleyball - Great for visual tracking and eye-hand coordination

• Set up the “court”

• Each person gets 3 hits to get ball back to other side

• Don’t let the balloon hit the floor

Higher Tech Options for PT at Home

GoNoodle - Online website to encourage movement and activity all related to educational topics

• Create a free family account or an educator account

  • https://assets-gnp-ssl.gonoodle.com/parent_invite_pdfs/gonoodle_parent_invite_en.pdf

• Different categories including: Mindfulness, Sensory and Motor Skills, and Movement Type

YouTube Work-Outs 

• Many different fun workouts for kids

• Yoga, Frozen, SuperMario Brothers, etc 

Low Tech Options for Speech Therapy at Home

Play “I spy…”

• A good game of “I spy…” can be played anywhere! Try playing it by giving two to three describing clues (i.e., “I spy something green, soft, and you sit on it). 

Baking/Cooking/Crafting

• What a great time to bond and work together on something creative! This time also allows for lots of direction following, sequencing, and new vocabulary. Let your child help you with dinner, bake dessert, or make that scrap book you’ve been meaning to do for years!

Go for a walk or bike ride

• Get outside together and move. What a wonderful time to talk about what’s going on around you. Work on opposites (i.e., fast and slow, up and down, etc.), find and/or show verbs (i.e, find things that fly, find things that crawl, show me skipping, etc.), and describe what you see (i.e., “look it’s at the animal with feathers, who flies, and who will probably be laying eggs soon”).

Reading

• Read together! For older readers, a good chapter book might even be in order. This gives ample opportunity to talk about and work on comprehension of the different parts of the book (i.e., the main character(s), the setting, etc.). It’s a great time to point out and examine new vocabulary further. You can talk about specific words in the book, the meaning of those words, what are other words that might mean the same thing, what are words that are the opposite, what other words might be associated with the specific word, etc. For our younger readers, this is also a great time to look at the pictures in the book and talk about what you see. You can also work on hearing and saying the sounds in specific words in the book, and you can work on comprehension and understanding of what was just read.

Higher Tech Options for Speech Therapy at Home

ABC Mouse

• There’s a 30 day free trial for this educational website. It’s great for children between kindergarten and 2nd grade. Give it a try!

Vooks

• You can have a free subscription to this website if your school has been impacted by a closure. There’s also a free 30 day trial. Vooks takes normal story books, animates them, and makes them come alive! It’s really a great resource!

Boom Learning

• Boom Learning is full of gamified academic exercises including those that target speech and language! Try the starter package. It’s free and you’ll find a ton of really great exercises for your child!

Low Tech ideas for Occupational Therapy at home:

 -  Use that backyard swing set! Engage sensory systems with swinging, monkey bars, teeter totter, and going down the slide! 

-      Sensory play – we’re big fans of Floof and Kinetic Sand at my house. This could also be as simple as dumping flour in a casserole dish and driving cars through it or mixing water and cornstarch together.

-      Cook together – stirring, mixing, measuring – cooking targets so many excellent skills areas – cognition, attention to task, sequencing, bilateral coordination. Plus the end result is yummy!

 High Tech ideas for OT : 

Tools to Grow OT : This website offers two levels of activities – both free and membership options. Tools to Grow breaks down activities by skills targeted – such as fine motor skills, visual motor integration, sensory processing, and bilateral coordination. 

 Best Apps for screen time : 

-      Dexteria – fine motor skill development

-      Dexteria Dots – fine motor development with some math

-      Dexteria VMI – visual motor integration skills

-      Doodle Buddy – a fun drawing app

-      Little Finder – this one targets visual perception skills

-      Osmo Tangram – more visual perception skills

-      Letter Reflex – great for working on letter reversals

-  Sensory Sound Box – a calming visual and auditory app you can control by touch

Reflecting on Connecting

When traveling home after an on-site visit, I often find myself reflecting on what Trilogy Therapy is all about and why we are so proud to provide therapy services to anyone, anywhere. Trilogy Therapy uses a unique approach to provide speech, occupational and physical therapy, using both virtual therapy and on-site therapy (Mixed Model approach).

Recently, I had the pleasure of working on-site in a small school district. This was not my first visit to the district, but I had not been on-site in a couple of months. Currently, Trilogy Therapists provide virtual speech therapy to about 30 students in this district weekly. Our therapists have a strong connection with each student and share lots of smiles, laughs and triumphs together, not to mention virtual “high-fives,” fist bumps, and pats on the back. The students work hard during their therapy time, and they are making good gains to show for it, all while having a lot of fun. 

Once I checked into the school, I opened the office door to walk down the hall when I heard, “Mrs. Treide, you’re here!” I turned around to see one small (but mighty) kindergarten student, who was receiving speech therapy through our Mixed Model approach, running toward me with her arms open wide for a hug. That moment was a great reminder of why Trilogy Therapy provides therapy through virtual and on-site modes and the considerable difference our therapy makes. I know Trilogy Therapists are making connections whether we are providing services virtually or on-site and those connections carry-over into each student’s performance toward meeting his/her therapy goals. 

Trilogy Therapy is committed to providing speech, occupational and physical therapy services to rural and hard to access areas where therapists can be difficult to find. We will continue to work toward  building successful relationships and connections to help our students achieve the most growth possible. We believe no matter where you are, access to therapy should have no barriers.

Contact Trilogy Therapy today to learn more about how we can provide speech, occupational and physical therapy services to you, no matter your geographical location.

We have you covered!

Nine months notice seems like plenty of time... until you realize you need to find a solution to fill your therapist’s position while on extended leave.  With the shortages of speech, occupational and physical therapists our nation is facing, finding someone to fill in for an extended leave can be quite challenging. Don’t worry, Trilogy Therapy has you covered!

Trilogy Therapy combines teletherapy services with on-site services (Mixed Model) to offer a solution to the challenges school districts face finding speech, occupational and physical therapists.  Trilogy Therapists have their feet on the ground working and collaborating on-site with students, teachers, PLC teams, and district therapists all while combining virtual services through teletherapy. 

Trilogy Therapists work closely with the therapist who is on leave to make sure the transition goes smoothly. Our therapists continue collaborating with school staff and covering all therapy sessions, evaluations, IEP meetings, and PLC meetings just as the therapist who is on leave did, so when he/she returns it’s as seamless as possible. But most importantly, Trilogy Therapists provide top-notch, evidence based therapy to make sure all students continue to achieve success while his/her full time therapist is away. 

Trilogy Therapy believes access to therapy should have no boundaries. We are committed to providing long term and short term solutions for all of your related service needs. Consider calling Trilogy Therapy to cover your next extended leave today. Trilogy Therapy has you covered!

“Seating” Your Students Up for Success

Students can excel when given the tools they need. An appropriate work environment is imperative to facilitate function. The growing choices for seating options are exciting, but also make it difficult to decide what works best for each student. 

Traditional Chair and Desk

• Best when feet are on the floor, desk is near lower rib height and the student forearms can rest comfortably at a 90° angle. Good for most students that have adequate strength and stability to maintain internal postures correctly. 

Traditional Chair and Desk

Hokki Stool and Rocking Chair

• Allows for “controlled” movement. Great for those kids that need to move! Activates musculoskeletal system and can promote improved core posture leading to better distal control (like writing or computer work).

Hokki Stool

Standing Desks

• This is an up-and-coming new rage that allows students to be more physically active during their day while also facilitating better concentration, especially in students 3rd grade and younger. (Taking a stand to help Students. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Research Study, February 26, 2018, https://uwm.edu/news/using-standing-desks-in-schools/)

Standing Desk

Cube Chair and HowdaHug Chair

• Cube Chair - provides additional support, gives children their own space, preserves physical energy. Great for students with low tone and weakness. 

• HowdaHug Chair - provides deep pressure for improved proprioception, vestibular input. Works well for students that have Autism, ADHD, and sensory processing difficulties. 

HowdaHug Chair

Trilogy physical therapists are experts in analyzing a student’s environment and helping make meaningful implementations that improve attention, work endurance, and performance. Contact us today to learn more.

Mixed Model Approach

Everyday I’m thankful for the beautiful state I live in… the beautifully, BIG state. While Wyoming has over 97,000 square miles, it’s ranked 50th in the nation with its small population (577,737 in 2018). There are over 15,000 students in our rural state between the ages of 3 and 21 years old who receive special education, and a majority of those kids also receive related services including speech, occupational and physical therapy. Many school districts have gone to great lengths to find therapists often advertising for months and years only to fill with traveling therapists who are short-term and expensive.

By combining teletherapy services with on-site services, called our Mixed Model approach, Trilogy Therapy offers a solution to the challenge school districts face daily obtaining speech, occupational and physical therapists.  Trilogy Therapists have their feet on the ground working and collaborating on-site with students, teachers, PLC teams, and district therapists all while combining virtual services through teletherapy. The Mixed Model approach decreases the inefficiencies (including inability to fill therapy positions, increased expense, travel, etc.) of only using on-site therapy.

Trilogy Therapy is committed to providing related services to rural and hard to access areas where therapists are difficult to find. We believe no matter where you are, access to therapy should have no boundaries and we are working hard to fulfill this need throughout Wyoming.

Trilogy Therapy offers the best of both worlds with our Mixed Model approach. By combining virtual therapy services with on-site therapy services successful outcomes are achieved! Ask us about our Mixed Model approach and how we can help you implement it today! 

Contributed by Ellen C. Treide MS, CCC-SLP 

Summer's here... how to get out, enjoy it and add in speech and language!

Summer’s here!

As a mom of three girls, I can relate to both the ups and downs of that statement, but mostly the ups.  I LOVE putting little nuggets of speech and language into all of our family activities especially our summer ones. Whether we are camping, splashing around in the lake, or slipping down outdoor water slides I’m always looking for chances to increase phonemic awareness, articulation or language skills. Here are some ways you can do it too!

Camping

If you are able to go camping there are a fortune of opportunities to work on understanding and expression through talking about the experience. It’s a great time to work on prepositions (i.e., going in or out of the tent/cabin/stream, walking around the tall pine tree, standing next to the fire, etc.), following directions (i.e., “first put the marshmallow on the stick, then hold it near the fire, last take it out and blow on it,” etc.), and building new vocabulary (i.e., “those trees with leaves are called deciduous trees. Their big, broad leaves fall off in autumn,” etc.).

If you aren’t able to go camping setting up the experience in your home will provide for loads of fun and learning too. Use blocks to build a fire and roast marshmallows with sticks around it, turn on a flashlight and see what you can find in your own backyard or living room with your child. If you have access to a sleeping bag pull it out and work on climbing in and out of it. Maybe a nap or even a night’s sleep might happen in the sleeping bag!

Kick the Can, Hide and Seek or Running through sprinklers

Our family loves these games on hot summer evenings! It also provides for a great opportunity to work on a variety of vocabulary concepts such as fast/slow, high/low, up/down, behind/in front of/next to/between, etc. Your child will have a chance to use lots of gross motor movement, and this movement will help him or her produce speech sounds while having lots of fun doing it!

I Spy

Those long car rides heading to new places will give you lots of time to play “I Spy…” This is the perfect game to increase your child’s ability to describe, make inferences and reason. Ask your child to try and give two or three descriptions (or let you give two or three descriptions) before answering. You can play this in your own backyard or living room too. Try turning off the lights, and adding a flashlight to make it even more fun!

Beach

Like camping, going to the beach is filled with vocabulary building and understanding galore!  Simply talking and interacting with your child about the experiences going on around them will increase your child’s understanding and language use. Build a sand castle and use concepts such as short, tall, small, round, etc. Cover yourself or your child in sand and describe what is happening (“the sand is wet, cold, itchy,” etc.). Go swimming with your child and let them move and play with you in the water! You’ll be surprised by the speech and language during that time together!

Blowing bubbles, Sidewalk chalk, or Bike riding

Being outside and moving in the fresh air is not only exhilarating, but it brings out the speech and language too! All of these activities give you ample time to work on describing, following directions, prepositions (i.e., under/over, up/down/, next to/between/around, etc.), concepts (i.e., right/left, big/medium/little. etc.), reasoning and problem solving.

Have your child follow your directions drawing a mystery item (i.e., “draw a big circle, then a medium sized circle on top of the big circle and last a small circle on top of the medium sized circle”, etc.) or let them give you directions to draw an item. Locate a new destination while riding bike by giving your child clues (i.e., “turn left, now go straight and then take a right next to the blue house,” etc.) or let them give you clues to a new destination. Work on speech sounds while blowing bubbles by saying that sound each time you pop a bubble (i.e., “okay let’s say /s/ this time, every time we pop the bubble!”).

Summertime is a grand time for all sorts of reasons! Get out and enjoy it with your child. Playing and interacting with them will increase speech and language immensely, and I promise, you won’t even have to think about it that much!!!

Contributed by Ellen C. Treide MS, CCC-SLP