Bullseye Speech Pathology

13/09/2022

Every word can be broken up into its parts, even if the spellings are unusual.

This visual accurately shows how the word ‘house’ can be decoded / segmented, demonstrating how the ‘ou’ and ‘se’ spellings of the ‘ow’ and ‘s’ sounds are also present in other words.

How to teach high-frequency words
All words are decodable including high-frequency words with irregular spellings. In the past, we may have called them 'sight words' or 'tricky words' and taught children to memorise them by sight.
Now we know that is it important to teach children to decode them not only so that can read them, but so that they can apply their orthographic mapping skills to new words.
Check out Phonic Books Ltd free high-frequency word graphics that will help you teach them according to sound.
UK high-frequency words
https://www.phonicbooks.co.uk/advice-and-resources/free-teaching-resources/phonic-infographics/high-frequency-words-infographics/

19/03/2022

Good Job!!! 🏆

Hang on… what for? 🤔

Understandably, if you don’t know what you did well, it can be very tricky to do that thing again. It makes sense then, that -

👏 CLEARER PRAISE INCREASES THE LIKELIHOOD OF A BEHAVIOUR BEING REPEATED 🔁

So how do we move away from generic praise like “Good boy!” to actually providing meaningful feedback about what you’re happy with?

1️⃣ Think about WHAT the ACTION was that you liked, and put a positive descriptor in front of it. Examples:
🪑 Good sitting
👂 Great listening
🎤 Beautiful singing

2️⃣ Acknowledge what you noticed, using a POSITIVE TONE of voice. Examples:
🏁 You finished picking up the bean bags
🚪 You shut the door gently
🤲 You helped Billy

3️⃣ Link an EMOTION to an EVENT. Examples:
🗑 I am happy you put that rubbish in the bin
🎨 I’m proud of you for painting that picture
🏡 I’m glad you came inside

⭐️ Giving praise is such a beautiful way to connect with another person in a positive way.

Receiving praise is especially valuable when you know exactly why you’re getting it! 🌟

07/01/2022

LET’S LOOK AT BOOKS.

📕 Books have been around for such a long time!

📚Even in this increasingly digital era, hard copy books still exist and libraries still have a borrowing service.

Physical books have many benefits, including:

💞Providing opportunities for human connection and nurture, where children feel like they are their parent’s priority.

🤌 Developing fine motor skills through tactile experiences such as holding the book, turning pages, lifting flaps and feeling the textures.

🔢 Developing sequencing skills by seeing the events unfold gradually across the pages of the book.

🚧 Limiting potential damage to expensive devices and enabling unrestricted access to the stories.

👣 Allowing the focus to be on the content of the book and its relevance to everyday life and experiences, rather than any “bells and whistles” that an e-version may include.

There are many different ways you can approach story time with your child, including:

🔤 Reading the words as they are written on the pages. This way, you won’t miss anything that the author has deliberately included, like rhyming words. This also keeps the story consistent, so your child can wait in anticipation for their favourite parts, or complete some sentences.

🐒 Talking about the pictures. The benefit of this approach is that you can talk about whatever your child is most interested in. You can say as much or as little about each page as you want to, depending on your child’s language skills and attention span. It also means you can change the book each time you read it so it stays fresh and exciting.

❓ Asking questions. These questions can be about what you can see on the pages or might delve more deeply into making predictions or guesses.

👩‍🏫 Books provide such great opportunities for meaningful bonding and targeted language development. Speech pathologists often use books in therapy sessions because they are able to be used to target many different goals.

Bullseye Speech Pathology can teach you how to get the most benefit out of reading with your child. Email us today to ‘get on our books’ - info@bullseyespeech.com.au.

09/12/2021

THE GIST OF A SPEECH PATHOLOGIST 💡

A speech pathologist has an undergraduate or postgraduate degree in speech pathology from university.

The role of speech pathologists is to diagnose and treat communication disorders. Communication is a very broad term and includes:

👄 Speech - how words are pronounced;

🗣 Language - how words and sentences are understood and put together to convey a message;

📖 Literacy - how language is written down and read (including spelling and decoding);

👀 Non-verbal communication - how body language, gestures and tone convey messages;

🚦Fluency - how smoothly and efficiently messages can be spoken (also called ‘stuttering’);

📢 Voice - how vocal quality, pitch, loudness and comfort meet an individual’s needs;

📱Augmentative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) - how talking is supplemented or replaced with alternative methods.

Speech pathologists can also work with individuals who have difficulty swallowing.

Difficulties in any of the above areas are sometimes related to an individual’s diagnosis, such as Down Syndrome or an acquired brain injury. Other times, there isn’t an obvious explanation as to why the difficulties are occurring.

Speech pathology intervention can improve communication and swallowing abilities. Speech pathologists have the expertise to determine which evidence-based approach is best suited to address your difficulties.

Bullseye Speech Pathology is currently accepting new clients who wish to work on SPEECH, LITERACY, LANGUAGE or FLUENCY. Sessions can be conducted at your home in the Belconnen district, ACT.

Please visit our website at www.bullseyespeech.com.au or email info@bullseyespeech.com.au to find out more.

Bullseye Speech Pathology services the Belconnen district of the ACT. Assessments, reports and intervention are available in the areas of language, literacy, speech and fluency.

06/12/2021

I’m Ellie, the founder of Bullseye Speech Pathology.

I started Bullseye because I had a vision about how my skills and passions as a speech pathologist could birth an empowering practice, where real differences are made in the lives of those who need it.