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September 2024: A Tale of Two Campuses
Elizabeth Knapp & Christie Whelan
September 20, 2024
A newsletter brought to you by the Speech Department at Children’s Academy
In this newsletter:
September 2024
A Tale of Two Campuses
September always comes with changes, but I think we’ve outdone ourselves this year! Lower schoolers got to stretch their legs and seem to be enjoying the extra space. Upper schoolers have had lots to explore, from the school itself to the classroom views and new walking routes! Being in the heart of midtown seems to have its perks. Students at both campuses participated in scavenger hunts to get better acquainted with the space. Many upper school students are building peer relationships in their new dyad speech groups and extra social time during lunch. In lower school’s social group, students had fun with fall themes! |  A Welcome Back Party Address |
 Exploring the space  Turning over a new leaf  Taking a breather  Coexisting in the calm corner |  Football season is upon us!  Candyland strategy session  Enjoying the festivities  Simon says “hands up!” |
Here comes the school bus!
SLP Spotlight: Christie Whelan
 Christie Whelan, CCC-SLP | Christie Whelan (formerly Haggerty) has been an SLP at CA since 2021. She is currently our Lower School Supervisor, and works with our Kindergarten class. She has previously worked with our second, third, and fourth graders. Christie’s areas of interest and expertise are Gestalt Language Processing, Childhood Apraxia of Speech, literacy development, and reading comprehension. She is especially passionate about curriculum modification to support Gestalt Language Learners in the classroom. Her favorite parts about working at Children’s Academy are connecting with our amazing students and growing professionally alongside our talented, dedicated staff. |
When she’s not at work, Christie likes to go for runs around the city, spend time with her friends, and go to salsa dancing classes with her husband!
Topics in Speech-Language Pathology: Narrative Language
Stories are all around us! Think about the last time you traveled to work or ran an errand that didn’t go as you may have expected. Maybe you found yourself in traffic or hit some train delays. Maybe the grocery store didn’t have any dill, so you had to change your entire dinner menu. When you finally reached your destination, who did you tell, and how did you tell the story? My guess would be that you told your co-workers, friends, or family members. You likely started with the problem and ended with the solution. I’m certain you included your thoughts and feelings on the whole ordeal! |  |
Now think about all of the cognitive and linguistic processes you had to orchestrate simultaneously: attention, memory, sequencing, access to vocabulary, descriptive language, inferencing, and perspective-taking…wow. This is why narrative language tasks are BOTH extremely challenging for those with language learning differences AND… the perfect therapy task.
Narrative skills are academically and socially important. They provide context for learning, allow us to become more aware of our own experiences, and share them in order to connect with others.
So, when SLPs are working on narrative skills, what are we targeting, and why? Here’s a rundown of some narrative buzzwords you might notice on your child’s goal sheet, and what they all mean!
Story grammar (macrostructure): This refers to the big picture components of a story. Depending on the student’s level, they may be working to simply identify the characters and/or setting. After that, they might try to figure out the problem and solution. Advanced storytellers may include initiating events, thoughts, feelings, motivations, and resolutions.
Sequencing: Students may be working on recalling story events and putting corresponding pictures in order. This is targeting the foundational awareness of temporal or cause-and-effect relationships or (i.e., how events are connected).
Main idea: Why was the story written or told? What is the author mainly trying to share? This is such an important skill, academically and socially, and it is huge when it comes to students' overall comprehension.
Retell: Can the student recall all the relevant details and tell the story in their own words? Are they using transitional language to demonstrate their knowledge of temporal relationships (first, next, so, because, therefore, etc.)?
Summarizing: Students now know the main idea and they know how to retell stories, but can they synthesize this information and choose only the most important parts to share? This is hard for many people!
Grammar/verb tenses (microstructure): When the students retell stories, are they using correct grammar and varying their verb tenses?
Personal narratives: When students can effectively retell a story, they might be ready to chat about events related to themselves. This is where the social component comes in. They can share their experiences with peers, listen to others’ personal stories and make connections!
We can’t wait to hear their story!
Overheard at CA
 | “After tomorrow, we’ll have a full class of teenagers.” -Nano Nano is a 13-year-old verbal communicator who has been enjoying the many fall birthdays at CA. |
Do it at home: Declarative Language
Do you find yourself constantly giving directions to your child? “Stand here!” “Can you get your backpack?” “Give some to your sister!” “Don’t do that!” “Put away those toys! Here’s a strategy you can try - It’s called declarative language! Declarative language statements can help support your child’s independent processing of language to engage with the “why” of directions in social situations with more independence. |  |
What is it?
Using a comment, observation, or thought to prompt your child’s internal thought processes about how to participate in a social situation.
What does it sound like?
“Our dog looks really hungry!” —> Child goes to get the dog food
“I notice your sister looking at your toys. Maybe she wants to play too!” —> Child includes peer in play
“Looks like mom, dad, grandma, and brother are at the table for dinner” —> Child joins meal time
“I don’t know if I can get to the other side of the room safely when the toys are out” —> Child clears toys out of the way
“Smells like the cookies are ready. They might be really hot.” —> Child suggests or takes out oven mitts.
It can also sound like a comment, without inherent pressure to respond!
“I loved going to the park with you today!”
“My favorite part of the movie was when…”
“Don’t forget about how you did the monkey bars all by yourself! I wonder how you felt about that.”
What is it not?
Using a direct command or a command disguised as a question.
“Go pick up those toys.”
“Can you please put away the spoons?”
Let’s apply declarative language to a familiar situation: Errands time!
It’s time to go out to run some errands in the community. You are ready to go, but your child is still missing their socks, shoes, and jacket. You could use a directive such as, “Put on your socks, put on your shoes, and then put on your jacket.” Or, you could try a declarative statement instead such as, “I am all ready to go! I wonder what you need to be ready.”
You might find that this type of statement will kick-start your child’s thought process for the social situation of leaving the house, and your child might then be able to get ready on their own without further instructions! Your child might even respond verbally, “I need my socks and shoes! I need my coat!” Then, you’ve created a dynamic experience in which you have a verbal dialogue with your child, as opposed to the command being given and then followed. The child is less dependent on your verbal command, because you’ve prompted their thought process instead!
…you’ve created a dynamic experience in which you have a verbal dialogue with your child, as opposed to the command being given and then followed.
However, if your child does not respond to declarative language cues right away, you might consider an additional statement. In the example above, you could try, “I’ve got my socks, my shoes, and a coat just in case I feel cold” or point to those items on yourself.
To wrap up
While younger children with language delays tend to benefit from simply-worded directives to follow commands reliably, an older child or one who has mastered following directives may be a good candidate for declarative language cues instead.
By replacing the direct command with a “I notice,” “I think,” or “maybe” statement, you put the onus on your child to engage thoughtfully with the social situation at hand, figure out their response or action, and do so with a greater level of independence. Prompt dependence and power struggles decrease, while connection, problem solving, and teamwork increase!
Prompt dependence and power struggles decrease, while connection, problem solving, and teamwork increase
For more information, check out “The Declarative Language Handbook” which is available on Amazon for $9.99. The book is catered to children with social learning challenges, but the principles can be applied to any child. It’s a quick read, with applicable examples you can start to use with your child right away. I highly recommend it!