Timeline Photos

"A great conversation is like a game of catch." We love this reminder for the conversations we enjoy with our children. Radio host, Celeste Headlee, reminds us that in a conversation you should catch as much as you throw. This means you should be talking 50% of the time and listening 50% of the time to find the balance of a great conversation. If your child is not yet communicating using words, or they are using single words or short phrases, be sure they still get a fair share of the conversation. Facial expressions, gestures, and silence are valuable parts of a conversation!

The 100 Words of Summer

We love this challenge! Try to teach your child 100 new words over the summer - if you start now that is only 2 words a day! The number of words your child knows by age 5 is a predictor of their reading abilities. This is a great way to get a head start! Try thinking of new ways to talk about how hot it is out there. Tropical, humid, sizzling, scorching, blistering, smoking, piping... the possibilities are endless!

Timeline Photos

"Focus on minutes not hours. You must master your minutes to master your life." This advice from Kevin Kruse was intended to help people increase their productivity. This advice is also extremely valuable when it comes to helping your child develop their communication skills. It only takes a minute to stop, talk about what your child is doing, introduce a new word or concept, ask a question, or expand what your child is thinking about. Another piece of advice from Kevin is to focus on only one thing. Take a minute, focus on what your child is doing and saying, and use these teachable moments!

Timeline Photos

Thank you to the Natural Care Clinic and their amazing team of professionals for hosting the 2016 Biomedical Conference. We had a fantastic day presenting, learning and meeting many wonderful families!

Timeline Photos

"We think with our eyes." One of the important messages we learned from Michelle Garcia Winner who teaches courses on Social Thinking. She emphasizes that our thoughts and intentions belong to the people or objects that we are looking at. A valuable lesson to think about as we model appropriate social behaviours for our children in a world flooded with visual distractions. If I am looking at you, then I am thinking about you and listening to you. Thank you for this powerful reminder Michelle!

Timeline Photos

Day 2 of learning with the fabulous Michelle Garcia Winner.

Timeline Photos

SpeechHouse is on our first road trip this week!! Looking forward to two great days of Social Thinking with Michelle Garcia Winner.

Timeline Photos

6th Annual Biomedical Conference

We are looking forward to this amazing event!

Timeline Photos

"Kids do well if they can". A powerful message delivered by Dr. Stuart Ablon, Director of Think:Kids. "Challenging behaviours in a child are a result of lack of skill not will." Think about the situation when your child is struggling and consider what skills might be lacking. Do they have the language to tell you how they feel? Do they have adequate problem solving skills? Do they have the social skills needed for this situation? Think about what skills you can support next time in this situation. Kids do well if they can!

If you don't mind the possibility of a little vacuuming, this activity will entertain and educate for hours!

Timeline Photos

Our sincere thanks to the VOICE parents, teens, and volunteers for their efforts to organize a fantastic VOICE fundraising evening. It was a pleasure to connect with friends old and new and to support such an amazing organization.