This is a quick look at how tongue ties and upper lip ties may affect function in a variety of ways through the course of one's life. This animated video is recommended as the first place to look for a good overview about how this common anomaly can cause potentially serious health conditions.
Nicole Archambault Besson, a Speech Language Pathologist in California, is one of the best known researchers and clinicians on the speech pathologist’s role in disordered breathing. Difficulties with nasal breathing, during wakefulness and sleep affect many people of all ages and related to Orofacial Myofunctional disorders. It is within the scope of practice of a Speech Language Pathologist with specialized training, to understand how difficulties with nasal breathing affect development and functions such as speech, swallowing and breathing, including sleep disordered breathing. This article describes what red flags indicate disordered breathing as well as the SLP’s role in treating patients with these issues.
There's a silent epidemic in western civilization, and it is right under our noses. Our jaws are getting smaller and our teeth crooked and crowded, creating not only aesthetic challenges but also difficulties with breathing. Modern orthodontics has persuaded us that braces and oral devices can correct these problems. While teeth can certainly be straightened, what about the underlying causes of this rapid shift in oral evolution and the health risks posed by obstructed airways?
Sandra Kahn and Paul R. Ehrlich, a pioneering orthodontist and a world-renowned evolutionist, respectively, present the biological, dietary, and cultural changes that have driven us toward this major health challenge. They propose simple adjustments that can alleviate this developing crisis, as well as a major alternative to orthodontics that promises more significant long-term relief. Jaws will change your life. Every parent should read this book.
Alliance Speech & Language Center is proud to announce that as a longtime provider of Advanced Brain Technology (ABT) products, including The Listening Program® (TLP), we are able to offer their latest cutting edge technology. ABT develops music-based neuroacoustic products for Sound Brain Fitness for Learning, Communication, Intervention, Wellness and Performance.
Advanced Brain Technology’s newest products include Spectrum, Achieve and Sleep, as well as the latest in Bone Conduction headphone technology, Waves™. ABT now offers a new delivery of their products, through cloud, or streaming the music from most electronic devices including PC, Mac, iTouch, iPhone, iPad, or Android phone and tablets. They also provides on-screen journaling with simple and easy to use graphics for monitoring.
In addition, listeners can choose from monthly or 1 or 2 yearly subscription membership plans, If you are perusing one of the yearly memberships, you can pay the fee as well as your Waves™ headphones in 3 monthly installments as well as take advantage of the membership discount.
Shira Kirsh, M.S., CCC/SLP, Speech Language Pathologist is ready to guide you with TLP online. Go to tlp.advancedbrain.com for more information and start your 7-day free trial. Like us on Facebook at http://facebook.com/AllianceSpeechLanguageCenter and follow us on Twitter @AllianceSpchLng.
I read an article in Toastmaster’s magazine recently about Neuroplasticity. I immediately took interest as I have been reading about and applying the principles of neuroplasticity for years in my work as a SLP. Neuroplasticity is the ability the brain has to change, depending on repeated stimulation or exposure to specific experiences or actions. When you change the wiring in the brain, you create improved associations between activities and increase the processing efficiency of thoughts and actions.
One of the most interesting books I have come across on the subject is by Norman Doidge, “The Brain That Changes Itself”. It explains how spending the amount of time that we do on certain activities, actually changes the neuropathways of our brain – changing the wiring of the brain – producing specific associations, for better or for worse. Neurons that fire together, wire together. Some positive changes might be learning a new language, learning to ballroom dance and improving your memory skills. Some negative changes might mean you develop addictions such as gambling or become desensitized to violence from playing certain video games. The more you are exposed to it, the more you need to create excitement for your brain’s neurons to fire and have release of endorphins which make you feel good. Changes to the brain are possible throughout our lifetime, although it does slow down considerably as we age. But the old adage “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” is erroneous. However, frequency, intensity and repetition are all important if you are interested in making changes in the brain. So, choose your activities wisely and remember it’s never too late to learn something new.
The tool that I started using fervently in my practice 10 years ago, when I first started reading about neuroplasticity was something most of us really like. Music. Music has the ability to excite neurons, create mood, help us learn, facilitate action. It is used to heal, aid us in prayer, march soldiers and teach young children the alphabet and important facts. Neuroplasticity and the power of music.
Music helps us move – listening to music with a good beat provides the pace and the rhythm for everything from aerobic exercise, to running, to ice-skating, to lifting weights to cardio activities in the water. It usually has a fast, strong bass beat to help ground us and provide us with rhythm, and high tones for increased energy. It can help us be creative and inspire us. High pitch, fast pace makes us want to get up and go – whether it’s to exercise, dance or do something constructive around the house. But it also provides us with improved abstract thought.
Classical music has been particularly helpful in helping us learn. Don Campbell, who wrote “The Mozart Effect”, explains how this particular genre of music mimics language. There is intonation and turn-taking inherent in the composition, especially in Mozart’s music and other classical pieces which have mathematical patterns that are repetitive, and has been scientifically proven to improve the intelligence of young children who are exposed to it on a regular basis. Participants in music education in school perform better on the math and reading sections of the SATs and improve their memory and concentration. The corpus callosum of the brain of musicians is strengthened, bridging the left and right hemispheres of the brain and allowing them to communicate more efficiently. There are middle tones in the music that is facilitating to us for learning and thinking – a great companion to studying.
Music can help us heal – it can help us relax, lower blood pressure, even reduce the number of seizures in epileptics. It improves those recovering from stroke and head injury. With slower pace, fewer beats per minute (bpm), we entrain to the music as our breathing and heart rate slow down to match it, often used in Yoga, for instance. For those of you with insomnia, avoid watching highly stimulating TV late at night and try listening to slow music.
I have used specially engineered music with certain specifications to be used therapeutically, to help clients with auditory processing disorders, ADHD, language disorders, autism spectrum disorders and more. It is produced by Advanced Brain Technologies and is called The Listening Program® or TLP. I have seen huge transformations in my clients who follow certain listening protocols. They typically listen to special music for 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week, for at least 20 weeks. It supplements the therapy they receive. The most powerful delivery of this specially engineered music is via Bone Conduction. Advanced Brain Technologist also produces The Sound Health Series, which is music for various needs: Music for Concentration, Thinking, Learning, Relax, Destress, Inspiration and Motiviation. I also use a variety of music while patients are performing certain exercises; for young children it might be music from popular Disney or Pixar films – “Up”, “Cars” and “Frozen” to name a few. Not only do they keep up a certain pace and rhythm to the exercises they are doing, but they associate the activity with a more positive experience as they are enjoying the music as well.
So whatever your age, if you are in the market to make changes in the way you think, feel, act or heal, consider using music to aid your tasks – and choose the music thoughtfully. Consider bpm for the timing, the pitch range of the music and the mood that the music sets to match your task. Remember this simple idea behind neuroplasticity and the power of music. Neurons that fire together, wire together.
Do you, or someone you know, live with snoring, teeth grinding, poor sleep, aches and pains, chronic fatigue, moodiness, and other seemingly inexplicable symptoms? Your whole body suffers oxygen deficiency from a clogged airway and poor sleep when your mouth is structurally impaired. Six-Foot Tiger, Three-Foot Cage is the first book EVER to connect the dots between your mouth structure and total health. “Six-foot tiger” is the vicious medical, dental, mood, and financial consequences of a “three-foot cage” — a mouth that's too small for the tongue. Dr. Liao shows you if Impaired Mouth is the start of a domino effect of your (or your patients') persistent, escalating, and costly symptoms. Actual cases illustrate how Holistic Mouth Solutions™ can effectively redevelop “three-foot cages” by combining innovative Whole Health approaches with stem-cell-activating oral appliances to produce unexpected and even life-changing improvements. "An Impaired Mouth is the start of a domino effect leading to medical, dental, mental, and financial troubles. Pay attention." - Sally Fallon Morell, President, The Weston A. Price Foundation “Dr. Liao’s 6FT3FC shows ingenious ways to solve snoring, sleep apnea, teeth grinding, chronic pain, and fatigue with his novel-yet-sensible Holistic Mouth Solutions.” - Steven Y. Park, MD, Author of Sleep Interrupted “A must read for all dentists, medical doctors, and patients." - Simon Yu, MD, Author of Accidental Cure
Has your child been diagnosed with sleep apnea? If so, you're not alone. In this comprehensive handbook for parents, pediatric sleep experts provide answers to the most common and difficult questions from parents, including: What is sleep apnea? What causes sleep apnea? How is sleep apnea diagnosed? How do I prepare my child for a sleep study? What are the treatment options? Why take the tonsils and adenoids out? How do I get my child to wear CPAP?
"Maybe you're stressed out and tired, and have put on a little weight. Or you have persistent pain you and your doctor can't explain. Man or woman, you may be fighting fluctuating hormone levels. Or maybe you snore like a freight train. Anything that narrows the throat and interrupts sleep, particularly breathing problems brought on by sleep position, illness, life changes, or your anatomy, may be key to understanding a host of common health issues. In this groundbreaking book, Dr. Steven Park outlines a simple, rational explanation for what s making you sick, and provides guidance for treatment options that address specific health problems." Amazon.com
Your sleep and your health go hand in hand. We treat a variety of different problems and disorders that can prevent good sleeping. If you are having trouble breathing, you wake up frequently, or feel tired during the day, schedule a time to come see us.
How to identify sleep problems in your children and differentiate between sleep disorders from sleep disordered breathing. Learn how to myo-optimize your child for better airway health, or learn why they may need myo-correct with the proper team of professionals.
The author, Sharon Moore is a speech language pathologist and orofacial myologist in Australia who is part of a transdisciplinary team at the Canberra Sleep Clinic - the first of its kind with an orofacial myofunctional therapist on staff.
Providing language learning of 2 or more types for young children present many challenges to families and teachers. As our society becomes more culturally diverse, it becomes more commonplace to see children in a classroom with bilingual development occurring.
Generally, the development of two different languages occurring simultaneously occurs in 3 stages. During the first stage, the child has a single lexical system, which holds vocabulary items from both languages, or two separate lexical systems with little mixing or code switching. It is normal for some children to demonstrate some confusion between two developing languages and insert single items from one language into the other (McClure, 1977). It is preferable for infants to be exposed to 2 languages in a “one person, one-language” situation in which one parent speaks tone language while the other speaks another rather than both parents speaking one language in different situations. The child starts to separate words belonging to each language and recognizes to which person each language should be spoken. Learn the sounds specific to each language or phonological differentiation between two languages is also occurring between 2 and 2 1/2 years. In the second stage, the child applies the same syntactic or grammatical rules to two different lexicons. This is a slow and difficult process of generalization during the third and final stage, the child correctly produces lexical (vocabulary) and syntactic (grammatical) structures form each language. The child is completely bilingual by age 7 with two separate processing systems.
The National center for Research on Cultural Diversity and Second Language Learning publish a Digest geared towards fostering second language development I young children. They suggest 8 principles to assist educators working with linguistically diverse students, which were developed from theory and research on second language acquisition and culturally sensitive instruction. They facilitate understanding that bilingualism is a process that occurs in stages.
Principle #1: Bilingualism is an asset and should be fostered.
Principle #2: There is an ebb and flow to children’s bilingualism; it is rare for both languages to be perfectly balanced.
Principle #3: There are different cultural patterns in language use.
Principle #4: For some bilingual children, code switching is a normal language phenomenon.
Principle #5: Children come to learn second languages in any different ways.
Simultaneous acquisition – usually a child under age 3 who is exposed to 2 languages
Type 1 – simultaneous bilingualism – early exposure to both languages and given ample opportunities to use both
Type 2 – receptive bilingualism – children who have high exposure to a second language but have little opportunities to use or practice it
Successive acquisition – exposure to 2 languages after age 3
Type 3 – rapid successive bilingualism – children who have had little exposure o a second language before entering school have ample opportunities to use it once they enter
Type 4 – slow successive bilingualism – children who have had little exposure toa second language and have few opportunities and/or low motivation to use it.
Principle #6: Language is used to communicate meaning. Meaningful activities that require using a second language will facilitate internalization of a second language more readily.
Principle #7: Language flourishes best in a language-rich environment.
Principle #8: Children should be encouraged to experiment with language.
While minimal delays in language development can be observed in bilingual development, a child ho is suspected to be at-risk for speech and language disorders should be referred to a speech language pathologist for diagnosis and potential treatment. General guidelines for language development are as follow: first words are produced at 1 year of age, 50 words at 18 months, and 200 words at 2 years with many combined productions (phrases or short sentences). There is normally an explosion of language development between the ages of 2 and 3. Although a child may have a known communication disorder, bilingual development is still beneficial and should not be abruptly limited to one language unless suggested by a therapist. However, “one-person, one-language” situations may be emphasized to reduce code switching and confusion.
For further information contact:
Bilingual Family Newsletter published quarterly. A free sample copy is available by writing to: Multilingual Matters, Frankfurt Lodge Clevedon, Hall Victoria Road, Avon, BS21 7SJ.
The Hanen Centre, Suite 403-1075 Bay Street, Toronto, ON M5S 2B1, Canada info@hanen.org
ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics, 4646 40th Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20016-1859
