ACQ Vol 12 No 2 2010

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98 ACQ Volume 12, Number 2 2010 ACQuiring knowledge in speech, language and hearing
9. Animalia Frieze
(suggested by Ros Neilson)
By Graeme Base (Viking). Available from Mosaic Resources
.
6. Traffic Lights
(suggested by Hilary Cleator)
Custom-designed/made to order by Technical Aid to the
Disabled )
“Go!” “Stop!” “Careful!” I use a set of miniature traffic lights
to give instant and eye-catching visual feedback during all
manner of clinical tasks (e.g., speech and language therapy;
phonological awareness activities). If the lights turn green,
a child knows they have done well; amber is a cue to think
more carefully about their response; and if the lights turn
red it’s definitely time to stop, think and maybe try again.
At first I used the traffic lights during specific therapy tasks,
but I have found children enjoy playing with the controls and
operating the lights themselves (they are child-proof). The
lights often act as an “ice-breaker”, especially for those who
are shy during the first clinical contact. As the child becomes
absorbed in manipulating the lights in the context of a
game involving toys such as cars, trains, fire engines and
pedestrians, they usually start communicating in whatever
way they can. The battery-powered lights are 13 cm high
and 4 cm wide.
7. My First Picture Pairs
(suggested by Katherine Gorrie)
By DK Games. Available from
Learning Ladder (www.
).
My First Picture Pairs is
an invaluable resource with
innumerable uses. I use these
pictures every day for language
stimulation, posting, matching,
picture identification, following
directions, auditory discrimination
and visual memory development.
The pictures are of everyday
common objects on a plain white
background and are just the right
size for little hands.
8. Bunny Hop
(suggested by Alex Holliday)
By Educational Insights. Available from Amazon (www.
.
In the game Bunny Hop, 20 bunnies of four different
colours are hiding in a carrot patch. Children need to
help the farmers catch the bunnies in a game of luck and
memory. Some of the chosen bunnies will jump high out
of their holes, while others stay put. The winner is the first
person to collect at least one bunny of each colour. This
is the one game that my clients keep coming back to –
children of all ages love it.
Correspondence to:
Alexandra Holliday
email:
In my waiting room I have a long frieze that is a reproduction
of Graeme Base’s marvellously illustrated alphabet picture book,
Animalia. The frieze keeps parents and adults entertained in
a most productive way. Parents do often need to be told that
the point of the pictures is not just to read the alliterative
tongue twisters on each page, and children do need to be
told that the game is not just to find the little boy hidden in
each of the illustrations. The book, rather, provides hours of
intriguing practice with word-finding and vocabulary building
as one works out what the alliterative reference is for each of
the detailed images on each page. Once parents and
children are familiar with the frieze, they often ask to borrow
my copy of the book – I have picked up several copies over
the years, and am happy to share the pleasure with them.
10. Caroline Bowen’s Phonological
Therapy Listserv
(suggested by Ros Neilson)
To sign up, go to
phonologicaltherapy/.
Caroline Bowen’s Phonological Therapy listserv provides
a positively exhilarating experience of what can happen
in terms of communicating and networking in this day
of the world wide web. People from all over the world
contribute to the discussions on a range of clinical problems
relating to phonology – including the top researchers in
the field, experienced professionals, and ordinary plodding
professionals or students who sometimes ask the simple
questions that all of us really wanted to ask but didn’t have
the courage. Caroline Bowen herself is very generous with
specific bits of advice, constructive comments and practical
suggestions, and the listserv has a “Files” storage area that
contains a treasure trove of resources. The interchanges
occasionally get heated, but everything is well moderated
and things get politely smoothed out in the end. The listserv
is free for speech pathologists and other professionals to
join, and is priceless in terms of value.