Speech Babe

I say to it,

Cleaning & Tidying

Make your bed in the morning. It takes seconds, and it’s worth it.

Reset to zero each morning. 

Use the UFYH 20/10 system for clearing your shit. 

Get a reed diffuser and stick it on your windowsill. 

Have a ‘drop-zone’ box where you dump anything and everything. At the beginning/end of the day, clear it out and put that shit away.

Roll your clothes, don’t fold them - or fold them vertically.

Automate your chores. Have a cleaning schedule and assign 15mins daily to do whatever cleaning tasks are set for that day. Set a timer and do it - once the timer is up, finish the task you’re on and leave it for the day. 

Fold your clothes straight out of the tumble dryer (if you use one), whilst they’re still warm. This minimises creases and eliminates the need for ironing. 

Clean your footwear regularly and you’ll feel like a champ. 

Organisation & Productivity

Learn from Eisenhower’s Importance/Urgency matrix. 

Try out the two-minute rule and the Pomodoro technique.

Use. A. Planner. (Or Google Calendar, if that’s more your thing.)

Try bullet journalling.

Keep a notebook/journal/commonplace book to dump your brain contents in on the regular. 

Set morning alarms at two-minute intervals rather than five, and stick your alarm on the other side of the room. It’s brutal, but it works. 

Set three main goals each day, with one of them being your #1 priority. Don’t overload your to-do list or you’ll hit overload paralysis and procrastinate. 

If you’re in a slump, however, don’t be afraid to put things like “shower” on your to do list - that may be a big enough goal in itself, and that’s okay. 

Have a physical inbox - a tray, a folder, whatever. If you get a piece of paper, stick it in there and sort through it at the end of the week.

Consider utilising the GTD System, or a variation of it.

Try timeboxing. 

Have a morning routine, and guard that quiet time ferociously. 

Save interesting-looking shit to instapaper. Have a set time where you read through the stuff you saved to instapaper and save the shit that you like from instapaper to evernote (or bookmark it properly). 

During your working hours, put on your footwear, even if you’re sat on your bed. (Why?)

Have a folder for all your important documents and letters, organised by topic (e.g. medical, bank, university, work, identification). At the front of this folder, have a sheet of paper with all the key information written on it, such as your GP’s details, your passport details, driving licence details, bank account number, insurance number(s), and so on. 

Try using StayFocusd and RescueTime (or similar apps/extensions). (I promise, you’ll find that you’re not as busy as you think you are.)

Schedule working time and down time alike, in the balance that works for you. 

Money

Have. A. God. Damn. Budget. 

Use a money tracker like toshl, mint, or splitwise. Enter all expenses asap! (You will forget, otherwise.)

Have a ‘money date’ each week, where you sort through your finances from the past seven days and then add it to a spreadsheet. This will help you identify your spending patterns and whether your budget is actually working or not. 

Pack your own frickin’ lunch like a grown-up and stop buying so many takeaway coffees. Keep snacks in your bag. 

Go to your bank and take out £100 in £1 coins (or w/e your currency is). That shit will come in useful for all kinds of things and you’ll never be short on change for the bus or the laundry. 

Food & Cooking

Know how to cook the basics: a starch, a protein, a vegetable, and a sauce.

Simple, one-pot meals (“a grain, a green, and a bean”) are a godsend. 

Dried porcini mushrooms make a fantastic stock to cook with. 

Batch cook and freeze. Make your own ‘microwave meals’. 

Buy dried goods to save money - rice and beans are a pittance. (Remember to soak dried beans first, though!) 

Consider Meatless Mondays; it’s healthier, cheaper, and more environmentally friendly.

Learn which fruits and vegetables are cheapest at your store, and build a standard weekly menu around those. (Also remember that frozen vegetables are cheap and healthy.) 

Learn seasoning combinations. Different seasoning, even with the exact same ingredients, can make a dish seem completely new. 

Don’t buy shit for a one-off recipe, especially if you won’t use it all. If you really want to try out a recipe, see if a friend would be interested in making it with you, then pool for the expenses. 

Make your own goddamned pasta sauce. Jamie Oliver has a decent recipe here, but the beauty of tomato sauce is that you can totally wing it and adapt the fuck out of it. 

Misc

Have a stock email-writing format. 

Want to start running, but find it boring? Try Zombies, Run!. 

Keep a goddamn first aid kit and learn how to use it. 

Know your OTC pain relief. 

Update your CV regularly. 

Keep a selection of stamps and standard envelopes for unexpected posting needs. (It happens more regularly than you would think!) 

Some final words of advice:

Organisation is not a goal in itself, it is a tool. Don’t get caught up in the illusion of productivity and get distracted from the actual task at hand. 

Routines and habits will help you. Trust in them.

:) Can’t wait to be a SLP.

Love my major.

(via hannahzabka)

I enjoy this quote because it shows that SLPs not only help with teaching a person speech and language, but it helps with giving a person confidence. 

I’m like,

But then I’m like,

[This post first appeared on GRE Vocab Zone, a site for learning GRE Vocabulary words in context.]

While studying for the GRE, I used several resources. Some were free and others I had to pay for. I took the GRE 2+ times to achieve my target score so these recommendations come from having several opportunities to try different approaches to studying.

Honorable Mentions

There are a lot of free resources for GRE preparation. Anytime, I had a problem with a specific type of question or concept, which was often, I simply Googled it, and found various resources. I did this to better understand mixture problems and also special right triangles. Kaplan, Manhattan Prep, Magoosh, and many other GRE preparation sites offer blogs with useful tips and strategies for the test. I did not rely on any of the blogs because I searched extensively for the resources that worked for my own learning style- I encourage you all to do the same.

Greenlight Test Prep (FREE): This site has pretty good videos for the quantitative section. I think it is similar to Magoosh’s instructional videos.

Vocabulary.com (FREE): This is my favorite dictionary for looking up words. Nothing beats it. The tagline for vocabulary.com is “Definitions with Soul” and I totally agree.

Google Search as a dictionary (FREE): You know this- but I still can’t say enough about it.

Youtube (FREE): So many instructional videos are available on YouTube.

Books (PAID). All these books are available on Amazon.

I tried the following books: 

Official ETS GRE Guide: A most have book to practice real GRE questions from the test maker.

Barron’s books: I took a short GRE course that used Barron’s, I did not like the book with the 6 practice tests but I really liked the general GRE book by Barron’s.

CliffNotes GRE General Test (with CD): I got this book for free but even at that, I don’t really recommend it.

Manhattan Prep Books (7 Guides): I am an avid user of Scribd, so I checked out all 7 guides using their service (I already pay monthly for e-books and audiobooks anyway). 

Manhattan Prep 5ibs Book: I tried the 5ibs book (online version) but seeing all those questions to go through actually stressed be out so I stopped using it. I can’t really say much about it for that reason. I also think a hard copy of the book would be easier to navigate than the e-book.

CliffNotes Math Review for Standardized Tests: I worked through this book before I even started really studying for the GRE, I believe it is a great refresher.

GRE Vocab Capacity: I tried to use the book and I know that it is a great resource but I did not get past the “A” words. I did, however, resort to using book #8 on this list.

VOCABBUSTERS GRE: Even though this book contains less words that the GRE Vocab Capacity book, I loved it because it was more interactive and I could be sure that I really really knew a few words, rather than just reading to get through the book- which is what I found myself doing with the GRE Vocab Capacity book.

Apps

Magoosh’s Vocabulary Builder (FREE): I actually liked this one more than the Magoosh GRE Vocabulary Flashcard App. But try both out and see which one works for you. I plan to continue to use the vocabulary builder app.

Quizlet (FREE): I did a search for GRE vocabulary sets, and spent a lot of time listening to these words in my car on my way to work. I also played the matching game on my phone. It was actually pretty fun and you are always playing to beat your previous time.

Vocabulary.com (PAID app): As I mentioned previously, I absolutely love vocabulary.com. I bought the app but I hardly use the app version. I still use the website.

Memrise (FREE): I suggest that you all try this. You can create your own GRE vocabulary lists or use one that someone else created.

Paid Online Resources

Magoosh (PAID, referral link is used): Great all around GRE preparation service. I believe Magoosh helps you become familiar with your timing on each question type. It also gives you the opportunity to continuously practice on the computer (i.e. moving from scratch paper to answer entry and making sure that you are copying down the right numbers and solving for the right value).

EmpowerGRE (PAID): This site provides test taking tactics for the GRE quantitative section and they use the Official ETS Book. If you actually need to learn basic math, I would recommend that you begin with Magoosh videos or start with Khan Academy videos for a real refresher. EmpowerGRE is really all about tactics to answering the questions.

Quantum GRE (PAID): This is a site with video explanations to questions in the Official Guide to the GRE and PowerPrep II. Please note: I did not purchase the course ($89 for 3 months of access) but I did watch the FREE videos that were available.

My Site

GRE Vocab Zone (PAID): Trying to remember the word definitions was a little challenging for me. So I created a story with memorable characters and then I studied the story and it helped with my vocabulary retention. The story can be accessed on GREVocabZone.com.

Quick Tip

For those of you who have an Amazon Echo, it is a great way to study GRE Vocabulary. I simply say “Alexa, define: xxx” and I get the definition. Great way to practice vocabulary. I believe the definitions are obtained from Google.

I hope all of these resources help you to reach your target score. 

1) People are applying from all different backgrounds. The majority of the time when applying for college, most people are applying either directly from high school, or a few years out. In the grad school applicant pool, there are not only CSD majors, but post-bac students, people who are starting their second career, people who took time off between college and getting their Master’s, and people who may have only taken a couple of speech classes. 

2) You need to be more than a well-rounded student. In high school, you needed to get good grades and generally be involved. Grad school doesn’t only expect you to have good grades. They want you to have experience. They want you to want to be there. And, in your application, they want you to prove why you want to go to their school and what you are able to bring to their program. You need to sell yourself. 

May is “Better Hearing and Speech Month”, an annual awareness campaign organised by ASHA. The theme for 2016 is “communication takes care”, encouraging conversation and exchange in children and adults.

Learning Resources provide an array of communication resources designed to build confidence in early vocabulary and oral language skills. In order to raise awareness of this campaign and its goals, we’ve teamed up with Belinda Robertson, Specialist Speech and Language Therapist at Hitchin Speech Therapy, to ask some key questions about communication and social development in young learners.

Mrs Belinda Robertson

Independent Specialist Speech & Language Therapist (SLT)

 Belinda is a qualified Speech and Language Therapist who has had an extensive and enjoyable 32 years working with children of all ages and personalities, in a wide range of different locations and establishments.

She has been an SLT manager in the NHS, tutored nursing students, a community governor of an ‘outstanding’ nursery school, is a mother herself and now works in her own private Speech and Language Therapy practice (www.hitchinspeechtherapy.com ). She has a huge wealth of experience working with children with many different speech and language difficulties and special needs; including autism, Downs Syndrome, stammering, feeding & swallowing difficulties, dyspraxia, learning difficulties, voice problems, brain injury and cerebral palsy.

At ‘Hitchin Speech Therapy’ she feels extremely lucky to work with children of all different ages and therefore with a huge range of toys and resources on a daily basis!

How can parents and childminders support their children’s verbal communication at home?

0-2   years

Look at books together, sing songs and traditional rhymes, stacking toys to develop turn-taking, hand and action rhymes. No screen time/media for under 2’s is often recommended by many paediatricians

Pre-school

Play, play, play! Remember you are your child’s favourite plaything/toy!

Get down to your child’s level – play and talk so they can really see your face.

More books, more songs, more action songs & rhymes, more traditional nursery rhymes. Their benefit for speech and language development cannot be stressed enough.

Turn-taking puzzles and games– COMMUNICATION is all about verbal turn taking.

Play what we call ‘The Child’s Game’ where you follow your child’s lead and not your own agenda.

Turn off the T. V, media and iPad/iPhone…limit it to national guidelines.

Develop your child’s understanding of letters and sounds by teaching them both the letter as in ‘g’ (gee) and the phonic sound ‘g’.

Support your child’s language by remembering the ‘Rule of hand’ = make 4 comments (fingers) to one question (thumb). Your child is more likely to continue and develop a conversation this way than just answering your yes/no QUESTION.

What style of game would you recommend to support children’s social development?

Peek-a-boo, row-row-row-the-boat – action songs and rhymes

I-spy type games

Verbal turn-taking of any sort

Remember to ‘role-reverse’ when playing games so that your child becomes ‘the teacher’!

Develop the rules of turn-taking from quite early on. You can do this with siblings, family members and friends. Eg: ball rolling to each other, putting pieces in a puzzle or putting the next brick on a tower.

Ready, steady…go games! Always a winner!

A Speech and Language Therapist is never seen without her bubbles – great for getting social skills and interaction going.

  What is the value of hands-on games?

With hands on games your child SEES and HEARS and UNDERSTANDS (at a very basic level) that you want to spend time with them, that you cherish them and that you want to spend your valuable time with them.

These types of games develop speech, language, communication, turn-taking, interaction, patience, fine-motor, thought, logic, numeracy, concepts and ideas…the young brain is like a sponge and wants to soak all these skills up each and every day.

They are fun and enjoyable – you can laugh and laugh and laugh.

They relax you and your child.

You develop reciprocal (shared) experiences – so essential for attachment, bonding and nurturing.

You can play hands on games at any age from 6 months – 100. Get the whole family involved!

Have you noticed any consequences of children living in the digital age?

Research is showing that in some areas language/talking/listening is less well developed on entry to pre-school, nursery and reception.

Head Teachers are telling me they are noticing this more and more, and that it is having a detrimental effect on early language, social skills, listening and attention skills, which have a knock on effect on a child’s early literacy (reading, writing and spelling).

Do you have any advice for the prevention of hearing and speech difficulties in young children?

Offer as many listening and speaking opportunities as you can - throughout the day and every day.

If you know of any speech, language, autistic spectrum disorder, stammering or hearing loss in your family history – get early advice if you can.

If you are concerned, follow your mum/dad instinct and request advice or an assessment early. Early intervention is recommended in the literature.

Reduce and stop dummy use as soon as you can. Persistent and habitual use is linked to Glue Ear and suspected hearing difficulties.

Turn the TV, radio, tablet down rather that up – even better, off.

Do not give young children headphones unless advised by a professional to do so.

Attend professional appointments if you are offered them – others may be concerned about your child’s development, even if you feel they are coming on well.

(Parents are advised to look up the latest research on the internet for further information. Guidelines and advice change frequently with updated research).

Belinda does not have anything against ipads when used sensibly/limited and also uses them in some therapy sessions.

Belinda has tested out some of our communication resources within a therapy setting including Plot Blocks™ Story Building Activity Set and Wild About Animals Snapshots™ Critical Thinking Photo Cards. “The fierce animals looked fierce (which my boy students loved) and the more gentle animals did look really gentle and appealing. Many of the cards created a sense of animation, movement, humour and anticipation – just like wild animals should!” Read the full reviews above.