Blog

Annabelle 7 Months Continued use of Honey Bear and Oral Placement Therapy (OPT) Starts

At 7 months, Belle continued to be doing well. She was eating from her flattened spoon really consistently. She’s done fine with the Honey Bear but hasn’t advanced much, which happens to be mostly my fault. I typically was only getting a chance to work with her 5 times a week or so. Her tongue… read more

I Believe in You: Elizabeth Introduction

My name is Michele Gianetti and I am a mom to three wonderful children, gifts from God is what we call them.  But our second child Elizabeth is the one who changed our world the most.  She has special needs…specifically Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) and dyspraxia.  Our family has been on quite the journey since… read more

Annabelle 6 Months Eating Pureed Foods

In continuation of her progress at 6 months, we introduced pureed foods to Belle. The trick was getting her used to a flattened spoon. We had her get the puree off the spoon and keep it in her mouth and then swallow. She did a good job. We are teaching Belle to chew and swallow… read more

What Evidence-Based, Oral Sensory-Motor Treatments are Effective for Speech Disorders?

NOTE:  This article has been reprinted with permission from Diane Bahr of Ages and Stage®, LLC and Robyn Merkel Walsh.   EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE (EBP) IN SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY Robyn Merkel-Walsh, MA, CCC-SLP & Diane Bahr, MS, CCC-SLP, CIMI According to the American Speech, Language, and Hearing Association (ASHA, 2005) “the term evidence-based practice [EBP] refers to… read more

Annabelle 6 Months Continued use of Honey Bear Bottle with a Flex Straw

Belle is now 6 months old and we have been working with the Honey Bear for over a month now. She is doing a fantastic job learning how to drink out of a straw and control her tongue and mouth. She has learned to close her mouth around the straw which has assisted her in… read more

“Step Away from the Sippy Cup”

Great to see the below blog on the ASHA web-site.  Melanie Potock MA, CCC-SLP, does a great job outlining the issues as well as directly answering questions from therapists. This idea is not something new to TalkTools and those that have taken our courses have heard of the issue.  If you would like more information… read more

Trouble Blowing

Hello. I recently purchased the parent kit to use with my son, Patrick.  Patrick is 4 years old, has autism and low-muscle tone, and is not yet speaking.  I would like to begin the program with him as soon as possible, but he does not understand how to blow yet. I have begun to work… read more

Annabelle 5 Months with Honey Bear Bottle with a Flex Straw

After Belle’s initial evaluation with Whitney Pimentel, TalkTools Oral Placement Speech and Feeding Therapist, we knew right away that this was the partnership we had been looking for in effort to provide our daughter with the best opportunity for success. We are so excited to have found a partner in this new journey! Having a… read more

Teeth Grinding (Update Post)

Hi, My 7 year old son with Down Syndrome used to grind his teeth and had grown out of it (we thought.) He recently had surgery and the grinding has returned with ferocity. It’s only during the day and is worse than before. His teeth have been ground down to next to nothing. I’m at… read more