Yard Eggs

I get to drive all over the place for my job. Today I was lucky enough to drive into the country a bit. Far enough so that the family I was working with has their own chickens. I was told they lay about 9 eggs a day. I need some chickens!!! I was given 2 dozen to take home. Aren't they beautiful? Eliot helped me set them up for the picture. They are so colorful Eliot called them Easter eggs. Fresh yard or farm eggs are so much healthier than mass produced caged eggs. The kids are eating eggs as I type!

My version of a homemade hearing screener...

I made this to screen a child in more detail than my regular screening tool uses. I have had some daycare teachers ask me how to see if a child can hear the "little sounds". Well, this is my version.....


Homemade Hearing Screener for Toddlers

Materials needed:

Bucket of dry real leaves or store bought silk leaves

Small metal bell

CD of animal and environmental sounds (sounds such as snakes slithering, rain falling, and wind blowing)

Sandpaper

Small stones or pebbles

Dried beans

Uncooked rice

Paper

Empty water bottle with top

Plastic bowl

Glass or porcelain bowl



Directions:

This screener is best used in a child’s natural environment when they are in a good mood. Try to avoid naptime or when the child is hungry. Allow the child to play and set up your items out of his reach at first. Make sure the room is quiet and there are minimal distractions. Start exposing the child to one sound at a time. There is no particular order in which to offer each sound. No more than 3 feet away from the child drop leaves into a large plastic bowl or bucket. Try to do this where the child cannot see you. Watch for any response. This can include a look up, a glance toward the noise, a “thinking” look on the child’s face, a “questioning” look on the child’s face, or a verbal response such as the child saying, “What’s that?” At this age a lot of children are verbal yet not using a lot or any words. Any response can show that the child can hear the sound. Next, ring a small metal bell. Remember to not let the child see you do this. Try not to let your own body language give away the “answer”. Scratch on a piece of sandpaper. Follow the same procedure as above. Drop small pebbles or rocks (those decorative ones from the Dollar Tree work really well) into a glass container one at a time. Let there be at least 3 seconds in between each drop. Repeat with at least 5 rocks. Repeat this with a plastic bowl. Do this same exercise with the dry rice and dried beans. With the rice and beans you can dribble them into the containers. Place some of the dried rice (no more than 10 grains) into a small empty water bottle. Gently tilt the bottle from side to side. This should make a sound similar to a “rain stick”. You can repeat this with the beans. With the paper crinkle it slowly into a loose ball. Open it up slowly and repeat. You can use different weights of paper like tissue paper, newspaper, wrapping paper, or magazine paper. Regular computer paper works fine. Using the CD of animal and environmental sounds is optional. It is best used in a group setting such as circle time or at home with siblings listening too. Keep the volume down fairly low. Listen to a sound and stop the recording. Ask everyone what they think it is. Listen to it again. Look to see if the child you are evaluating is trying to listen or just mimicking his friends. Listen to different sounds and label them by telling the children what they are listening to. Start over with sounds they have already heard and look for reactions. Mark down the reactions of the child you are screening with this activity and all of the above activities. If the child did not react to at least half of the sounds a referral to an audiologist for a full range hearing evaluation may be warranted.



You can record your findings on a homemade chart or just write them up in narrative form like a story. Remember to only document what you actually observe. Try not to write what you “think” the child heard. Try to stay away from saying “it looked like he heard something”. Instead write exactly what you see such as. “He raised his head from the book he was looking at and looked around and up at me”.





This screening procedure is not meant to replace a screener from a child’s pediatrician or an examination from an audiologist. If there are any further concerns please contact the doctor for a full hearing evaluation.


Created by Susan Betke, MAE ECE

Every mom keeps this many toys in her trunk, right?

I was ready to play outside and eat chocolate when I got home. Ben helped me with both. For my job there are times that I need all kinds of toys for children under three years old. I was playing outside with Ben and Eliot and I opened the trunk to get some toys out for Ben. Eliot took the chance to just climb in the open trunk and play with EVERYTHING at once in there. She really enjoyed herself. Of course I was right there so there was never any chance of her being left in the trunk. Ben is growing up so fast. Of course I can't help but evaluate him all the time. His communication skills are very well developed. Honestly, I know I am biased but the boy is really smart!

What is your job again?

I work with children with special needs. The picture I am holding up is of a child dear to my heart. He has come a long way. This picture is from a PR pamphlet from The Children's Hospital of Birmingham. He was in the NICU for over 8 months. He was born at 24 weeks. He is doing great now. I am privileged to coordinate his services until he is 3 years old. Yes, I went to college for 6 years to play with babies. Could life get any better?

EI conference

I had a lot of fun and learned a little too at the Color Your World Early Intervention. I was lucky enough to be chosen as a facilitator (OK I volunteered) for a session. I got to introduce the speaker. So exciting! It was a good session. It covered the developmental milestones for non-verbal communication in infants and toddlers. That was right up my alley. As I was handing out notes for this session one of the women in the room said she recognized me. It turned out to be Danny's preschool special education teacher from over 10 years age. It really is a small EI world! We had a lunch break and I hung out with my co-worker and friend, Quatar. I bought a shirt and a ring from one of the vendors (What Goes Around). All in all a fun day at work!!

Stand back, special instructor in the house

Or, I should say instructors. One of my co-workers found these great balls at a local store. OK it was at Fred's. We all got very excited about them. You may have to be in our line of work to understand. These are great. They can be used for all kinds of cognitive and sensory activities. They can be used with a lot of other manipulatives to work on cause and effect skills. They are just cool. And when you go all over town in children with special needs homes and daycares you tend to loose your small toys especially balls on a regular basis. These were a super find. Way to go super special instructor!!! (Can I borrow some?)

Here is a closer look. Jealous yet?

You teach two year olds?

What do you teach two year olds? Are they really supposed to know that? I love teaching two year olds. I have been doing it for about 15 years now. Right now I work with children under three years old that have special needs. I actually have a graduate degree in teaching infants and toddlers. How cool is that? Even though Evan is now 3 he likes getting into my special instruction bucket whenever he gets the chance. Eliot and he got out the lacing tubes this morning as I was getting ready to take them to their class. I like to try out some of my activities on them. Evan was actually enrolled in early intervention when he was younger. He never stops talking now but he was slow to start. He benefited from special instruction and speech therapy. I use the lacing tubing to evaluate and work on toddlers fine motor skills and their cognitive skills. They have to figure out how to get the rings on and off and they have to be coordinated enough and able to use enough strength to make it work. It's not as easy as it looks for a 2 year old.

During my work day it was all about frogs. I was working with a child to help him with his communication skills. He chose to play with the spinning pop up toy and to encourage him to verbalize throughout his play I added items that extended what he was already doing. There was a green frog on the pop up toy. I found a green frog in a book (Brown Bear Brown Bear...). I gave him pegs that corresponded with the colors on the pop up toy. I then read a whole book with a frog in the story (The Icky Sticky Frog). My whole goal was to get him talking and to keep him talking. It worked. I heard more from him today than ever before. Yeah early intervention!!!

Tools of the Trade

What did I play with today?

As a special instructor with Alabama's Early Intervention system my role as a developmental specialist takes me wherever children under three years of age with developmental delays are. This can include their homes, daycares, local libraries, playgrounds, or grandma's house. Today I worked with a child at a Mother's Day Out program. My instruction looks a lot like play but there is a lot going on. I provide instruction across all domains. I provide cognitive, social / emotional, motor (fine and gross), adaptive (daily living skills) and communication support. Functional play does not come easily to all children. Some children handle toys but do not actually interact appropriately with them. We see this a lot with children who are globally delayed (are delayed in all areas of development). A common example of this is some children with ASD (autism spectrum disorder). They may show delays that cross all developmental domains. Play is a natural way to work with this age group. Child led naturalistic activities work well. I consider myself one the luckiest people in the world to be working with this group of children. Every state has an Early Intervention program. In Alabama we are lucky to have one that is free of charge for all services to eligible children. Some states charge for therapeutic services but their coordination services are free. Some states have a waiting list. Alabama does not. Each state is able to set their own eligibility criteria though. Here in Alabama a child has to have a delay in at least one developmental area equal to or greater than 25%. Or, if they have a qualifying diagnosis (Down syndrome, autism, hydrocephalus, etc) they automatically qualify for services. Some states have lower or higher qualifying criteria. There is a Child Find referral number in every state to start families on the road to early intervention. Here in Alabama it is 1-800-543-3098. I have a link on my side bar to Alabama's early intervention website. Everyone in the United States should have a local Child Find number to call. I haven't been able to locate a nation wide list but if you Google your state you should be able to find it. Some states combine services for children birth to age five while most separate services birth to age three with one organization and three years to 21 under the department of education. My job is a rewarding one that few people know exist. I only wish I could reach all the children that need services in my area.