“Hosted by Raising Harts and City Arena, Tricks + Treats is an opportunity to enjoy a safe and inclusive Halloween experience! Join us for face painting, balloons, games, and all kinds of fall activities.”
Family Favorite 2026!
🎉 We’re honored to be recognized as a 2026 Boston Family Favorite! 🎉
A heartfelt thank you to the families throughout Greater Boston and Massachusetts who voted for us. Your support means the world to our entire team, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to serve this amazing community.
#BostonFamilyFavorites #BostonParentsPaper #BostonParent #MassachusettsFamilies #FamilyFavorites2026
Don't Wait! Our Favorite AAC Apps are 50% Off!
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) refers to the many ways people communicate besides, or in addition to, spoken language. This can include gestures, facial expressions, sign, pictures, communication boards, and speech-generating devices or apps. AAC supports individuals in expressing their thoughts, needs, ideas, humor, and identity in ways that work best for them.
AAC is not a last resort, and it is not limited to individuals who do not speak. Many people use AAC alongside speech, moving flexibly between different forms of communication depending on the situation, their communication partner, or how they are feeling in the moment. All forms of communication are valid, and AAC simply expands access to being understood and connecting with others.
There are no prerequisites for using AAC. Individuals do not need to demonstrate certain skills before they can begin- access to communication can and should be available at any stage. When AAC is introduced and supported consistently, it provides opportunities for language development, social connection, and increased independence.
At its core, AAC is about access and choice. It allows individuals to initiate interactions, share opinions, ask questions, build relationships, and participate more fully in their daily lives. By supporting AAC use, we are supporting a person’s right to communicate in the way that works best for them.
Many AAC companies are offering discounts to celebrate Autism Acceptance Month in April! For more information on AAC or choosing the right system for you or your child, reach out to your speech therapist to discuss!
Assistiveware is offering 50% off their five most popular apps (Proloquo, Proloquo2Go, Proloquo4Text, Pictello, and Keeble) from April 20-April 27. Visit their website for more information.
PRC-Saltillo is offering 50% off their six most popular apps (LAMP Words for Life®, TouchChat®, Unity® AAC, Dialogue® AAC, Preditable, and Scene & Heard Pro Lifetime) from April 22-May 5. Visit their website for more information.
Smartbox is offering 50% off their Grid for iPad app from April 20-April 30. Visit their website for more information.
Signing Made Simple
Looking for a simple way to support your child’s communication at home? A great free resource to explore is the Sign ASL app. This user-friendly app introduces American Sign Language in a clear, accessible way, making it a helpful tool for families and caregivers.
Incorporating sign language can strengthen early communication skills. The Sign ASL app can be especially useful for home carryover, allowing parents to reinforce what their child is learning in therapy sessions.
In speech therapy, we often use a total communication approach—combining spoken language, gestures, signs, and visual supports to meet each child’s individual needs. This app fits perfectly into that philosophy by giving families an easy way to integrate signs into daily routines like mealtime, playtime, and bedtime.
By using tools like Sign ASL, parents can feel more confident supporting their child’s communication journey, helping to build connection, reduce frustration, and encourage language development in a natural and engaging way. If you have more questions about using gestures/signs as part of a total communication approach, ask your SLP today!
From Therapy Room to Living Room: Making Speech Practice Stick
If your child is working on speech sounds, you might hear their speech-language pathologist talk a lot about home practice. That’s because what happens outside the therapy room really matters. Speech therapy sessions are important, but they’re usually only a small part of a child’s week. Practicing at home helps children hear, feel, and use their new sounds more often- right where real communication happens. The good news? Home practice doesn’t have to feel like homework. It works best when it’s short, playful, and part of your normal routine.
WHY HOME PRACTICE HELPS
More repetitions: Speech sound production improves with practice, and a few minutes a day adds up.
Real-life use: Children learn to use sounds more easily when they practice during real conversations, not just therapy activities.
Family involvement: By practicing together, you get a front-row seat to your child’s progress!
FUN, EASY WAYS TO PRACTICE AT HOME
1. Sound Hunt Around the House
Pick your child’s target sound and go on a “sound hunt.” Look for objects around the house that have that sound (e.g., ball, bed, banana for /b/). Say the words together naturally—no drilling required! This works great during cleanup time or while getting ready for bed.
2. Mealtime Sound Talk
Meals are a perfect built-in practice time. Choose one or two target words and casually model them during conversation: “Do you want pizza or pasta?” If your child tries the sound, celebrate the effort, not perfection. Keep it relaxed and fun.
3. Turn Practice Into a Game
Board games, card games, or even building with blocks can include speech practice. For example, your child can say a target word before taking a turn, rolling the dice, or adding a block to a tower. Short turns = lots of chances to practice without it feeling repetitive.
A QUICK REMINDER
Home practice works best when it’s brief, positive, and pressure-free. Even 3-5 minutes a day can make a difference. If you’re ever unsure how to practice or what words to use, your child’s SLP is a great resource- they’re happy to help you find strategies that fit your family. You’re already doing something powerful just by supporting your child’s communication. Each little moment of practice at home truly matters so keep up the good work!
Supporting Early Language at Your Local Library
If you’re looking for a fun, low-pressure way to support your child’s speech and language development, your local library’s story time is a wonderful place to start! Storytime with Marissa, offered year-round at Norwell Public Library on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10:30 - 11:00 am, is designed for children ages 0–5 and their caregivers—and it’s packed with communication-building opportunities.
Storytime helps build early speech and language skills in ways that feel natural and playful. Listening to stories helps build vocabulary and comprehension, while songs and fingerplays encourage imitation, joint attention, and early expressive language. Even if your child isn’t talking yet, watching, listening, and participating in their own way are all important steps in communication development.
Group story time also gives children the chance to be around other kids and practice important social skills like turn taking, listening, and following simple routines—all skills that support both communication and social development. Caregivers can pick up helpful ideas too, such as using gestures, silly voices, or repeating favorite phrases, which are simple strategies that can be used during reading and play at home!
Whether your child is already receiving speech or occupational therapy, or you’re just looking for a fun activity to add to your week, library story time is a wonderful way to support learning through play. Best of all, it’s free, engaging, and something the whole family can enjoy together.
AAC Apps on Sale for AAC Awareness Month!
AssistiveWare is offering 50% off 5 of their most popular apps in celebration of AAC Awareness Month! Mark your calendars - the sale runs October 8th - 15th!
PRC Saltillo is also offering 50% off their apps: TouchChat®, LAMP Words for Life®, and Dialogue® AAC apps! Their sale runs October 15th - 28th!
Vote for SLP Center for Family Favorites of 2025!
We are thrilled to be nominated for Boston Parents Family Favorite award for speech therapy at Speech Language Pathology Center, recognizing our dedication to empowering communication!
Simply click "Health" then "Speech Language Therapy" and click our practice name to vote. We appreciate you taking a minute out of your day to help spread the word about our commitment to families in need of speech therapy services!
AAC Apps on Sale for April 2025!
AssistiveWare and PRC-Saltillo are offering 50% off some of their most popular apps in celebration of Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month! These companies are committed to expanding access to AAC options for individuals with autism and other communication difficulties. Check out the sale links below. Inquire with your speech therapist with any questions regarding the sales!
AssitiveWare’s Sale runs April 2-9, 2025. The following apps are included in the sale: Proloquo, Proloquo2Go, Proloquo4Text, Pictello, and Keeble. Find the website and information here!
PRC-Saltillo’s Sale runs April 24-May 7, 2025. The following apps are included in the sale: TouchChat, LAMP Words for Life, and Dialogue AAC. Find the website and information here!
World Down Syndrome Day 2025: Improve Our Support Systems
Everyone needs support sometimes.
People with Down syndrome need support to live and be included in the community, like everyone else. Families also need support, as they are often supporting their family member with Down syndrome. Support is a key human right that helps make other rights possible. The support that we need is different for each person. We have the right to support that meets our needs and gives us choice, control and dignity.
What needs to improve?
Many people with Down syndrome around the world don’t get the support they need. Many countries do not have support systems that meet the needs of people with disabilities and their families. Or the support systems they have do not respect the human rights of people with disabilities. Governments must make sure there is a support system, so people with disabilities are included in the community. Click the link below to read more about what a good support system should include. Together we will create a single global voice advocating for the rights, inclusion and well being of people with Down syndrome.
#WorldDownSyndromeDay #ImproveOurSupportSystems #LotsOfSocks
Preliteracy Activities to Boost Your Child’s Language and Reading Skills
One of the most important ways we can support our children’s early development is by laying the groundwork for literacy. Before children begin to read and write, they need to develop foundational skills in language and communication. These preliteracy skills help them understand the sounds, structure, and meaning of language, which are essential building blocks for reading and writing.
The great news is many everyday activities can easily be transformed into opportunities to encourage language development, listening skills, and an interest in reading and writing. Below, we’ll explore simple and fun preliteracy activities that you can incorporate into your daily routine.
Read Together
Reading is one of the most important preliteracy activities for young children. It not only helps expand vocabulary but also builds an understanding of story structure, letters, and sounds.
How to do it:
Choose age-appropriate books: Select books that have colorful pictures, simple text, and rhythmic language. Books with repetitive phrases or rhymes are especially helpful as they encourage children to anticipate and repeat words.
Interactive reading: Ask questions about the pictures (“What do you think will happen next?”) or encourage your child to predict the storyline. Point to the words as you read to connect spoken words with written text.
Rhyme and rhythm: Choose books with rhyming words or repetitive patterns to expose your child to the rhythm of language. Encourage them to join in or finish the rhymes with you.
Reading aloud to your child is a powerful way to increase language comprehension and foster a love of books, both of which are essential to later literacy skills.
Sing Songs and Nursery Rhymes
Songs and nursery rhymes are an enjoyable way to introduce children to the sounds of language. They support phonemic awareness, which is the ability to recognize and manipulate sounds in spoken words, an essential skill for reading.
How to do it:
Sing familiar songs: Incorporate popular songs and nursery rhymes into your day, such as “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” “The Wheels on the Bus,” or “Itsy Bitsy Spider.” As you sing, emphasize the rhyming words and repeat phrases to help children become familiar with patterns in language.
Create new songs: Try making up your own songs about everyday routines or events. For example, you could sing about getting dressed or cleaning up toys. This encourages creativity and language production.
Clap out syllables: While singing or saying rhymes, clap along to the rhythm or syllables. This helps children break down words into smaller parts, which is key for later reading and spelling.
Play with Letter Recognition
Introducing letters and their sounds in a playful way can help your child build early literacy skills. Even if they’re not ready to write yet, recognizing letters is an important preliteracy milestone.
How to do it:
Letter puzzles: Use puzzles with large, colorful letters to encourage recognition. As you play, say the letter names and the sounds they make. For example, “This is the letter B. B says /b/ like ‘ball.’”
Letter matching: Write or print large letters on pieces of paper, and ask your child to match them to corresponding items around the house. For example, “Can you find something that starts with the letter T?”
Write with your child: Encourage your child to practice writing letters, even if it’s just scribbling. You can write letters together, saying the letter’s name and sound as you form it. This helps connect writing with phonemic awareness.
Engaging in letter-focused activities in a playful way can make learning fun while reinforcing the connection between sounds and letters.
Practice Rhyming and Sound Play
Rhyming and sound play are essential skills for early literacy, as they help children develop phonemic awareness—the ability to hear and manipulate sounds within words.
How to do it:
Rhyme games: Start by saying a simple word, like “cat,” and ask your child to think of other words that rhyme with it, such as “hat,” “bat,” or “mat.” You can also try this with rhyming books or songs to reinforce the concept.
Sound exploration: Play sound-focused games like “I spy with my little eye something that starts with the /s/ sound,” or “Can you find something that rhymes with ‘dog’?” This helps children connect spoken sounds with their written forms.
Alliteration fun: Create silly sentences or rhymes using alliteration (words that start with the same sound). For example, “Sammy the snake slithered slowly.”
By incorporating sound play into your day, you help your child develop the skills needed to understand the sounds of language, an important precursor to reading.
Preliteracy activities are essential for helping children develop the skills they need to become successful readers and writers in the future. By incorporating simple, everyday activities—like reading together, singing songs, playing with letters, and engaging in pretend play—you can create a language-rich environment that supports your child’s literacy development in a fun and interactive way. Remember, it’s not about pushing children to read or write too early; it’s about fostering a love for language and learning through playful experiences.
By embedding these simple preliteracy activities into your daily routine, you’re providing your child with the foundation they need for a lifetime of learning.
Note: Presidents' Day CLOSED & Remainder of Vacation Week OPEN!
In observation of Presidents’ Day, the SLP Center will be closed on Monday, February 17th. We will be OPEN for the remainder of the week (February vacation week for schools). Please call the office at 781-792-2700 should you need any adjustments to you schedule. Thank you!
Generalization Activities - Fun Ways to Practice Speech at Home!
Let’s dive into fun and effective activities that can enhance practice and make working on speech goals at home more natural and enjoyable.
SOUND SORTING GAME
Materials: Pictures or flashcards with words that contain your child’s target sound (e.g., “thumb,” “think,” “bat,” “clothes”).
How to Play: Lay out cards with pictures or words and ask the student to sort them into two categories: words with target sound and non-target sound words. Then, encourage the student to practice their target words out loud.
TREASURE HUNT
Materials: Small objects or pictures related to target sound
How to Play: Hide these objects around the room and have the child go on a "treasure hunt." Each time they find an object, they must say the corresponding word.
SOUND BINGO
Materials: Bingo cards with pictures or words containing their speech sound.
How to Play: As you call out words or show images, the student marks them on their bingo card. Make it more engaging by having them say the words aloud each time they mark a square.
OBSTACLE COURSE
Materials: Everyday objects around the house
How to Play: Create a small obstacle course where each station requires the child to say a word with their target sound before moving to the next step. This can be particularly useful for kinesthetic learners who benefit from movement.
STORY TIME
Materials: Simple picture books or stories.
How to Play: Read a book together that emphasizes your child’s target sounds. Encourage the student to repeat the words as you read or ask them to pick out and point to those words while reading.
January is National Mentoring Month!
Mentorship plays a crucial role in shaping the future of speech-language pathologists (SLPs). Here at the SLP Center, we value the importance of guiding the next generation of SLPs and are so grateful for the opportunity to have graduate student clinicians and clinical fellows join our practice. Mentorship in speech therapy fosters confidence, enhances clinical skills, and bridges the gap between academic learning and real-world application.
Students benefit from the wisdom and experience of seasoned professionals, while mentors gain fresh perspectives and the fulfillment of shaping future SLPs. Please help us in welcoming this semester’s graduate student, Gemma, who is joining us from Bridgewater State University!
Snapshots from 2024!
Book Recommendations - Imitation Book and Action Book!
Two books we always find ourselves reaching for at the Speech Language Pathology Center are the Imitation Book and the Action Book. Both written by speech-language pathologist, Stephanie Anderson, M.S., CCC-SLP, these books contain pages of ideas and ways to engage with your child while reading. The Imitation Book is full of interactive pages that pair with everyday environmental sounds and exclamations. The Action Book is full of familiar actions to help build your child’s receptive and expressive vocabulary. Take all these fun ideas and incorporate them in all the books you read!
Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays from the SLP Center!
May your holiday season be merry and bright! We hope the New Year brings you and your family good health and happiness! Thank you to all the families that made 2024 so special for our clinicians and staff!
Winter Break Ideas - Open Skate!
Looking for something fun to do with your child this winter break? Try an open skate! The south shore has a few rinks that offer open skate times to the public. Grab some skates and get on the ice! Websites for each rink are attached!
Connell Ice Rink – Weymouth, MA
M-F 10 am – 1:50 pm
Saturdays 2:50 pm – 3:50 pm
Sundays 3 pm- 4:50 pm
Plymouth Skating Rink – Plymouth, MA
M-F 12 pm – 1:50 pm
Varying hours on weekends
Rockland Ice Rink – Rockland, MA
Tuesdays & Thursdays, varying hours
"Hey Sam" - Mental Health Texting Resource for Teens and Young Adults!
The holiday season is a time for celebration, but it can also bring a great deal of stress. Help our youth get through this holiday season and every day by providing them with resources to discuss their mental health in a judgement free space with peers who will understand. Hey Sam does just that. They are a peer-to-peer text line for youth and young adults in Massachusetts to reach out to. The lines are staffed by trained high school and college-aged volunteers who can relate to our youth more than adults. Visit their website to learn more about all that they do to support healthy discussions about mental health with our youth and young adults.
To reach the Hey Sam helpline text 439-726
DIY Gift Idea - Holiday Simmering Potpourri!
If you’re looking for an easy, inexpensive, but special DIY holiday gift - this potpourri is it! It was recommended to us by a teacher who got it as a gift last year! It would make a great gift for a friend, teacher, colleague, or neighbor! A simmering potpourri is the perfect way to fill your home with the warm, inviting scents of the holiday season. Made with a blend of natural ingredients like citrus slices, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and cranberries - a simmer pot creates a cozy, nostalgic aroma reminiscent of Christmas gatherings, fresh-baked treats, and festive cheer. We love the following recipe, but you can get creative and use different spices, citrus fruits, etc. to make it your own! You can package this dried potpourri in a glass jar or cellophane bag with a holiday note and instructions on how to simmer!
Ingredients: 2-3 navel oranges, 2-3 apples of your choice, 2-3 cinnamon sticks, a few handfuls of cranberries, fresh rosemary twigs, and dried cloves
Slice your oranges and apples into thin slices — the thinner they are the faster they will dry! Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and bake all of the ingredients in a single layer at 250 degrees. Flip all the slices after 1.5-2 hours and continue cooking another 1-2 hours until they are completely dried! Let cool and package to your liking! To simmer, add the dried mix to 3-4 cups of water and boil! Then it can simmer for as long as you’d like, adding more water as needed! Happy gifting!