I have just updated my page, Six Weeks of Summer - Interactive Speech and Language Practice Activities. This page includes links and free apps easily available to parents with Internet access and/or mobile technology. Customize summer activities for your students by choosing apps and links to add to a calender, make a hotlist, or post the links to your web page. Enjoy!
This is not a typical post for the Budget SLP, but something that needs to be passed on to all educators. And, maybe not just educators . . . I have a chemical sensitivity usually triggered by, but not limited to, fragrances. When exposed, my eyes and nose burn and I can often taste the chemicals in the fragrance. Extended exposure causes headaches and sometimes nausea. In my home, most detergents, cleaning products, and personal care products are fragrance free.
I work in the special education world and have been overpowered by fragrances in classrooms, conference rooms, therapy rooms, and restrooms. Culprits include cologne or perfume (worn by parents, SLPs, teachers, and administrators), air fresheners, cleaning supplies, and insecticides. If these fragrances cause me such physical discomfort, how do they affect our young students with allergies and asthma? What about our students with sensory issues? Students with autism can be hypersensitive to odors. These students may also have difficulty communicating their discomfort. Inappropriate behaviors may occur as they resist being with a person or in a place due to what is perceived as an intense smell. Undesirable smells can even cause toileting issues, difficulty eating, and nausea. For your students' comfort (and possibly your co-workers’), consider removing air fresheners, take home the flowery soaps and lotions, and save your perfume for date night.
