Why Yell? Walk to Talk

In our school, like so many others, the 4th and 5th grade students are great talkers and at times enthusiastic yellers when walking down the hall. What started out as a voice-saving strategy for one student has turned into a helpful reminder for others: those who talk too loudly across a room or who have social language challenges and forget that joining a group is done before talking. We created this visual to help our students.  We've posted it here for you to download incase you want to give it a try.  It has definitely worked as gentle reminder for our students.

Get your copy here.

Better Hearing and Speech Month Kickoff

We are always excited about Better Hearing and Speech Month as we are able to highlight information about Hearing and Communication all month! At the school we work at this year we are planning small things to do for students and staff to raise their awareness not just one day but all month. To kick off BHSM this week on Friday May 1, we are providing water and peppermints to staff to remind them to protect their voice so they can teach on! We are also hanging posters with QR codes to educate both students and teachers about voice disorders (with some help from some students). 

Below are some snaps putting together the water bottle labels:

I took the labels off the purchased water and then wrapped our own labels around.

This is the end product! We sure hope they love it!

You can get the water labels and some great posters to kickoff your own BHSM fun with this Freebie at our TPT store. 

        

Last year we posted about our fun BHSM fact cards, you can still get them here. Also stay tuned for more helpful tips about communication and hearing. We will be posting something every week! 

Two Free Apps for Voice Therapy

I had a colleague ask me if I had any good apps for Voice Therapy. I have voice clients in the schools rarely, but this year I have a few and with this trend I now have researched a few apps to help this group of kiddos. The two that I have trialed so far are:

Decibel 10th- It can turn your iPhone or iPad into a sound meter! What is great is that it can help voice clients to know exactly how loud their class is or how loud a concert or sporting event is. I pair Decibel 10th with some teaching using a Loudness Chart for comparison. Measuring the sound makes my students more aware of how loud their voice is when talking and shouting and this then has naturally led into conversations about how to use your voice effectively and when to preserve it. It is a free app and so far my students have loved using it. They report back how loud their weekend was or how loud reading class was and let me know the strategies they used instead of shouting.

Breathe2Relax is described as a portable stress management tool. Some of the features of this app about stress management are focused on adult clients, but it does have a nice video on diaphragm breathing under the "Show Me How" button, and  is able to time your breathing under the "Breathe" button. I like this app because it highlights the correct way to breathe to support the voice without strain. It has helped my students to learn the pacing of good breathe to reduce stess and stain on the voice.

These are my two picks for Voice Therapy Apps. What are yours?

Protect Your Voice

If you rely on your voice throughout your day (like most people), you cannot risk losing it. Professions like teaching, singing and broadcasting often have a higher rate of voice disorders because of misuse. Even so, about 1 in 3 people will experience hoarseness of their voice at one time or another. Losing your voice during cold season while suffering with the common cold happens to many adults and children. However, if the hoarseness lasts more than two weeks, it may mean you need some additional testing from a voice specialist such as a speech pathologist or an otolaryngologist (ENT). Most voice disorders are preventable. Here are the top the four things I try to tell clients to do to reduce vocal strain.

1. Hydrate- drinking lots of caffeine, or not drinking enough water will dehydrate you over time. Your vocal chord work best if you keep them hydrated. You can do this by drinking water and other  decaffeinated drinks. This sounds simple but can be hard on the go. Bringing a bottle of water is always a start.

2. Change Proximity- If you are across a room and need to talk with someone, move closer so you do not have to yell. Your vocal chords can then work at volume they are used to without strain.

3. Rest-You and your vocal chords need enough rest. Resting your voice means giving it time away from being used for more than 10 minutes at a time (I also need work with is as like most speech therapists, I like to talk).

     

4. Amplify When Needed- If you have to talk to a crowd or a group many days a week like many actors, teachers, or public speakers do, you may need to use a microphone or FM system.