What I Would Buy With $300

Fair is fair, so here's my shopping list:

1. Candyland

Everyone loves it. You can target basic concepts such as colors, pragmatic skills such as turn-taking and good sportsmanship, following multi-step directions, counting, and you can use it as a game for articulation or language therapy (e.g. three words/sentences with the target structure, then pick a card).

2. No Glamour Articulation
3. Webber Jumbo Artic Drill Book

These two books have everything I need for articulation therapy. They're fantastic for when I'm rushed. I would recommend having one of these in book form and one in CD-rom form. That way you can pull the book out when you're transitioning quickly between students, and you can print out nice-looking pages for homework. Plus you can make copies, do some coloring, and voila you have a set of articulation cards!

4. No Glamour Language & Reasoning

This book has a really solid foundation for language activities. I use it as a jumping off point. It can give you some direction when designing your own therapy materials.

5. Crayola Markers

I picked these because they last the longest and have the most colors. More colors means you can target descriptions, comparatives, basic concepts, and using specific vocabulary (I do not accept "that one" or "here" as answers to "wh" questions!). Plus, who doesn't love markers? I find them far superior to crayons because I don't have to push as hard in order to get good, uniform color. It's the little things that make a difference.

6. Stickers!

Extra bonus points if they are smelly. I have a file folder of assorted stickers of varying shapes and sizes (and smells). Some of them are for rewards, some are for therapy activities.

7. Sorry

I like this for the same reasons I like Candyland. And it's a little more time/effort intensive for older kids.

8. Granny's Candies

My favorite language game! My version is pretty old; it was passed down to me by my mentor. I use it all the time because there's something for everyone. One variation I like is to see if we, as a team can beat the number of candies I write on the board, usually 30 or 40. That way it's not always a who-can-beat-whom game.

9. Construction paper, glue, and scissors

Kids love to cut and glue things. It often drives me nuts, but it's tangible. It's also more fun for language-delayed preschoolers to cut and glue big and small objects onto different halves of a piece of blue paper than it is to read a book and point.

Note: None of this is meant as an advertisement! It's more of a list for the me of six months ago.

Next post: What it's like to go to a seminar on ASDs when I have one myself.

Therapy On A Budget: A Challenge

During my second semester of grad school, I took a class on school-age language development and disorders. One of the best activities of the whole term was dividing up into groups of 4 and deciding how best to spend $1000 on therapy and testing materials (or was it more? $1000 seems about right). $1000 goes really, really quickly and it's also an unlikely amount to be given for materials, especially if you work for a public school district. She gave each group a stack of catalogues and a calculator. I don't know how many of us realized that therapy materials such as articulation cards were just part of what we'd need. We had to consider supplies such as dry-erase markers, time timers, portable whiteboards, board games, stickers, tokens, and construction paper.

This year, I was allotted $200 by the district and another $440 by Medicaid. The catch was that I had to buy everything myself and then be reimbursed. Everything bought with district or Medicaid $ is technically owned by the district - I can't take it with me if I ever leave. At this point in the school year, I've blown through this money and also spent close to $400 of my own on treatment materials, books, games, and school supplies (however, most of the games and books are mine to keep!). Adding up how much I've spent on materials reminded me of the challenge set forth by my School-Age Language instructor. And I've decided to pass the challenge on to anyone who reads this blog.

Let's pretend you are a new SLP in either a school district or a clinic. You can be reimbursed for some of your materials, but no one is giving you any money up front. You have $300 saved up so that your shelves at work are not full of borrowed and possibly-falling-apart games. Let's also presume that your district/clinic provides you with all of your testing materials (mine does, thankfully) and that you have two drawers full of pretty much every type of assessment you could need (again, I do). You need to use your $300 to find treatment materials, activities, and miscellaneous supplies to get you through the first couple months of work and beyond. I'll let you decide your age range, but I'm going to stipulate that your students/clients have a wide range of needs.

Reply to this post with a list of what you would spend your $300 on! I'm curious, and I'll make a post later on with my own list.