SHD Reun 312 - Shodair Children's Hospital

Tools of the Trade: Happy Children Seriously
Working on Communication Skills
Daylinda Q. Radley, MA, CGC-SLP
Here at Shodair Children's Hospital,
ongoing learning is definitely an important part of my
job to ensure I'm applying techniques that are
effective in helping our patients
make necessary gains. It's
also an excellent way to stay
innovative and current as I
continuously strive to use
tools and technology that are
relevant to today's generation.
Our patients who receive speech
therapy services
have the opportunity to use intervention
tools that target a variety
of needs. For example, the
speech pathologist and teacher
collaborative program on our
High Desert Unit, which is
home to our youngest patients, have now focused on
the introduction of Story Grammar Marker and Braidy:
The Story Braid in the classrooms. These are evidencebased
multi-sensory programs that entail the use of
manipulatives, a puppet, visual icons, and graphic
organizers that support the comprehension of literary
materials, promote oral language development and
enhance writing skills, to name a few of its benefits.
Needless to say, the younger kids have enjoyed the
arrival of Braidy the puppet as they learn about
character's emotions and settings while working on
their ability to recall details and re-tell the stories. The
older ones are noticeably defining characters more
elaborately and are starting to identify the "kick off
events" in each story.
The social stories and Behavior Mapping Strategy are
fast becoming one of the most popular intervention
methods used in the hospital. A few social stories have
now been thoughtfully and individually written for the
younger children and pre-adolescents at Shodair to
target specific social skills deficits that cause frequent
conflicts or that prevent them from being successful
in the classroom or community.
For example, “Jaime,” who has been struggling with
transitioning from activity to another, has a social
story entitled "Why I
Need to Follow a
Schedule," along with
use of visual timers and
visual schedules. These
strategies have gradually
helped Jaime follow her
schedule throughout the
day and understand
why it's important to
be on time.
The Behavior Mapping
strategy is frequently
used for older children
also exhibiting social
skills impairment in their small group and individual
therapy sessions. This graphic organizer has allowed
a teenager like “Mike” to understand why saying
verbally inappropriate things to peers can be harmful
not only to his reputation, but also to his relationship
with others. The Behavior Mapping strategy makes
abstract social concepts concrete by allowing kids
to see the direct correlation of their expected or
unexpected behaviors to others and its impact
to themselves.
Shodair Speech-Language Pathologist Daylinda Radley
demonstrates how to use Braidy: The Story Braid puppet.
Many of these tools are available at Shodair and
are used frequently to promote learning and the
development of skills necessary to be successful in
the real world. These intervention techniques are
definitely not magical in the sense that it makes all
our children's aches and problems disappear. It
does take fidelity of implementation, team effort,
and a lot of patience to reach a point of growth.
Having the adequate resources to continue
supporting the vast communication needs of our
patients makes the work worthwhile. It's also a
great way to make work feel a lot like play!
4 Reunion