Tuesday, December 29, 2015

New Sports Banner!

Rock Therapeutic Services is a proud sponsor of the Ravensdale Park Foundation.  Check out our Outfield Banner at one of the new baseball fields:



The Ravensdale Park Foundation is a nonprofit organization set up to design and facilitate upgrades and enhancements to Ravensdale Park through a partnership with King County Parks.  The founding organizations were Rock Creek Sports and Maple Valley Soccer.  Their mission is to build a park to service the whole community while maintaining the rural character of the park.

From an RTS employee:
  "As the father of a son who has played for both Rock Creek Baseball and Maple Valley Soccer I can say we are very proud of what the Foundation has been able to accomplish.  Recently completed Phase II added two new fully lit all-turf sport fields, a new parking lot and restrooms/snack bar.  This was a great addition to the existing turf baseball and soccer fields which draw teams and crowds from all over Puget Sound.  Most days when you come to the facility you will see every square inch of every field being utilized by baseball, soccer, lacrosse and football.  Not to mention the casual users who come to walk their dog, play on the playground and have a gathering at the sheltered picnic area.  It is great to see so many members of the community get together for healthy activities."
-Todd Storch, Office Manager 
Rock Therapeutic Services is proud to support local communities!  We'll see you at the field!

Thursday, December 10, 2015

‘Tis the Season for Sequencing!

SLPs evaluate and target an individual’s ability to sequence events.  Sequencing events requires a person to put steps in order whether completing a task or telling a story.



All children can benefit from developing sequencing skills.  Stop every once in a while and see what you child thinks should come next. Here are some ideas of ways you can help develop your child’s sequencing skills:

  • Packing for a trip: 
    • What clothing and other items will you need? 
    • Is there an order to putting things in?  
    • Taking things out?
  • Baking: 
    • What ingredients and tools will you need?  
    • Should you turn the oven on first or put the cookies in first?
  • Making cocoa: 
    • When should you put in the marshmallows?
  • Shopping: 
    • What are the steps to choose and purchase? 
    • This could easily work with groceries:  Should you put produce or frozen items in the cart first?
  • Wrapping gifts: 
    • Which should go on first, paper or ribbon?



Have fun and be silly with these activities!

--Elizabeth

Friday, December 4, 2015

So what exactly does an SLP do?

I was able to attend the ASHA Convention a few weeks ago in Denver and completely enjoyed myself!  You may be thinking what is ASHA?


Well it's our national research and credentialing association (see two posts below for more info).  Each year they host a 3-4 day convention where speech-language pathologists (SLPs) gather from across the nation to learn all about the latest research and approaches of our field.  There were around 14,000 SLPs in Denver this year and it was quite the event! While there were many fantastic classes I attended, it was the diversity of topics offered that I was so impressed with.  Our field is so vast and many out there don't know all of the areas of speech-language pathology.  This handout by Super Duper (http://www.superduperinc.com/handouts/pdf/162%20SLPs.pdf) is a great resource of information and also where I got the information below.  Here are some of the different areas of SLP:

Speech Disorders 
• Articulation - the way we say our speech sounds 
• Phonology - the speech patterns we use 
• Apraxia - difficulty planning and coordinating the movements needed to make speech sounds 
• Fluency - stuttering 
• Voice - problems with the way the voice sounds, such as hoarseness 

Language Disorders 
• Receptive Language - difficulty understanding language 
• Expressive Language - difficulty using language 
• Pragmatic Language - social communication; the way we speak to each other 

Other Disorders 
• Deafness/Hearing Loss - loss of hearing; therapy includes developing lip-reading, speech, and/or alternative communication systems 
• Oral-Motor Disorders - weak tongue and/or lip muscles 
• Swallowing/Feeding Disorders - difficulty chewing and/or swallowing

Pretty cool right?  Well, I like to think so.  :)  We have an amazing field and I'm grateful to be a part of it.  Ok, enough sappiness about my love of SLP, it's Friday everyone---go enjoy your weekend!

---Cassee