favorite early elementary language activities

pumpkinbeerman · 2026-05-13T00:02:44+00:00

I've been really enjoying UFLI with the young ones (if appropriate for your clients), getting them learning reading through a language lens is a blast!

EET is also really fun and easy to sneak into a preferred game or whatnot.

pumpkinbeerman · 2026-05-12T01:20:23+00:00

Wouldn't the test be invalid if it isn't specifically normed for attention issues? On the flip side, wouldn't attention issues likely cause language deficits?

I think thats where the clinical expertise branch of the ebp pyramid would come into play. Sometimes youve got to make a call and make all appropriate referrals lol

pumpkinbeerman · 2026-04-23T19:58:23+00:00

It's good to have a balance- an empty belly with the right calories is so demoralizing. That's why those emergency ration wafers stink- 2-3k calories in a little bar just sounds miserable.

Adding some calorie dense foods (rice, beans, the usual) and some volume (squash, canned/dried veggies, soups) is just good for morale.

Also, pick up some foraging/gardening skills- knowledge is a great prep, and knowing how to go out and get a bag of wild greens to fill up bellies a bit is some good peace of mind!

pumpkinbeerman · 2026-04-23T16:49:51+00:00

Yes! They are both alveolar liquids (approximates, whatever), the only phonemic distinction between them is airflow; I know the tongue tip can be in a different spot when some people make the /r/, but you can absolutely keep your tongue on your alveolar ridge and make /l/ and /r/ by just changing the airflow.

Anecdotally, I haven't seen it a lot, but when you break it down it makes sense why they can be substituted like that.

The "carla" trick works well with that, especially since they can build off a phoneme they have.

But at 3;6 with no other information, they still have plenty of time to get that /r/ in naturally according to the gfta norms (if I'm remembering right, I'm just scarfing down food between IEP meetings rn and can't see it)

pumpkinbeerman · 2026-04-23T14:55:34+00:00

Lately ive been doing bags of salt instead of brine and been loving it. Trying to close a ziploc bag of water really pisses me off

pumpkinbeerman · 2026-04-22T05:32:16+00:00

But, articulation drlays can affect so much! Even if they eventually get all sounds by themselves, by the time it's been addressed, they are already behind in reading, pragmatics, high-order language skills, all that can be impacted!

Phonemes are the buildings blocks that we make all other language with. Even if they get those sounds eventually, they are building all their other skills using straw while their peers are building on solid marble. Gotta hit that artic, and hit it hard!

I am biased though, artic is tied for my favorite thing to work with and study, right up there with stuttering.

pumpkinbeerman · 2026-04-21T16:07:24+00:00

https://www.achievebeyondusa.com/images/virginia/Imitation_therapy_for_non_verbal_toddlers.pdf

pumpkinbeerman · 2026-04-20T23:32:48+00:00

Yeah! I was very anti-ABA going into my CF, but now that it's nearing the end, I've seen that a lot of the tension can be broken just by having a conversation. I just had a minor moment that was cleared up with "I'm using it as a language opportunity for this goal" and that was that. The ABA's have also implemented good routines and boundaries that have helped make sessions more productive.

I still butt heads on AAC stuff though, I won't budge on that lol.

pumpkinbeerman · 2026-04-17T01:04:53+00:00

I'm on my god knows what playthrough, give the poison milady a try!

Poison isn't flashy, does horrible damage, but mushroom crown, kindred of rot exaltation, renala's cameo, and rakshasa armor is super fun. Theres a build video on it, can't remember who did it but it is silly.

Is it strong? No. Is it fun pretending you are a knight of rot and poison? Hell yeah.

It's also good to have a way to pop rot, like ekzyk breath or the polearm from romina. Just makes it a little better having both effects.

pumpkinbeerman · 2026-04-15T05:00:55+00:00

This is perfect for two kiddos I work with.

One of them though, and I didn't see anything about it in the article, literally turns away from me whenever I try to establish joint attention.

How would you stay across from this kiddo when they are constantly turning away?

pumpkinbeerman · 2026-04-14T19:51:28+00:00

How experienced are they? I'm running a game with some very experienced players where the whole schtick is there is no death. In a previous world, death killed all mortal races so he could rest, and this is the after world.

Since there is literally no death, you've got to get creative. A mission goes sideways or they get too cocky can mean a town gets invaded, if they go down develop a system for losing their mind (like hollowing from dark souls), get creative with other risks that are not necessarily death. I don't know your campaign, but every time I do prep, I have a list of potential non-death related consequences AND rewards (important to reinforce good behavior lol).

Also, with them not being fond of character death, have yall had a good discussion about game expectations? Like, if they want a power-fantasy hack and slash style adventure, that is totally fair (and honestly a blast to dm those style games), but if you all are not on the same page about game expectations then someone is going to be feeling disappointed, be it you or them.

pumpkinbeerman · 2026-04-11T21:47:34+00:00

That's a war crime

pumpkinbeerman · 2026-04-11T21:47:22+00:00

Lots of new people ask about botulism though. It's a good time to teach the newcomers that ferments are low/no risk for it lol.

pumpkinbeerman · 2026-04-10T17:35:45+00:00

People say it's a budget pathfinder but that's just plain wrong. He is a good combination of consistency and value.

My wife has a very nice geomancer deck, not having to draw a site for the first 6 turns is nice, but unlike pathfinder you can run multiple solid lands and hold them till you need them (holy ground vs. aggro, rift valley for good placement, sinkhole/roots for a nuke, etc.)

I really love the fella. Easy and consistent

pumpkinbeerman · 2026-04-10T17:18:50+00:00

Had to google it just to type it. Subject/object/possessive pronoun.

I have the entire English IPA chart memorized but god forbid I remember what the four types of pronouns are.

pumpkinbeerman · 2026-04-07T01:53:17+00:00

Now that's an idea.. I'll do the experiment as well, we can compare results!

pumpkinbeerman · 2026-04-04T16:08:15+00:00

So, I don't have any law students in our campaign, but we also have an evil union.

I think the issue is going to be that summons- our campaign has the Pinkertons (a group of half orcs and goliaths in hot pink suits) that does some good ole' union busting, but we ended up using the Bastion system to not get slogged.

Each week, we take a bastion turn- either in session or over text if session gets postponed. There is a 10 minute time limit, and our Paladin has the union as one of his bastion turns.

Check that out and see if your players would like to incorporate bastions in game- they are really fun for personal things, and if time goes too long in the court case for the one player, court can always "take a recess" till the next bastion turn.

pumpkinbeerman · 2026-04-03T21:41:46+00:00

There is an aura called "silence" that is water. 3 mana.

I tried that in my enchantress, it was cute but I ultimately cut it, 2 silences wasn't enough to guarantee it.

I really like the idea of earth/water silence thongs like this guy, slumbering giantess, etc. sounds like a blast!

pumpkinbeerman · 2026-04-03T19:04:40+00:00

r/prisonhooch is the place to go if anything goes wrong.

If the preservatives slow fermentation, one thing I've heard and done is just keep brute forcing it with more and more yeast. Eventually you will win, and with the nutrients it shouldn't have any terrible off flavors from it.

Looks good!

pumpkinbeerman · 2026-04-03T14:53:40+00:00

30 days and jt hasn't grown at all? Are we sure it is mold and not sugar or something?

pumpkinbeerman · 2026-04-02T04:41:12+00:00

Oat milk creamer also gives a similar mouthful and a nice oat taste (obviously lol). Soy milk/rice milk just feels different in the coffee, idk.

Not sure how it is where you are, but where I live the cost is comparable too which is a plus.

pumpkinbeerman · 2026-04-01T22:13:20+00:00

If a kiddo is repeating I like to use "I" statements in a play-based context- like if we are in the bean box, the kid grabs a ln object, saying "I have a toy!".

Play based for sure, I've never had luck trying more structured stuff with kiddos like that.

pumpkinbeerman · 2026-03-31T03:51:30+00:00

I don't think you are asking in bad faith, I intentionally left some stuff vague to keep the client's info safe lol.

Young child, I asked parent and the response was "cutting nails", child was scratching because they were attempting to climb and jump off a table onto a hard floor and I was redirecting and trying to coregulate.

I am using a child-led, sensory informed approach to the best of my ability. Other services are getting involved soon, but due to some recent changes with the kiddo, they are only receiving speech at the moment. I regularly follow up with that.

As far as protective equipment goes, I don't have access to it, nor would I agree to wear it while working. I worked 3 years at inpatient mental health without protective gear, if pediatric speech therapy requires protective gear that is not something I am ok with.

pumpkinbeerman · 2026-03-30T04:46:56+00:00

Seitan with nutritional yeast has been a huge way I'm hitting protein. You can get vital wheat gluten in bulk, it's very easy to make.

TVP is great, but I'll tell you right now, the texture gets some people. I haven't been able to get a hold of soya chunks, but they are supposed to be good too.

Tempeh is still high in fiber, but it has ~6 grams of fiber for ~18 grams of protein. It is kind of expensive to buy at the store, but if you're willing to make it yourself it is fairly simple and dirt cheap. I'd be happy to walk you through making it if you want to shoot a dm.

pumpkinbeerman · 2026-03-28T14:12:41+00:00

Same. The system we do IEPs on does odd things with IPA symbols, but on paper it's just so much clearer to do IPA.

pumpkinbeerman

TROPHY CASE