Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Favorite Websites!

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. I have had a lot on my plate and had to let a few things fall to the wayside. Hopefully I will get back on track.

I thought I would post some of my favorite "communication" type websites. Here they are:

http://do2learn.com/

http://www.quia.com/pages/speechersclass.html

http://speech-language-therapy.com/

http://www.hanen.org/

http://www.listen-up.org/edu/speech.htm

http://signingtime.com/

Enjoy! Jenn

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Scrapbooks for Learning!

Moms (or Dads), Do you love to scrapbook? If so, you can turn your wonderful hobby into a great tool for your child. I had a wonderful time making up books for Yan that featured, "First Words", "Plurals", "Numbers", "Colors", etc. I just took some cute, durable books, added stickers of words that I wanted to target (or a quantity for the numbers book), and words. Making your own books cuts down on the background clutter on pages and highlights the item that you want to teach.

I have also used this as a way to make "social stories". They can be made using digital scrapbook materials, or regular ones as well. These can be used to help your child prepare for a certain unfamiliar event, or to recall and sequence a previous event. They are also a wonderful keepsake for later.

I'll try to take some pics and post them...but have fun!
Jenn

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

The beginning of a new journey!

Hello Everyone,

I am so excited to tell you know about my new on-line journey! First of all I should introduce myself. My name is Jennifer Cullimore, M.A., CCC-SLP. I am a certified Speech-Language Pathologist. I completed my undergraduate degree at "Tennessee State University" in Nashville, and my graduate degree at "University of Tennessee, Knoxville". Upon completion of my masters degree I went to work for the "National Center for Child Language Research" at the "Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center". I had the privilege of working with Steve and Mary Camarata on their research of children with: Autism, PDD-NOS, Specific Language Impairments, Severe Expressive-Receptive Language Disorders, Chromosomal Abnormalities and my other communication disorders. I learned so much and loved my experience there.

After completing my fellowship at "Vanderbilt" I decided to venture out on my own and opened a private practice. I specialized in early intervention therapy and loved it. I had my own practice for five years and just recently moved to Indiana to pursue another position with a wonderful practice.

About two and half years ago I had another dream come to fruition, I adopted my first child, Emily Yan from Hong Kong. She is an amazing little girl and has brought me more joy than I ever imagined. She happens to have an extra 21st chromosome (aka "Down Syndrome") and is truely a miracle. Since she came home I have had daily experience dealing with her communication. I feel that I have learned so much about what parents who have a child with a communication disorder go through.

I have a great desire to teach others about helping children with communication disorders. I am currently in the process of writing my first ebook on the topic. I figure this blog can be a forum to give tips, techniques and information to others. I also plan on using it to promote toys, dvd's and other resources that will help other parents and professionals!

So, pour yourself a cup of coffee, look around and visit often. I look forward to getting to know you!

Blessings,
Jenn