Solar street light ether sunlight for energy, solar panels to recharge batteries during the day, at night the battery to the lamp source power supply, no need for complex and expensive pipeline laying, can adjust the layout of lamps and lanterns, safe and energy-free, no pollution, no need for manual operation, stable and reliable, LED Solar Street Light save electricity, maintenance-free, at the same time, solar street lamps for a cycle, no need to worry like ordinary street lamp line and the whole is not
Because solar street lamps have no need to lay cables, no AC power, no electricity, DC power supply, control, good stability, long life, high luminous efficiency, LED Solar Street Light simple installation and maintenance, high safety performance, energy saving and environmental protection, LED Solar Street Light economic and practical advantages. Therefore it is widely used in urban main, secondary trunk roads, residential areas, factories, tourist attractions, car parks and other places.
1, solar energy street lamps to solar radiation, irradiation in the light of the photovoltaic modules of the sun is sufficient directly affect the lighting effect, LED Solar Street Light so in the selection of lighting installation position, solar cell components at any time can illuminate the sun, and no leaves and other shelter.
2, threading must pay attention to the wire do not clip in the junction of the lamp rod. The wires should be connected securely and wrapped with PVC tape.
3, when using, in order to ensure beautiful and battery components can better receive solar radiation, please clean every six months on the battery pack dust, LED Solar Street Light but do not use water from the bottom of the flush.
As a kind of energy-saving and environmental-friendly lighting device, solar street lamp not only reduces the environment for power generation, LED Solar Street Light but also makes it more convenient and can be adjusted according to its own needs, so it is used in many big cities on the road.
1. Solar street lamps using solar photovoltaic cells to provide electricity, solar energy as a green environmental protection of new energy, "take it inexhaustible, use of endless." The full use of solar energy resources, LED Solar Street Light to alleviate the situation of conventional energy tension has a positive significance.
2. The installation of Solar street lamps is simple and convenient, no need to do a lot of basic works such as laying cables like ordinary street lamps, only a fixed base, all the lines and control parts are placed in the lamp frame to form a whole.
3. The operation and maintenance cost of solar street lamps is low. LED Solar Street Light The whole system operation is automatic control, without human intervention, almost does not produce maintenance costs.
Guest blog written by: Christina Schabow, MS CCC-SLP, speech & Language Pathologist and owner Baby Sign Language in Play
Second guest blog written by: Christina Schabow,Speech & Language Pathologist MS CCC-SLP, and owner of Baby Sign Language in Play
Libby Hill, of Small Talk and Smart Talkers has been nominated as Business Parent of the Year sponsored by RSM Tenon.
Open to any parent who has created their own flexible employment by starting their own business and has achieved this and more! The winner will receive a luxury spa weekend for two at Ragdale Hall Health Hydro and Thermal Spa worth £660. Libby said, 'Its great to be nominated but I know there's a stiff competition'.
I've had a fantastic training weekend, first time I have ever enjoyed full training days. Great weekend and very promising future!!!
St Neots, Cambridgeshire, and surrounding villages and towns....Get ready for open evenings to introduce the company, its aims, and our team to you all. Open evenings to be held in St Neots, Huntingdon, Sandy, and Bedford. Invitations will be sent out soon, advising you of your nearest venue, dates to be confirmed. If you have any queries, please contact 0844 704 5888 or use the enquiry form.
Small Talk and Smart Talkers in the news this week...... The Editor of Business Franchise Magazine liked the idea of the groups and mentions Libby Hill and Smart Talkers in this month's magazine: http://www.businessfranchise.com/news content
There's a whole page of editorial on the groups and why they are necessary in this month's Family Time magazine Family Time Magazine www.familytimemagazine.co.uk
You can pick up a free copy of Family Time Magazine in the following areas Aldridge, Burntwood, Lichfield, Sutton Coldfield and Tamworth.
A UTTOXETER mother-of-two who set up a speech therapy practice in the town this year has been nominated for a prestigious national award.
Libby is delighted to have been nominated for the award. 'I love what I do so is even better to be recognised for it!' she commented.
Most of the research into the effects of signing with babies has been American until now. The University of Hertfordshire's Karen Pike, Elizabeth Kirk and Neil Howlett have been studying the effects of using baby gesturing on language development. Their research has a different slant on the benefits of baby signing to previous work, they have found that those babies who are exposed to signing did not differ from the control groups on language outcomes when followed up at 20 months. However their research does highlight the fact that babies from low socioeconomic status backgrounds are more at risk of delayed language development. Some of their research focused on enhancing communication between mothers and babies from low socioeconomic backgrounds by encouraging the use of some gestures. This part of their research did show that the sign language has the potential to rectify the gap between low and high socioeconomic groups.
Their research backs up the whole reason for SmartTalkers, from Small Talk. Libby Hill, Director and speech & language therapist reports, 'Encouraging parental interaction with their babies and young children is vital to promote communication as well as emotional and intellectual development'. The Baby Talk sessions are a good start to promote discussion which helps groups draw their own conclusions, they can be for any group but show the most benefit where group members were initially unaware of the need to talk to and interact with their baby.
The topics include 'Why talk to your baby when he cant talk back?', 'Too much TV?', Why not use dummies?', 'Are nursery rhymes outdated?' and 'Books for babies????'
The evidence shows that these sessions are best when followed by Smart Signers which promotes the use of singing and signing with babies to help parent-child interaction.
A recent AFASIC study shows that children are leaving primary school without their speech, language or communication difficulties being picked up. Small Talk Speech & Language Therapist and Director Libby Hill feels that this is an awful situation, 'Almost every educational skill requires and relies on spoken language ability so the children are on a hiding to nothing'. Communication skills are so important for learning but also for our social life i.e. making and keeping friends.'
Its no surprise that in a study of young offenders, 75% were found to have speech, language and or communication problems.
Small Talk offer a screening service for any parent wanting to check on their child's development and also a class-based service for teachers.
Talking to babies helps their brains develop, researchers have discovered. Libby Hill, founder of Smart Talkers and Small Talk speech and language therapy says, ‘This is something we have known for a long time but this is news to most people’. The study by Northwestern University in Ilinois found that words influence the thinking of three-month-old babies better than any other kinds of sounds, including music. So if you're babbling away to your tiny baby, don't feel silly - you're helping his development.
In a recent survey carried out with 2,000 women, many indicated that they were fearful of starting up a business because of financial outlay or fear of failure.
However, the survey went on to report that most of the women interviewed would love to have their own business if they had support and training and could find something that offered the following:
Smart Talkers franchisees have all the above plus the satisfaction of knowing that they are making a difference to the development of pre-school children ...... and having fun at the same time!
Libby Hill, Small Talk Director is delighted to have been nominated for an award for the second year running.' Its great to do what you're passionate about but its good to be recognised for what you do', says Libby, 'even of I dont win anything its a fantastic experience'. The nomoinations are for most inspirational business woman and for the best new business for Smart Talkers
Smart Talkers have made the finals for the nomnations for this years awards and the voting has started. The nomonation is for the Small Talker groups in the best local group section Go to www.whatson4littleones.co.uk/voting if you want your vote to count.
Smart Talkers have been nominated for the best local group in the annual awards of 'what’s on for little ones'. Libby Hill, Director said, 'Its a great opportunity for more people to get to know about us'. The nominations are for the Small Talker groups at Lichfield and Burntwood. Nicky Wilson, Franky Shepperson and Libby run these.
Learning to communicate is a fantastic achievement and needs to be celebrated. The Small Talker groups are for 3-4 year olds to help prepare them for school. They work on listening, attention, phonological awareness, vocabulary and more. Every child can benefit, is fun with a function!
BBC Radio Derby invited Libby Hill, Small Talk Speech & Language Therapist to discuss the issues surrounding the new Comunication Tsar's survey. She went on the Aleena Naylor show on Tuesday 5th January. 'Its a great exprience and Im always pleased to be able to discuss these important topics. I set up the Smart Talkers range of groups specifically to help address the problems identified in the report', said Libby. The groups are to be available as a franchise from February so that the good practise they promote can be avaialable nationwide .
Nearly a quarter of boys - and one in seven girls - is struggling to learn to talk because thousands of households keep their TV sets on constantly making it difficult for them to understand the speech of adults around them.
A survey revealed how 22 per cent of boys and 13 per cent of girls have trouble developing speech and understanding others.
Three per cent suffer 'significant' problems, according to a poll published by Jean Gross, the Government's communications adviser.
Middle-class children were just as likely to experience difficulty'. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk
'This is a real problem and exactly what the Small Talkers Groups in the Smart Talker Range are designed to address', commented Libby Hill Small Talk Speech & Langugae Therapist and Small Talk Director
Research now has proved that it is vital to talk to and interact with your baby from birth or they will not fully develop the area of the brain which is responsible for speech, language and communication development. Libby Hill, Speech & Langugae Therapist & Smart Talk Director recommends http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/talktoyourbaby/conferencereport2009.pdf or Sue Gerhart's book 'Why love matters', for more information.
There is a worrying shortage of NHS Speech & Language Therapists, despite the number of children with speech, language and communication problems being at an all time high.
Dummies may hinder a toddler's development reprted in the Mail on- line and the Daily Mail Toddlers who use dummies are three times more likely to suffer from speech impediments as they grow up, research suggests.
Scientists have found preschool children who have used a pacifier for at least three years are more likely to have difficulties talking than
children who don't use them. Youngsters who suck their thumbs are also at greater risk of delayed speech development, the study found.
Although the findings are preliminary, they add to the growing evidence that parents who give their toddlers dummies could be 'buying
themselves' peace and quiet at the expense of their child's development. The American and Chilean researchers looked at the history of thumb and finger sucking, breast feeding and use of dummies in 128 children aged three to five.
They also used a linguistic test to see whether the children's speech was normal for their age - or whether they had an unusually low 'talking age' when it came to pronouncing sounds and words.
The team, led by Dr Clarita Barbosa of the University of Washington, found children who sucked their fingers or thumbs, or who used a dummy
Libby Hill from Smalltalk speech & language therapy has been invited onto BBC Radio Derby to comment! She's always been a fervent hater of
A recent report in the Times 13th OCTOBER 2009 hows very alarmingconclusions......Children should be banned from watching television until they are 2 years old because it can stunt their language development and shorten their attention span, according to new Australian recommendations.
The guidelines warn of the damage done by sitting inactive for hours and advise that reading, drawing or solving puzzles should also be kept to a minimum.
For children aged between 2 and 5, time in front of the TV screen should be limited to an hour a day, according to health experts, in the first official guidelines on children’s viewing habits.
Too much television can affect young children’s ability for social interaction and damage their concentration, they say. The guidelines — drawn up by the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne and to be published by the Government next week — are part of a national anti-obesity drive. Belying Australia’s image as a fit, healthy and sports-obsessed nation, a quarter of its children are seriously overweight — a figure that is expected to rise to a third by 2020.
The report, although intended mainly for childcare centres, also advises parents to make a plan for reducing screen time at home.
The Get Up and Grow report says: “Based on recent research it is recommended that children younger than 2 years of age should not spend any time watching television or using other electronic media (DVDs, computer and other electronic games).
“Screen time . . . may reduce the amount of time they have for active play, social contact with others and chances for language development. [It may] affect the development of a full range of eye movement [and] reduce the length of time they can stay focused.”
Research by the hospital indicates that very young children in Australia spend more time watching television than in any other activity. Four-month-old children watch an average of 44 minutes of television daily, while children under 4 years with pay TV at home spend at least three hours a day in front of the screen.
Nearly a third of children live in households that have a television switched on all the time, the policy brief says, with television used as a “babysitter” from earliest infancy. “Face-to-face interactions and responsive, engaged relationships provide the foundation for all child development,” the report says. It advises that children aged 2 to 5 should not be inactive — defined as time spent watching TV, reading, drawing or solving puzzles — for more than an hour at a time during waking hours. From the age of 1, children should be active for at least three hours a day.
The guidelines have been welcomed by Australian childcare experts. Lee Burton, a commentator on childcare, was in favour of a complete ban on television for toddlers in childcare centres. “I think this is aimed at helping people to understand the effects of television-watching on very young children and to advise them this is not a good thing,” he said. Barbara Biggins, the chief executive of the Australian Council on Children and the Media, said: “There are ways of entertaining young children that don’t involve plonking them in a passive viewing situation — even if it’s playing in the mud or watching insects crawling.”
Smalltalk director and specialist speech & language therapist has been converned about this isue for many years now, following some research she did back in the 1990s. "This was before CBeebies, etc and showed that too much TV watching can be a factor in language delay. There are also other issues involved such as the parents of the children who are watching TV may be too busy to interact with their chidren or dont know how".
There are several reasons why a child of 2 might not be talking as expected including a general developmental delay, problems understanding, a family history of late talking, they might not see the need, they may be on the autistic continuum or belong to a family who don’t realise that they need to interact with their toddler in order for him or her to learn to talk.
Whatever the reason, the toddler groups Tiny Talkers groups are especially helpful for those who have not managed to pass the Health Visitor checks, as well as for other children.
J. B. was 2 yrs 5 months and had no spoken words. He got by with a combination of pointing and grunts. His mother, a single parent was concerned that this would affect his relationships with other children. His behaviour was deteriorating due to frustration at not being able to get his message across. His Health Visitor referred him to speech & language therapy but also advised his mother to take him to the Smart talk group. He is an only child.
J.B’s attention was fleeting and he preferred to run around for the first two sessions. He could not wait for his turn and had Smart temper tantrums as a result. No spoken language was observed at this time. However, six sessions on he could sit and attend to the group tasks, join in for his turn and more often than not volunteered to be the helper at snack time which meant he was last to be served! He could produce 25 or more single words and could even produce 2 words together e.g. more pop, bubbles gone.
J.B. was already a confident little boy but he and his mother needed encouragement to communicate verbally and to observe how the Therapist’s techniques can be used at home in everyday situations. He received his NHS appointment but has been discharged because he is making such encouraging progress.
N. J. was 2 yrs 6 months when she came to the group. Her parents were concerned because she did not speak at all, she was effectively mute. The Health Visitor had recommended they come along.
For the first 4 sessions she was very quiet but co-operated fully for the tasks. She appeared to enjoy the signing and her understanding was very good. Gradually, she began to join in with the songs and then she named items. Now 7 sessions on, she is talking when it is her turn and will spontaneously ask for drink or biscuit at the snack time. She can use 2-3 word sentences. Her confidence to communicate was the biggest stumbling block and the group acted as a forum in which to develop this. The signing and augmentative communication techniques just alleviated the pressure for her. She is using her new found skills in most situations now.
Up to 50% of children do not acquire speech or language as we would expect so Smart Talker groups are designed to help prepare children for school with a variety of activities which the chidren enjoy but which also help a geat deal.
J.P. is 3yrs 9months and has been a regular attender at Smart Talk Groups since July. He has Prader-Willi syndrome which affects his muscle tone and tend to be accompanied by a general developmental delay. He is seen by an NHS SLT but has had no regular therapy. His comprehension is around 6 months delayed and at the start of the groups his attention and listening were further hindering this, so that he didn’t always follow instructions or appear to hear what was said to him.
His attention control is much improved and he can now sit to ‘listen’, following the positive active listening training. This means that his everyday understanding is improved.
His expressive skills were hampered by acute shyness so that his confidence was very poor. He found it hard to take his turn and would ‘hide’ in his mother’s arms. Last week he demonstrated clear sentences for his turn in the group and no evidence of anxiety. Functional communication is therefore improved too.
J. K. is 3 yrs 11m and has an identified general developmental delay which means that he was around 12months behind his peers on most things including speech and language. Confidence was poor because he was aware of his difficulties. He has had contact with NHS SLT but no regular therapy. This had frustrated his mother so that she had fallen out with the early year’s team too! He has been a regular attender at the Smart Talk Group and is now one of the more able in the group!! His mother is delighted.
Smart Talk Speech & language therapist Libby Hill has been nominated for an award in two categories for the Annual Mumprenuer Awards to be held in Birmingham on Saturday 3rd October. Mrs Harris, Parent of one of Smart Talk's clients feels that she is an inspiration to other Mums who want to do things for themselves. 'She kept on trying even when things were hard because she had an idea she believed in,' says Mrs Harris, 'its hard working for yourself, setting up a business and being a single parent too.'
Libby is nominated as the most inspirational business mum and for the best new buisness. Libby feels its great to be nominated but knows that there is stiff competition in both categories, 'Being put forwards is great and I'm looking forwards to the day out but I'm not expecting to win anything'.
Smart Talk are going to be working with an independent phsiotherapist who specialises in children. Her name is Linda Mawle
Problems with speech and language are the most common developmental difficulty that children encounter. Studies indicate that as many as one in ten children in the UK have speech and language difficulties and these are particularly prevalent in the early years. Language is central to learning and a study by the Basic Skills Agency (2002) reported that, in the opinion of teachers, 50% of children start school lacking skills that are vital for an effective start to education.
You are now more and more likely to come across a child with difficulty in one or more of the following areas:
Children may have difficulty with understanding the meaning of words and concepts. They may have problems following instructions, understanding games and tasks and making sense of what is being said to them. Often children with these difficulties may appear to understand, as they may be getting clues from following other children or guessing from the context. However, they may also come across as 'difficult' simply because they are not fully understanding what is being said.
Children may have problems with using language. They may have difficulty with words or sentence structure. They may struggle to express themselves in play and activities, or to tell people how they feel.
Children may have problems with the intelligibility of their speech, they may have a reduced number of sounds available to them and difficulty making particular sounds in simple or longer words. They may not be easy to understand when they speak or reluctant to speak for fear of not being understood.
Many children who have speech and language difficulties have problems with listening to spoken language (often when their hearing is OK). They have difficulty concentrating on a task and listening to adult instructions.
Children's development of social skills, their sense of self and others and their ability to form relationships and learn can all be affected by speech and language problems.
Difficulties in one or more of these areas can have a profound impact on a child's experience of their early education. How each child is affected will depend on the degree of their difficulty and personal factors.
Owing to these problems, children with speech and language difficulties may struggle to follow and learn daily routines. For example, if they find it hard to understand spoken language children may struggle to follow instructions, especially negatives such as the difference between "do" something and "don't" do something.
They may also find sentences with more than one element difficult. For example, "get some paper and pencils and go and sit in the drawing corner". The child may be able to follow the individual elements of the sentence but when they are combined into one, they can't process everything at once. Keeping sentences short and supporting information with gesture will help.
Children who find it hard to make themselves understood by adults or other children will find their ability to join in activities and tell people things, ask questions, relate stories, and form friendships is inhibited. They may be unable to join in songs or nursery rhymes and have difficulty following stories and remembering information. In this situation, offering a choice with words to go with that choice may help e.g. "do you want to play with the cars or paint?"
Difficulties in attention and listening can make it hard for children to get the most out of free-play sessions, their ability to take turns may be affected and they may find it hard to listen to and retain instructions. Poor awareness of time and the sequence of routine events can lead to children becoming insecure, especially if the routine they have learned is changed for a special event, such as the photographer's visit or the Christmas party. Sticking to a set routine and having pictures that relate to that routine in order upon on the wall may help.
The feelings of frustration and confusion that can arise from speech and language difficulties can result in behaviour problems. Children may either vent their frustration and anger in very obvious ways or become very quiet and withdrawn when they feel the act of communication is too difficult to keep on trying.
In addition to these more general difficulties, children with speech and language problems can encounter specific difficulties in accessing the early years curriculum. Many, if not all of the Early Learning Goals rely directly or indirectly on a child being a competent listener and communicator and children with difficulties in any of the areas discussed here will need support to get the most out of their early years' experience.
Owing to these problems, children with speech and language difficulties may struggle to follow and learn daily routines. For example, if they find it hard to understand spoken language children may struggle to follow instructions, especially negatives such as the difference between "do" something and "don't" do something. They may also find sentences with more than one element difficult. For example, "get some paper and pencils and go and sit in the drawing corner". The child may be able to follow the individual elements of the sentence but when they are combined into one, they can't process everything at once. Keeping sentences short and supporting information with gesture will help.
Jessica Charles (adv.Dip. Hyp Psch.Cert couns) is a trained counsellor who enjoys working with children and young adults with all types of difficulties including mental health issues and learning disability. She will also see adult voice clients and help to run parent support groups. Many children with autistic spectrum disorder have associated phobias or anxiety issues which Jess can also help with.
Nicky has lots of experience of working with children especially nursery age and runs the Smart Talk Group at Charnwood Childrens Centre as well as working with individual children in nurseries and schools. She enjoys working with all types of spoken language difficulty but especially speech problems.
'Idioglossia. cryptophasia or more commonly known as "twin language" or "twin talk" has been the focus of many research studies and has interested the public for years. It was once believed that twins could develop their own language unrecognisable by others.
Today. research indicates that twin language is actually one twin modeling the immature or disordered speech pattern of their co-twin. which results in the incorrect use of speech sounds and grammar by both twins. If you've ever heard two children talking with delayed speech and language. you too may think they're talking in a foreign language'.
Why do twins have trouble developing sounds and words? Well. research has suggested that twins are at greater risk for speech and language delays because of higher incidence of prematurity. low birth weight or limited individual communication with their parents.
Smart Talk have a number of twins on their books and are happy to give advice & support to aanyone with concern.
Libby Hill was invited onto BBC Radio Derby's Aleena Naylor Morning Show on Wednesday 29th July to talk about Chris Eubank's dental work. 'The idea was was a bit daunting at first but I thought it was a great opportunity to promote Smart Talk' says Libby. Referrals for lisps are few and far between at Smart Talk, however, therapy would be a much better alternative to expensive dental work. Its reported that he spent £30,000 in an effort to cure his speech impediment.
The studios are state of the art in Derby City centre and everyone was very welcoming. Libby reprts to actually enjoying the experience and has been asked to appear regularly for relevant topics.
Television reduces verbal interaction between parents and infants, which could delay children's language development, says a U.S. study that challenges claims that certain infant-targeted DVDs actually benefit youngsters.
The researchers studied 329 children, aged 2 months to 48 months, and found that for each additional hour of television exposure, there was a decrease of 770 words (7 percent) heard from an adult by the children. The study also found that the more hours spent watching television, the fewer vocalizations infants made when adults talked to them.
"Some of these reductions are likely due to children being left alone in front of the television screen, but others likely reflect situations in which adults, though present, are distracted by the screen and not interacting with their infant in a discernable manner," wrote Dr. Dimitri A. Christakis, of Seattle Children's Hospital, and colleagues.
"At first blush, these findings may seem entirely intuitive. However, these findings must be interpreted in light of the fact that purveyors of infant DVDs claim that their products are designed to give parents and children a chance to interact with one another, an assertion that lacks empirical evidence," they noted.
The researchers added that their results may help explain previous findings of a link between television viewing and delayed language development.
"Given the critical role that adult caregivers play in children's linguistic development, whether they talk to their child while the screen is on may be critical and explain the effects that are attributed to content or even amount of television watched," the team wrote. "That is, whether parents talk less (or not at all) during some types of programs or at some times of the day may be as important in this age group as what is being watched."
Smart Talk have just finished the Languageland training in Hixon Pre-school. The staff have responded very well to the ideas and will incorporate in future planning, while the children enjoyed the circle time sessioons. Libby Hill is also helping them in their quest to become recognised as a speech, language and communication friendly establishment. More training is planned including sign language. Libby pointed out that the pre-school is no worse than anywhere else. “In fact all nurseries will have at least 2 or 3 children with speech difficulties, some with delayed expressive language, while at least 1 is likely to have problems with social interaction or social use of language.
Children are now so addicted to television that they would prefer to look at a blank screen than a smiling human face, a new study has found.
The results, described by scientists as deeply worrying, appear to show that youngsters are distancing themselves from interaction with real people because of their constant diet of television.
Researchers found that they reacted as enthusiastically to the image of a television as alcoholics do to pictures of drink.
Previous studies indicated that from birth, people will choose to look at human faces in favour of an object.
But the latest year-long project by academics found that when children were confronted with images of a friendly face and a blank TV set, they were more drawn to the screen.
The first experiment involved 34 five-year-olds, 25 eight-year-olds and 34 adults, who were shown a series of picture cards.
Scientists paired images of smiling human faces with those of a toy boat, a toy train, a doll's house, a tap, a teapot and a wall clock. Without exception, the subjects all responded best to the face.
But in a second test where 22 adults and 145 children aged between five and eight were shown cards pairing a face and a television set, the youngsters looked at the TV first.
Dr Markus Bindemann, of Glasgow University, which carried out the research with Stirling University, said: "It is perhaps not surprising that it is televisions which compete with faces for children's attention. But this is a worrying trend.
"We learn social interaction - how to deal with people and how to read them - from looking at their faces.
"If you just stare at a box, you don't get any genuine interactions. In the long-run that's got to have pretty dire consequences."
Dr Martin Doherty, a psychology lecturer at Stirling University, added: "In all previous research children showed a preference for faces so we tried to come with other stimulus that people would find as interesting.
"For instance, if you were an obsessive trainspotter, you might look to a picture of a locomotive more than the face.
"This study shows in very simple terms that for children of a certain age there is more interest in television than in people."
Other recent studies have linked a growth in autism with the number of hours children spend watching the box.
And the notion that children learn by watching TV was recently dispelled by research that showed learning skills, such as language, were best accomplished by interaction with adults.
"And looking at TV rather than faces is a type of social impairment because you are becoming less interested in what should be more important to you.
"Being able to interact with people is a prerequisite for success at a personal and professional level."
Glenys Watkins was faced with never tasting food again after a fall at home in Dyserth, near Rhyl, left her unable to swallow.
But now the 64-year-old is tucking into her favourite chips after becoming one of the first in the UK to undergo an innovative treatment.
She is one of the few people in the UK approved to provide the therapy which has been used in the United States successfully for the last decade to treat swallowing problems, or dysphagia, which it is the medical term for the condition.
The treatment uses Smart electrical pulses, transmitted through pads placed on the skin, to stimulate the swallowing muscles so that they relearn how to swallow.
After just two weeks of intensive treatment Ms Watkins was able to eat her favourite foods again including spaghetti Bolognese, chocolate cake and the odd chocolate biscuit after spending 11-and-a-half months being fed through a tube in her nose.
"Glenys, like lots of people with dysphagia, had a very poor quality of life, she was poorly motivated and depression can set in," said Ms Sinnappan.
Currently, the therapy is only available privately, but the speech therapist and Ms Watkins's consultant believe it should now be considered as an NHS treatment.
"It could provide a vast cost saving in health care for patients with dysphagia, which could be many millions of pounds a year," argued Ms Sinnappan.
"It will cut the operating cost of fitting a feeding tube to their stomach, of providing the texture modified food for them and many are in nursing home care because of their lack of independence."
Consultant Robert Rafal, who is also Professor of Clinical Neuroscience and Neuropsychology at Bangor University, added: "As a consultant I would want Vital Stim therapy to be a treatment for patients with problems in swallowing due to a neurological difficulty where other treatments had failed.
"Further studies should be done to evaluate Vital Stim therapy's usefulness and if they bear out its effectiveness over time and in medical practice it should be available on the NHS."
A Health Commission Wales spokesperson said: "We cannot comment on individual cases. This is clearly an experimental treatment at this stage, and we will look at further research with interest."
In the meantime, Ms Watkins is just delighted to be able to taste her food once more: "I eat all sorts of food, I love chips, I must have them three times a week, but I need to lose a stone, even though we have the low fat ones, I was dead thin before."
“Parents who point and use other gestures with their toddlers can give them a head start with learning language” reported The Times today. It said that scientists have discovered that children as young as 14 months who pick up gestures from their parents have larger and more complex vocabularies when they start school. This could affect a child’s intellectual development, as early vocabulary is a good indicator of later academic success.
In this study, researchers filmed the interactions between parents and toddlers from 50 families with different socio-economic backgrounds. Children from higher income families used more gestures to convey meaning than those from lower income families. When the children started school several years later, those who had gestured more at 14 months had significantly bigger vocabularies.
With this and other evidence in mind, the Horn End Nurseries in Staffordshire have decide to introduce signing into their nurseries as routine practice. Nursery owner Ms Deborah Falshaw feels that we must recognise that children learn differently and that for alot of children the visual impact of signing will aid the child's understanding as well as their expressive language skills. Smart Talk Therapists have been involved with this.
A very successfull session was held at the Rugeley Nursery on wednesday evening with all staff in attendance as well as some of the parents. They all picked up the signs with apparant ease and by the end of the session could read and sign simple stories and nursery rymes. 'Its an extension of natural gesture' explained Franky Shepperson SLT, who has taught her own children and grandchildren to sign from babyhood. 'We can control our hands long before we can control everything we need to be able to master for speaking', she added.
We’ve had a lot of favourable feedback recently especially regarding our approachability. Parents have reported that they found the Therapists easy to talk to and their advice easy to follow. We believe that any suggestions or therapy programme has to be functional and hopefully made as much fun for the child as possible. All our Therapists and Assistants are parents too which Managing Director, Libby Hill, feels is a good thing. ‘My way of thinking changed dramatically when I had children, previously I made expectations of parents that with hindsight were too much. For example, I couldn’t understand it if parents reported that they hadn’t had time to carry out the therapy programme during the week. Now I completely understand that and would tailor the programme around the child’s daily routine if at all possible to make it functional’.
We recognise that it is hard for a parent when their child is not developing as would be expected. They have to come to terms with this, however, slight the problem. Obviously, when there is a greater problem, perhaps accompanied by a diagnosis of ‘special needs’ the parents will go through several stages before they will be able to fully accept this and move on. This is perfectly normal and will affect people to different degrees. Sometimes it’s hard to see beyond the ‘label’ so that sometime we forget that we have a beautiful child who happens to have special needs. Libby’s own sons aged 5 and 8 yrs have dyslexia and so are struggling at school. ‘They are so clever and practical in other ways, I’m not too worried if their reading and writing is poor. It’s about putting it into a context and helping each individual child to achieve his or her own potential’.
We will be running several evening training courses over the coming months for parents to attend to find out more about speech, language and communication problems. There are also some functional signing classes for parents to learn early signing skills to support their children or to encourage babies. More details to follow shortly.
The Smart Talk Team is growing with two new members of the paediatric team: Helen Stretton and Dee Holder, who are both experienced therapists and parents of young children. They have a practical, down to earth approach and are passionate about making a difference. They cover the Burton and Tamworth areas respectively.
We also have Sumathi Sinnappan, who is a specialist consultant Speech & Language Therapist for dysphagia, She is able to offer advice and support to both adults and children with feeding and swallowing problems. This is a very specialised area and one Smart Talk Ltd has not been able to include previously. Sumanthi is also a practitioner of VitalStim which is a new pioneering technique for dysphagia. it has excellent results in the USA but is not yet widely known in the UK. At present Sumathi is the only licensed Therapist in Britain.
For children and young adults on the autistic continuum, we have Franky Shepperson, highly specialist speech & language therapist. She has over 40 years of experience in the field and is a tremendously valuable resource.
A common language disorder that affects one in 14 children has been linked to a gene for the first time, offering insights that ultimately promise better diagnosis and treatment.
Variations in a gene called CNTNAP2 are associated with specific language impairment (SLI), which causes communication difficulties in about 7 per cent of children, British scientists have found.
The work, led by Simon Fisher, of the University of Oxford, could eventually help thousands of families affected by the condition, which causes delayed speech, poor comprehension of language, and an inability to link words into grammatical structures and sentences.
Intellectual, physical and emotional development is otherwise normal, though many children with SLI have behavioural and educational problems triggered by their difficulties in expressing themselves and making friends.
On Wednesday 8th October a group of classroom assistants from across the area came together at Wolsley Wildlife Conference Centre to look at speech & language problems in the classroom. Their Head Teachers had all identified spoken language problems as extremely important and had committed to the day. The participants were all very enthusiastic and dedicated to finding out about the problems the children may be having and how to cope with them.
The day was presented by Libby Hill, an Independent. Specialist Speech &language Therapist & MD of Smart Talk, who has many years experience of working in schools. They identified component areas of spoken language, looked at general classroom strategies and specific techniques to help their children. Some of the schools included Flash Leys & Brooklands Primaries Stafford, St Josephs & Western Springs , Rugeley, Anson and Colwich Primaries.
The feedback was 100% positive apart from one suggestion that the day could have been longer! All said they would recommend the course to others.
All children should be assessed for speech problems at the start of primary and secondary school, a report says.
The government-commissioned Bercow review of speech and language services says improving communication skills is key to raising educational standards.
Up to half the children in some areas of England have significant problems, but many have to fight for support.
Conservative MP John Bercow's review of services for children and young people with speech, language and communication needs suggests about 40,000 children, or 7%, are starting primary school in England each year with significant difficulties with speech and or language. But the rates are much higher in areas of social deprivation, with up to 50% having speech and language skills lower than expected for their age, the report says.
Without the help they need these children will do worse at school, could develop emotional and behavioural problems and may descend into criminality, it argues.
But Mr. Bercow said families faced a "postcode lottery" of provision and shortages of speech experts in most areas of the country. www.bbc.co.uk/news
Smart Talk is running several courses for the Autumn term. They will all be held at the wildlife conference Centre, Wolsley Bridge which is a great training venue. The courses are run by Libby Hill, Speech & Language Therapist & Rebecca Burgess, a highly experienced class Teacher. Previous course feedback has been 100% positive.
The courses for professionals working with school aged children aim to look at the problems that the children are having and how to identify these more easily. There are simple effective strategies, which can be implemented to help. One study, carried out by experts Ann Locke et al in 2002, concluded that in an average class, 7.4% of children will have a spoken language problem. This figure increases in areas where there is social or economic disadvantage.
Spoken language skills are the building blocks for literacy and numeracy so if a child is having difficulty with spoken language, it will follow that he will have problems with the rest of the academic curriculum.
Spoken language difficulties include problems with attention & listening, understanding what is being said, finding the right words, putting sentences together or a speech problem. There are also some children who have a stammer or a voice problem.
It’s comparatively easy to identify a speech problem or an expressive language delay or disorder but it can be very difficult to spot a receptive language issue. Libby put together a very simplistic model to explain the components necessary for receptive language and what could go wrong. The Open University Psychological Society and Special Children Magazine published it. Libby also presented it at the Central SIG for mainstream special needs. The course aims to give everyone an insight into this so that they can identify and then help to remediate problems, especially those which have previously been undiagnosed.
All speech and language therapists must complete a recognised three- or four-year degree course and register with the Health Professions Council before being able to practise. The courses combine academic study and practice/clinical placements.
Most courses require three A-level passes or five Scottish highers as minimum entry qualifications. Some courses require specific GCSE and A-levels, such as English and biology, so check the entry requirements with each university.
The practical components of the courses are very important. These may take place in schools, NHS hospitals and community health clinics and are designed to develop skills in assessing and treating people with communication disorders.