All posts tagged: self-esteem

Apraxia Monday: TALK YOGA creators Amy Roberts & Kim Hughes, both speech-language pathologists and certified yoga intructors talk about the value of kids, speech, & yoga

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By Leslie Lindsay  Yoga + Kids + Speech = some of my very favorite things.  ~APRAXIA MONDAY|ALWAYS WITH A BOOK~ Spotlight: TALK YOGA  I am so delighted to introduce you to two fabulous speech-language pathologists, Kim Hughes and Amy Roberts, both certified yoga instructors and pediatric SLPs. Their practice, TalkYoga is mentioned in the updated, 2nd edition of SPEAKING OF APRAXIA (Woodbine House, 2020) and with good reason—I love yoga! For years, I have practiced, but it wasn’t until the last five years or so that I really became a yogi. Before that, my daughter, Kate, now 15 with resolving CAS, participated in yoga-like poses during her combined ST/OT sessions. Kate is what we might call a ‘sensory seeker’ and so the movement—and the dedication—yoga provided important feedback and stimulation. Here, I ask Kim and Amy a few questions about how yoga practice can help kids with speech development. Please join us! Leslie Lindsay: Kim and Amy—welcome! I am so pumped about your yoga for kids, TalkYoga program. Can you tell us a bit about …

WeekEND Reading: This woman’s transformation from nomad shepherd girl in Somali to Mayo Clinic R.N. is nothing short of incredible. CONQUERING THE ODDS, refugee camps, teenage depression, suicide awareness & so much more

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By Leslie Lindsay  Inspiring–and often devastating–story of one Somali woman’s tumultuous childhood as a shepherd girl in the sub-Saharan desert to successful Mayo Clinic R.N.  This book might be slim, but it’s message is mighty and powerful. Born to teenage parents through an arranged marriage, Habibo wailed in her bassinet in a Somali hospital as her young mother was deprived of food and emotional support (at the time, it was the custom of Somali friends and family to provide nourishment to their patients, and not the hospital’s responsibility). When her father came to the front desk, he asked the nurses, “What is the sex of the baby?” When told she was a girl, he turned and walked away.  So begins Habibo’s life. Shuttled between her birth parents (who soon divorced) to her grandfather’s home, and then raised by her maternal grandmother, Habibo’s life was rift with emotional neglect, physical and sexual abuse. At four, she was a shepherd girl caring for 150-plus goats, sheep, cows, coaxing them across the countryside to fertile pastures and clean drinking …

The Teacher is Talking: Special Back-to-School Series

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By Leslie Lindsay Has your summer flown by…or are you counting down the days till your wee ones head back? Perhaps you’re worried about a few things–maybe your child is starting a new school…or, she’s not very good at making first impressions, staying organized, or playing fair.  Now’s the perfect time to begin working with your child on some of those skills as you polish up the back-to-school shoes and shop for glue sticks.  Follow along as we discuss a different topic related to school readiness each week now through the August.  Topics include: Back to School Stress & Anxiety Easy Transitioning to a New Grade or School Social Skills & 1st  Impressions Organizational & Memory Strategies Self-Esteem & Positive Behavior Playing Fair & Respecting Others [if you have a child with apraxia, or another special need, please remember to follow along on http://www.speakingofapraxia on Mondays for apraxia-specific back-to-school tips beginning 8/5/13.  With a combination of these and the apraxia tips, your family will be ready for success!] Without further adieu…here’s a little refresher on back-to-school stress & …

The Teacher is Talking: Let’s Talk About Talent

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By Leslie Lindsay When I used to work as a R.N. at the Child-Adolescent Treatment Program at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota I often facilitated educational groups.  Aside from the fact that I really enjoyed these groups, we often would pose questions to the kids (patients) that could be a little tough to answer.  Here are some examples that come to mind: 1)  If you could have another name other than your own, what would you choose and why?  2)  Name one thing you are good at. Okay…the one I am focusing on today is this last one.  One. Thing. You.  Are.  Good.  At.  This particular question gets to the heart of the matter quickly: Self-esteem.  I find this question i smuch  easier for younger kids to answer than older ones.  For example, this past week I volunteered to be a Room Mother at my 6yo’s kindergarten Valentine’s party.  I read a book to the kiddos about happiness and loving oneself.  Then I went around the room and ask for students to share what they …

The Teacher is Talking: The Energy Bus Book Review

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By Leslie Lindsay I just can’t get enough of my books this week!  I think you will agree that today’s “The Teacher is Talking” meshes well with yesterday’s post about speech disorders and bullies.  The Energy Bus by Jon  Gordon came to us by way of a birthday gift for my 6-year old.  She’s a full-day kindergarten student who hops on the big yellow every day, so a book about school buses made perfect sense.  But this is not just any school bus–it’s Miss Joy’s Energy Bus!  (image source: Amazon.co 2/12/13) I love how this book teaches the young character that he is in charge of his own positivity–his own good thinking, and his own outcome.  It’s about coming to school ready for the day and being your best self.  When some of the older kids at school bother him, he just uses his special energy bus powers to put ’em in their place.  Of course, there are a few bumps along the road, but what one learns from the energy bus is something we …

In My Brain Today: You are What you Eat…or Do

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By Leslie Lindsay (image source: http://jenuinemarketing.com/2012/07/06/writing-tome/brain-cartoon/) You’ve heard this adage before: “You are what you eat.”  (And if that were the case, I’d be a big ol’ hunk of pumpkin bread and veggie chips from Trader Joes).  BUT have you heard this one: “You are what you do all day?”  Ohhh…that’s a new one to you, too?  I know the feeling.  Just when I thought I’d heard it all… And so it got me thinking.  I am what I do all day.  I am.  What. I do.  All day.  In that case, I am a cornucopia of people, careers, and ideas.  Some may call that schizophrenic.  (No comment, please).  From mom to dog-mom and slave-to-my-family, to educator (“you make an ‘m’ like a camel…two big humps”) to housekeeper and  post office girl, and friend, wife, sister, daughter, publicist, author, writer,…sigh…it’s down-right exhausting.  And that really  is really  the tip-of-the-iceburg.  I want to be a writer who moms, not a mom who writes.  I want to be the size I was when I graduated college again.  You, too?!  …