Author Archives: tdem54

As a child, my summer vacation was divided into two sections. Time at home or time at a cottage. My parents would rent a cottage on one of the many smaller lakes in the upper lower peninsula . We would pack food, kids and fishing equipment into the brown station wagon. As we grew, aContinue reading “School’s Out June 10, 2021”

As a person born and bred in the Midwest, I don’t think of the world’s oceans often. I do have personal mental photos of interacting with portions of the worlds oceans. I recall the fury and intensity of a storm while on a small boat. The boat bucking like a bronco fighting the waves. IContinue reading “World Oceans Day June 8, 2021”

Today is the feast day of the Body of Christ celebrated by Catholics, Anglicans and Greek Orthodox churches. Legend records the the city and bay of Corpus Christi was discovered in 1519 by a spanish explorer, Alanzo Alvarez de Pineda. He sailed into the lush tropical bay on the feast of Corpus Christi and namedContinue reading “Corpus Christi June 3,2021”

Many people were on the move traveling this weekend in the air and on the ground. Lifting of restrictions has the enhanced feeling of returning to normal. Others view the lifting of masking and restaurats at 100% capacity as an indication of normality. I have a more subtle clue. Yesterday, I was sitting in myContinue reading “Return to Normal June 1, 2021”

This is the story of when the speech pathologist has to deal with an articulation issue in her own child. Ruth spoke her first word at 9 months. It was for calling her Grandma. She would curl her fingers towards herself while repeating,”Ga Ma, Gama” in a low voice. Her vocabulary and desire to talkContinue reading “Not Far From The Tree May 27, 2021”

I have shared several stories about my days as a speech pathologist, but I haven’t explained why. May is Better Speech and Hearing Month to promote and inforn the publice about communication skills. Besides working with children on articulation and language skills, speech pathologists may work with cognitive deficiencies, swallowing disorders and lip reading forContinue reading “Better Speech and Hearing Month May 25, 2021”

Today is the tenth anniversary of bringing digital accessibility as an important factor in good web design. Worldwide there are more than 1 billion people that have a visual, hearing , physical or cognitive challenges affecting their ability to use the internet. When a webpage is designed with accessibility in mind, the changes also enhanceContinue reading “Global Accessibility Awareness Day May 20, 2021”

When I was a student teacher for special education, I was given many of the non-verbal children. One 5 year old boy still remains in my memory. This small Downs child would not answer his teachers or even make a sound. I asked to have a parent/ teacher consult. Lee’s Dad came to the school.Continue reading “Motown Memories May 18, 2021”

Looking over informal national days, I was intrigued. What was this all about? In my research, the celebration started in the 1930’s to highlight Samual Clements, affectionally known by his pen name, Mark Twain. At the age of 29, he was fired by another newspaper to find himself broke and at a loss for aContinue reading “National Frog Jumping Day May 13,2021”

The start of the following story is true. The twist at the end is fiction. But the moral is true. There was a young black mentally challenged man living with his foster mother since he was released from the state hospital , where he had been since birth. His foster mother taught him many skillsContinue reading “A Twilight Zone Day May 11,2021”