Brighten Therapy - Speech, Language & Feeding

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Brighten Therapy - Speech, Language & Feeding

Brighten provides evidence and play-based speech, language, and feeding services for families

06/08/2026

✨ 18-Month Milestones ✨

Wondering what communication, play, and social skills are typically emerging around 18 months? Every child develops at their own pace, but these milestones can help you understand what to look for and how to support your toddler’s growth.

🌿 Understanding:
• Follows simple directions
• Identifies familiar people, objects, and routines
• Understands many more words than they can say

🗣️ Communication:
• Uses a growing number of words
• Attempts to imitate words and sounds
• Joins in familiar songs, routines, or phrases

🎭 Play & Social Skills:
• Begins pretend play (feeding a doll, talking on a toy phone)
• Shows interest in others and shared activities
• Brings items to show caregivers

📚 Books:
• Enjoys short, interactive books
• Points to pictures when named
• Participates by turning pages or labeling familiar items

💡 How to help:
✔️ Narrate your daily activities
✔️ Label what your child sees and experiences
✔️ Pause during familiar routines to encourage participation
✔️ Model simple pretend play
✔️ Read together every day

If your child is missing multiple milestones or you have concerns about their communication development, connecting with a Speech-Language Pathologist can provide valuable guidance and support.

What new word or funny phrase is your 18-month-old saying right now? Share it below! 👇

05/14/2026

✨ Welcome to the team Jelena! ✨

We are very excited to have a new clinician ready to offer support to families!

If you’re interested in booking with Jelena, you can do so at the link in our bio or by emailing [email protected]

02/17/2026

How did a whole year fly by?! 🥹 The first year is HUGE—for your baby and for you.

If you’re at (or near) 12 months and wondering about speech, here’s the quick version 👇

✨ Understanding: follows simple directions (“come here,” “stop”), chooses between two items, looks for familiar people/things when named.

✨ Talking: has 1–2 consistent words (signs, exclamations, and animal or car sounds count!), lots of babble that sounds like their own language.

✨ Social: points, reaches, shows you things, plays simple back-and-forth games.

✨ Literacy: explores sturdy books (chewing allowed 😉).

Milestones are skills 90% of kids can do by this age. If something feels off, trust your gut—early support never hurts.

Questions about your 12-month-old? DM me .speech 💛

02/16/2026

Verbal routines are incredibly powerful!

Singing songs, reading familiar stories, and doing little rhymes or melodies along to your daily routines will help your little one pick up on words FASTER than if they simply hear you talking.

Verbal routines also work better to elicit language than asking questions!

For example… if you say repeatedly “Cow says moo!” on the same page of a story, it’ll be easier for your child to complete the missing word if you say “Cow says…” than to answer the question “What does the cow say?”

I’ll be posting some examples of how I use verbal routines with my little man soon… so follow along if you’d like to see this in action!

02/01/2026

Imitation is FOUNDATIONAL for learning to talk!

So if your baby isn’t copying any of your words before 12 months… they’re not going to be meeting that first word milestone 😬

Imitation develops in a sequence like any other skill, and usually slower simpler movements are achieved before more complex ones. Exclamations are a great way to make talking a little simpler!

You might also want to work on imitating facial expressions, simple sounds (cough, sh, grunts), and signs or gestures to build on imitation skills before targeting words.

If these tips aren’t helping your little one, please make an appointment with an SLP. Imitation is important so it’s best to get early intervention if we’ll need to work on it! 🚩🚩

Book with us online at the link in our bio! In person support in Calgary or virtual anywhere in Alberta 🌎

01/29/2026

I can’t count how many times I’ve seen this work FIRST TRY! Sometimes it really is that simple.

But full disclosure knowing how slow to go and when to reinforce participation is individual for every kid and can sometimes be tricky to decide.

If you want to see and practice your language strategies with a speech therapist we’re happy to help!

We can coach you in person at our Calgary location or even online as we watch you play with your child. And those sessions are covered by most insurance plans!

If you’re going to try this at home, my son’s favourite is Wheels on the Bus 🚌🎶✨

01/19/2026

Babies should have one true word by 12 months… but you’d be surprised about what counts!

Some of my son’s “words” at that age included doing a sniff for bunnies, using his finger as a toothbrush, and saying duck (and about 15 other words) as “buh”

Now if your child *truly* does not have any of these at 12 months we do recommend their development be monitored by an SLP. We can let you know if or when to be concerned, so you can focus on enjoying your child now… no matter where their skills are at!

02/10/2023

The ICFQ is used as a quick screening tool to determine if your little one’s picky eating is within the normal range or if it would be best to consult a feeding therapist.

This DOES NOT necessarily mean your child will need ongoing feeding therapy…

But it does make sure that all the kids who WILL need help get caught early!

It’s always better to send families in for an appointment and have them leave with confidence their child is okay rather than waiting until it’s obvious a problem won’t resolve on its own.

Tools like the ICFQ help with that!

Address

35 Normandy Drive SW
Calgary, AB
T3E7K1

Website

http://www.brightentherapy.ca/

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