Word Nerd

26/05/2026

Are your Tamariki at Kura Kaupapa? Are you a Kaiako? Here’s an opportunity for Wānanga in Kirikiriroa with an amazing Speech Language Therapist who lives te reo Māori 🤩

WAIKATO WHO'S KEEN FOR WĀNANGA??

I'll be heading up to Kirikiriroa during the holidays (July 9 - July 16th).

Kaiako Māori in akomanga reo Māori (tau 0-8).

SPREAD the word please whanau.
If I get 20-30 people keen, I'll start planning. There will be a fee.

Like, Share & Tag your whānau.

Nā māua ko Te Waioeka ✌️

01/05/2026

It’s all about the little things. Little animal friends and gems to keep the sound practise going 😅

27/04/2026

It’s so great to see articles like this- normalising sensory tools like headphones. So many people use headphones/ear buds/ear muffs now to regulate sounds. Such a useful tool for helping bodies and brains feel good.

Do you or your children find headphones helpful?

Rather than promoting anti-social cues, headphones can open up the world for autistic people.

22/04/2026

This is why I do what I do 🥲

Speech language therapy is about so much more than saying words correctly. I want children to feel good about their talking too!

15/04/2026

Aftermath of a fun session!

We made gloop/oobleck with cornflour, water, and coloured dye.

06/03/2026

This looks great for parents and professionals!

🌟 Free Workshop: Kids Do Well If They Can 🌟

Is there an Autistic child in your life? 💛

Drawing from Dr. Ross Greene’s Collaborative & Proactive Solutions approach, our Kids Do Well If They Can workshop explores how parents, whānau, and educators can support the growth and development of young Autistics.

📅 23 March 2026
⏰ 12:30 PM – 2:30 PM
💻 Online via Zoom

🔗 Register here: https://www.altogetherautism.org.nz/events/kids-do-well-if-they-can-23-03-2026/

12/02/2026

Lots of the kids I work with are movers. Their bodies need to wriggle and stretch so in my sessions I like to:

🕺 incorporate movement into what we do

🧘 use the floor rather than a table. Often their bodies like to be stretched out or feel firm support across more of their body

👐 use therapeutic gestures and actions that help their bodies and mouths know what to do

🚜 follow their interests. It's much easier to focus when what we're doing is motivating for them

Occupational Therapists are the experts on this and I like the tips shared by The Occuplaytional Therapist

Do you know any kids who are movers? What do you find helpful?

09/02/2026

Lots of parents have questions about structured literacy. Here’s a simple explainer of some of the lingo 🙌🏻

Learning to read has become political lately, with experts and politicians debating how best to teach children.

For parents and other bystanders though, all the terms being thrown around can be confusing. What exactly is the 'science of reading'? What's a phonic when it's at home?

Samantha Montgomerie: Writer has written a guide to literacy lingo, so you can understand just what's going on between the pages of those little readers your kids bring home ...
https://www.thesapling.co.nz/literacy-lingo-the-terminology-behind-literacy-and-reading-programmes/

03/02/2026

Notes like this fill my heart! "Dear Ruth, Thank you for teaching me all those tricky sounds! I really enjoyed playing with you and I hope you will have lots of other kids to play with". Dictated by a 5yo friend as he finishes up working with me ☺️

02/02/2026

I'm always learning and I love to share what I learn! Last year learned a new kupu (word) for speech language therapist and shared it with some local SLTs. I wrote about it with the lovely Melva Ritchie from Tongue Twisters and it's featured in the latest New Zealand Speech-language Therapists' Association Communication Matters magazine. You can read it in full here https://speechtherapy.org.nz/assets/Communication-Matters-Articles/2025-Communication-Matters/Communication-Matters-Summer-2025-web.pdf?vid=4