Kaufman Children's Center

06/18/2026

Q: How can we keep ABA goals on track this summer without it feeling like therapy?

A: Follow your child’s lead to make summertime learning fun!

Practice with kids' favorite activities to motivate them to work on skills like requesting, waiting, sharing, and flexibility.

Focus on genuine interactions instead of drills:

🪣 Asking for sand toys at the beach
🍦 Practicing patience in line for ice cream
💬 Using communication skills during playdates

Summer is a great time to practice in a natural, low-pressure way!

06/17/2026

Ready for a BCBA role you'll love? We have just the place for you!

Join our collaborative team of behavior analysts, speech-language pathologists, and occupational therapists who work together to help kids reach their full potential. We value clinical excellence, teamwork, creativity, and work-life balance.

If you're looking for a place where your expertise is respected, your voice is heard, and your work truly matters, we'd love to meet you.

➡Learn more at kidspeech.com/jobs
📍West Bloomfield, MI

06/16/2026

Say hello to Hadley Moak, one of our outstanding OTs! 👋

Hadley joined KCC earlier this year and brings a wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm to our team. She holds a bachelor's degree in exercise science with a minor in deaf studies from Xavier University and earned her doctorate in occupational therapy from the University of Michigan.

Here’s more about Hadley:

🔸Lifelong competitive sailor with a passion for being on the water
🔸Lived in Pentwater for four months while teaching veterans with disabilities how to sail
🔸Shares a home with her boyfriend, Carson
🔸Enjoys playing euchre, lifting weights, and hitting the pickleball court
🔸Has a massive Red Lab named George and two cats, Frank and Sylvia

06/12/2026

Not saying we're competing with NASA, but…have you seen our occupational therapy window? 🚀😉 Thanks to Julia for the amazing cosmic makeover!

06/11/2026

When kids begin using words, it's important to help them grow beyond single-word responses. Expanding language means taking what a child says and adding one or two words to model a more complete phrase. This simple strategy helps kids build vocabulary, learn sentence structure, and develop stronger communication skills.

Here are some easy ways to expand your child’s language at the park this summer!

🔹Child says "push".
🔸Expand to "Push me", "Push me higher", "Push me fast/slow",

🔹Child says "slide"
🔸Expand to "I want ___ Slide" ,

🔹Child says "Go.”
🔸Expand to "Go up/down", "Go up ladder", "Go down slide".

🔹Child says "up!"
🔸Expand to: "Climb up ladder", "Help me up", etc.

🔹Child says: "Ball".
🔸Expand to " Throw ball", "Catch ball", etc.

These are just a few examples! The best opportunities for language expansion come from following your child's lead and talking about what interests them. Listen to what they're saying, then add a word or two to help them build longer, more detailed phrases.

Think your child needs more help with speech and language? Our SLPs have you covered! Reach out today for an evaluation at kidspeech.com/start

06/10/2026

06/09/2026

Dig, discover, repeat 🔎 Kids love digging to uncover hidden toys, and our therapists love all the opportunities it creates for learning through play.

Make a visual checklist of small toys (colorful bugs in this case) and hide the toys in the sandbox. Help kids to find them, compare them against the list, and check them off.

You can make a reusable list by laminating the sheet or putting it in a plastic page protector and checking off with a dry-erase marker.

Use this activity to work on:

🔸Matching skills
🔸Labeling colors or toy names once found
🔸Following instructions (can you find the spider and the butterfly?)

Behavior analysts, technicians, and kids in our ABA program love this activity. For more information about our options for kids with autism, visit our website at kidspeech.com/aba

06/05/2026

JUMPING JACK is a game kids love and our SLPs use again and again in sessions 🐰🥕

Kids of all ages enjoy the excitement, and the quick, repetitive turns create plenty of opportunities to practice speech and language skills. As children work on their targets, you can reward them with a pull from the bunny patch. But watch out! Which carrot will make Jack jump?

Use it to work on:

🔸Individual speech sounds

🔸AAC modeling

🔸Vocabulary: pirate, barrel, turn, push, pop, colors, go, in, out, turn, help, more, stop, open, want, etc.

🔸Expanding language: put it in, my turn, pop up, I got ___, more ___, I want ___, etc.

🔸Following directions: one step (pull a carrot) and two steps (pull a carrot and put it in your basket).

🔸WH questions: Who gets the next turn? What kind of animal is Jack? Where did that carrot come from? When is the game over? Why did the Jack jump?

🔸Pragmatics/social language skills: Waiting, turn taking, commenting, joint attention, peer interaction, and good sportsmanship

Have you played Jumping Jack with your kids? Which other games motivate them? Let us know in the comments!

06/03/2026

TRUE OR FALSE? Kids only need to know how to pedal to ride a bike.

Answer: FALSE!

Although pedaling is a key component of bike riding, there is a lot more involved. Kiddos also need to develop these skills:

🔸Core activation to stay upright
🔸Eye-hand coordination for handlebar steering
🔸Bilateral coordination for steering and safety
🔸Visual attention to avoid obstacles

Ready to tackle bike riding this summer? KCC occupational therapists can help your child build the skills and confidence needed to become an independent rider!