Your speech and language goals aren’t going to happen if the basement is flooded! 🌊
Before we can get to those challenging, needle-moving targets, every child needs three foundational R’s in place first, and I’m sharing exactly how I build them into every single session.
When someone says “let’s get back to the basics,” we think reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic. But, let’s take it back a step. If a child doesn’t feel regulated, doesn’t feel related to, they are NOT going to get to the reason level, which is where all of our communication goals are.
In this video, you’ll learn:
✅ Dr. Bruce Perry’s 3 brain levels (brain stem, limbic, prefrontal cortex) and why your treatment targets live at the very top
✅ The “third dial”: how to dial regulation and connection up and down moment to moment, right alongside task complexity and cueing
✅ My predictable 4-step session routine that helps anxious kids (and so many of my post-COVID kiddos with mutism) feel safe and secure
✅ Why I use cause-effect toys, familiar songs, and the slowest, calmest voice I can manage (not easy for this high-energy ADHD SLP😅)
✅ How to build connection by following the child’s lead, linguistic mapping, and my favorite expansion technique: giving back a complex sentence
✅ More connection than correction: why I aim for 90–100% positive encouragement within interaction early on
✅ My biggest mistake in getting greedy with reps and targets, and what to do instead
Here’s my challenge to you: take a solid month to follow the child’s lead and play in their favorite activities. You are front-loading the relationship, and you will get compounding interest for the next two years. You cannot over-deposit in regulation and connection!
DON’T DELAY AND JOIN THE SIS MEMBERSHIP TODAY!
Do you want to walk into every session with the materials prepped and ready to go? Inside the SIS membership, my SIS movement activities, and this month’s October bonus: the emotion check-in that I use to start EVERY session with my kiddos. They take the heart, find the emotion they’re feeling, and we talk about why. It’s the very first step in my predictable routine, and it’s ready for you to print and use Monday morning.
Don’t miss the social-emotional literacy October bonus, even if you just join for one month! Stop spending your evenings prepping and start spending your sessions connecting.
👉 Join SIS here:
Remember: We’re treating more than a mouth and brain. We’re treating a child, and that child has a heart.
Looking forward to seeing you at the SIS drawing board,💚KellyVessSLP
00:00 The Real Three Rs
00:25 Regulation Comes First
00:38 Relation Builds Trust
00:56 Reason Unlocks Goals
01:53 The Third Dial Strategy
04:15 Session Routine for Safety
07:41 Predictability and Calm Cues
09:36 Connection Over Correction
13:36 When Goals Break Safety
19:14 Front Load the Relationship
20:36 Wrap Up and Takeaways
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