Evolution Speech Pathology

As the year comes to a close, we’re grateful to every family, those we’ve worked with for a long time, those who joined us this year, and those we’re farewelling. 🤍

Thank you for your trust and partnership as we support children to connect, communicate, and grow in their own ways.

Wishing you a gentle holiday season filled with rest and connection—however that looks for your family. ✨

Loved this video from Emerging Minds Australia about children's mental health.

"Often my behaviour is how I let you know something’s not right for me.

That means it’s time to do some detective thinking.

I love it when we work together to figure out what’s going on inside of me.

I might be loud and kicking things because I’m feeling angry, but do you know that’s because someone was mean to me at school?

Or if I stay in my room and don’t play my favourite game, maybe it’s ’cause I’m worried about stuff I’m trying to understand.

When you let me know that whatever I’m feeling is okay and that you get it, I feel safe."

Emotions and behaviours - Emerging Minds Meet Emm. In this animation, Emm shares some key things every adult should know about emotions and behaviours and ways to best support them.

People say “In the REAL world, they won’t be able to…” and then end that sentence with something that you actually, totally, can in fact do in the “real world”, a surprising amount of times in my line of work.

Actual things that people have actually, literally said to me:

In the REAL world, he won’t be using a pencil gripper. (What? Literally why not? I could use any pencil gripper I wanted to to write anything I felt like.)

In the REAL world, she can’t rock in her chair, so… (Yet I, a grown adult, sit perched like a bird and rocking wildly back and forth in my office chair while writing evaluations when I need a lot of sensory input.)

In the REAL world, the kids won’t have clipboards available to write on. (Isn’t a clipboard like, two dollars? Why couldn’t someone write with a clipboard?)

In the REAL world, she can’t cry every time something happens that she doesn’t like. (Anyone can cry whenever they want to cry. I’ve cried at all kinds of works in my life. When someone is crying, other human beings who are decent usually try to help them.)

On the flip side, you know what else doesn’t happen in the real world? People typically don’t have to sit silently at desks for 6+ hours a day. People typically are able to talk to their friend or coworker or text somebody in between tasks or when they feel like it. People typically can eat a snack if they’d like to or make arrangements to. People typically aren’t stuck in a room with 30 other people who are exactly their age, and nobody else. People typically don’t have to navigate buildings and structures and objects that are too large and proportionally clearly not made for them. People typically can take a break when they need to. People typically aren’t punished, and especially not physically, by their loved ones and close friends.

Every day, we’re *making* the real world.

I want to put all of our effort into making the real world a good place to be before I focus any of my efforts on chipping pieces off of its future inhabitants to try to make them fit some harmful imaginary mold from the past.

[Image description:
A drawn meme by NeuroWild
Around the borders are different colored pencils: purple, pink, green, red, yellow.
At the top is a cloud shape, blue, with words in it that read, ‘We have to PREPARE these kids for the REAL WORLD’
actually means:
“I am not prepared to accommodate this child now or in the future.”
“I accept that the world is going to treat them poorly and they should start getting used to that.”
“I will work hard on this child but I am not prepared to work on myself or the ableist world that we live in.”
The bottom 3 sentences are written in purple bubbles.
End description.]