This review is courtesy of Wynsum Arts' Every App Has a Story, the stories behind Wynsum Arts' distinguished apps "Categorization is a major building block for language development." — Mary Huston, speech-language pathologist and creator of Categories Learning Center Categories Learning Center Speech-language pathologist Mary Huston couldn't find the tool she needed for her therapy sessions. She needed a creative categorization activity, and she wanted an app that would focus on receptive language skills but that would also include the expressive component, which is the next logical step. So she approached Barbara Fernandes about collaborating on an app. Fernandes, who also is also speech-language pathologist, is president of Smarty Ears Apps, which is dedicated to creating speech therapy apps for mobile devices. "Being able to work with another speech-language pathologist who understood what is needed in a good school-aged app was essential," Huston says. "I wanted to use pictures or symbols that would be easy to recognize as the picture stimuli within the app. I liked the Smarty Symbols created by Barbara and Smarty Ears. Using the symbol set, working with another SLP, and creating an app I could use in my own therapy sessions created a winning combination." Why Did You Create Categories Learning Center? Mary Huston: Categorization is a major building block for language development. When we read, we are accessing associations and semantic networks that we have built through categorization skills. Having a...

Categories Learning Center, created by Speech-Language Pathologist Mary Huston, is an app for practicing language categorization skills.

Special Needs App of the Day – Categories Learning Center

 This review is courtesy of Wynsum Arts' Every App Has a Story, the stories behind Wynsum Arts' distinguished apps    "Categorization is a major building block for language development." — Mary Huston, speech-language pathologist and creator of Categories Learning Center     Categories Learning Center    Speech-language pathologist Mary Huston couldn't find the tool she needed for her therapy sessions. She needed a creative categorization activity, and she wanted an app that would focus on receptive language skills but that would also include the expressive component, which is the next logical step. So she approached Barbara Fernandes about collaborating on an app. Fernandes, who also is also speech-language pathologist, is president of Smarty Ears Apps, which is dedicated to creating speech therapy apps for mobile devices. "Being able to work with another speech-language pathologist who understood what is needed in a good school-aged app was essential," Huston says. "I wanted to use pictures or symbols that would be easy to recognize as the picture stimuli within the app. I liked the Smarty Symbols created by Barbara and Smarty Ears. Using the symbol set, working with another SLP, and creating an app I could use in my own therapy sessions created a winning combination."  Why Did You Create Categories Learning Center?   Mary Huston: Categorization is a major building block for language development. When we read, we are accessing associations and semantic networks that we have built through categorization skills. Having a...

Your child turns 18 in six months. If they're receiving SSI, you're about to enter a benefits redetermination that uses entirely different eligibility rules than the ones that qualified them as a child. Social Security will review their disability status under adult standards. About 56% are initially found ineligible. Roughly one-third ultimately lose benefits. That's the statistic. Here's what it means: the system that approved your child at age 7 will re-evaluate them at 18 using criteria designed for adults who once worked. The standard changes. The documentation requirements change. And if your household income previously disqualified your child from SSI, that barrier disappears entirely at 18. This isn't a formality. It's a full re-application under a different set of rules, and it determines whether your young adult keeps income support, Medicaid eligibility, and access to services tied to SSI receipt. The letter from Social Security will arrive. What you do before it gets there matters. What Changes at 18. The age-18 redetermination isn't a paperwork update. Social Security shifts from evaluating your child under pediatric disability standards to adult disability criteria. Here's what that means in practice. Adult Disability Standards Replace Childhood Criteria. Children qualify for SSI based on marked and severe functional limitations in specific developmental domains. At 18, Social Security applies the adult definition: the inability to engage in substantial gainful activity due to a medically determinable impairment expected to last at least 12 months or result in death. The shift isn't semantic. An adolescent who qualified...

One-third of children receiving SSI lose benefits at 18. Here's what changes, what new benefits become available, and how to prepare.

Navigating the Age 18 Disability Benefits Transition: What Changes, What Stays, and How to Prepare

Your child turns 18 in six months. If they're receiving SSI, you're about to enter a benefits redetermination that uses entirely different eligibility rules than the ones that qualified them as a child. Social Security will review their disability status under adult standards. About 56% are initially found ineligible. Roughly one-third ultimately lose benefits. That's the statistic. Here's what it means: the system that approved your child at age 7 will re-evaluate them at 18 using criteria designed for adults who once worked. The standard changes. The documentation requirements change. And if your household income previously disqualified your child from SSI, that barrier disappears entirely at 18. This isn't a formality. It's a full re-application under a different set of rules, and it determines whether your young adult keeps income support, Medicaid eligibility, and access to services tied to SSI receipt. The letter from Social Security will arrive. What you do before it gets there matters. What Changes at 18. The age-18 redetermination isn't a paperwork update. Social Security shifts from evaluating your child under pediatric disability standards to adult disability criteria. Here's what that means in practice. Adult Disability Standards Replace Childhood Criteria. Children qualify for SSI based on marked and severe functional limitations in specific developmental domains. At 18, Social Security applies the adult definition: the inability to engage in substantial gainful activity due to a medically determinable impairment expected to last at least 12 months or result in death. The shift isn't semantic. An adolescent who qualified...

You've heard that music therapy "works" for autism. A friend mentioned art therapy helped her daughter with anxiety. Your child's neurologist suggested looking into creative therapies as part of a comprehensive treatment plan. What you haven't heard is what separates a clinical music therapy session from a music class, why the credential matters, or whether insurance will cover it. The distinction is not semantic. Music therapy and art therapy are regulated clinical interventions with documented treatment goals, progress tracking, and credentialed practitioners. Recreational music or art classes, no matter how beneficial, are not the same thing. Understanding the difference affects outcomes, insurance coverage, and what you should expect from the first session. What Makes Therapy Clinical. A Board Certified Music Therapist (MT-BC) holds a credential from the Certification Board for Music Therapists (CBMT). The credential requires a bachelor's or master's degree in music therapy from an accredited program, 1,200 hours of clinical training, and passage of a national board exam. MT-BC therapists design individualized treatment plans, document measurable goals, and track progress session by session. An Art Therapist Registered (ATR) holds a credential from the Art Therapy Credentials Board. The requirement is a master's degree in art therapy from an approved program, 1,000 hours of direct client contact, and 100 hours of clinical supervision. Like MT-BC therapists, ATRs work within a clinical framework: assessment, treatment planning, and documentation. The credential signals two things: clinical training and accountability. A recreational instructor may be talented and kind, but they are not trained...

Music and art therapy are clinical interventions with credentialed therapists and documented outcomes. Here's how to tell the difference.

Music Therapy and Art Therapy: When Creative Interventions Become Medical Treatment

You've heard that music therapy "works" for autism. A friend mentioned art therapy helped her daughter with anxiety. Your child's neurologist suggested looking into creative therapies as part of a comprehensive treatment plan. What you haven't heard is what separates a clinical music therapy session from a music class, why the credential matters, or whether insurance will cover it. The distinction is not semantic. Music therapy and art therapy are regulated clinical interventions with documented treatment goals, progress tracking, and credentialed practitioners. Recreational music or art classes, no matter how beneficial, are not the same thing. Understanding the difference affects outcomes, insurance coverage, and what you should expect from the first session. What Makes Therapy Clinical. A Board Certified Music Therapist (MT-BC) holds a credential from the Certification Board for Music Therapists (CBMT). The credential requires a bachelor's or master's degree in music therapy from an accredited program, 1,200 hours of clinical training, and passage of a national board exam. MT-BC therapists design individualized treatment plans, document measurable goals, and track progress session by session. An Art Therapist Registered (ATR) holds a credential from the Art Therapy Credentials Board. The requirement is a master's degree in art therapy from an approved program, 1,000 hours of direct client contact, and 100 hours of clinical supervision. Like MT-BC therapists, ATRs work within a clinical framework: assessment, treatment planning, and documentation. The credential signals two things: clinical training and accountability. A recreational instructor may be talented and kind, but they are not trained...

What is memory? Are there different kinds of memory? How are memories formed? What types of information are difficult — or easy — for students to learn and remember, and why? How does emotion affect learning, thinking and memory? How about stress? Exercise? These questions and more are being studied by neuroscientists all around the world, and the findings have the potential to revolutionize the way we teach and learn. After all, the brain is the organ of learning, and education is all about learning, so doesn't it make sense to understand how the brain is designed for learning, and what happens in the brain when learning occurs? Memory, to me, is just another way to think of learning. After all, what is memory, if not changes in our brains as a result of our experiences? Everything we learn is stored somewhere, somehow, in our brains. It only makes sense to understand this process if we want to be good educators and effective learners. There are different types and sub-types of memory. The main ones are: Episodic Memory, Semantic Memory, Procedural Memory and Working Memory. Understanding which type of memory needs to be formed or used for different subjects or tasks can give teachers — and parents — insight into the best methods for teaching or studying different lessons. Episodic memory, for instance, is experience-based. We recall where we were, the sounds...

Neuroscientists study how different memory types--episodic, semantic, procedural, working--affect learning and teaching methods.

Memory and Learning

 What is memory? Are there different kinds of memory? How are memories formed? What types of information are difficult — or easy — for students to learn and remember, and why? How does emotion affect learning, thinking and memory? How about stress? Exercise? These questions and more are being studied by neuroscientists all around the world, and the findings have the potential to revolutionize the way we teach and learn.        After all, the brain is the organ of learning, and education is all about learning, so doesn't it make sense to understand how the brain is designed for learning, and what happens in the brain when learning occurs?   Memory, to me, is just another way to think of learning. After all, what is memory, if not changes in our brains as a result of our experiences? Everything we learn is stored somewhere, somehow, in our brains. It only makes sense to understand this process if we want to be good educators and effective learners.   There are different types and sub-types of memory. The main ones are: Episodic Memory, Semantic Memory, Procedural Memory and Working Memory.    Understanding which type of memory needs to be formed or used for different subjects or tasks can give teachers — and parents — insight into the best methods for teaching or studying different lessons.    Episodic memory, for instance, is experience-based. We recall where we were, the sounds...

Neuroscientists study how different memory types--episodic, semantic, procedural, working--affect learning and teaching methods.

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Special Needs App of the Day – Categories Learning Center

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