We all got books for Christmas this year. I have to say my favorite was the Pioneer Woman cookbook. I have been wanting that ever since I started reading her blog! My husband is a meat-n-potatoes man so he is going to be happy. We've probably read the Train to Timbuctoo and Picture This a few dozen times already. I am not sure why the books are tiled diagonally (and it is driving me nuts) but you get the idea. Hooray for books!
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Yoga and Speech Therapy
I recently ran across two different articles suggesting incorporating yoga into speech therapy practice. Knowing Babs has definitely opened my eyes to the world of yoga so these articles jumped off the page at me. Both were directed towards pediatric speech therapists practicing in multiple settings - schools, private practices or clinics.
The first article, Yogic Techniques in Therapy, focused primarily on the benefits of yoga in relation to the needs that many children receiving speech therapy have. From increasing attention and concentration to providing a chance to interact socially in a nonpressured environment, the author's opinion was that yoga can only benefit a child, especially if that child has speech or language deficits.
The second article, Yoga and Shared Storybook Reading, focused on using yoga in a specific way during speech therapy. The author talked briefly about the benefits of yoga. She suggested choosing a book that has animals or natural elements that can relate to yoga poses; at each appropriate picture, the therapist can set aside the book and do the pose. The author felt that the concrete beginning and ending of a storybook activity was more beneficial than just doing a few poses with no framework.
I have somewhat of a mixed view on this. I think the authors are absolutely right about the benefits of yoga, especially for the children who receive speech therapy. Who wouldn't want their clients to have better attention and focus? However, I think it is stretching the boundaries to say that practicing yoga is practicing speech therapy. I wouldn't feel it was ethical to simply do yoga for my 45 minute session and then state the benefits given in these articles and submit my billing. If my patients need speech therapy, and I am licensed and certified to provide that, then that is what I should provide. Not to mention that many of the clients I worked with were too young or too impacted by their disabilities to actually participate in following even simple directions.
However, I could justify doing 5-10 minutes at the beginning of a session in order to focus a child. Or I might use it in a joint session with an occupational therapist as part of a calming break between more challenging activities. I could also see suggesting it to parents as an activity for their child. I think using yoga as part of your clinical repertoire takes discretion on the part of the therapist, but it is definitely an interesting idea to pursue.
The first article, Yogic Techniques in Therapy, focused primarily on the benefits of yoga in relation to the needs that many children receiving speech therapy have. From increasing attention and concentration to providing a chance to interact socially in a nonpressured environment, the author's opinion was that yoga can only benefit a child, especially if that child has speech or language deficits.
The second article, Yoga and Shared Storybook Reading, focused on using yoga in a specific way during speech therapy. The author talked briefly about the benefits of yoga. She suggested choosing a book that has animals or natural elements that can relate to yoga poses; at each appropriate picture, the therapist can set aside the book and do the pose. The author felt that the concrete beginning and ending of a storybook activity was more beneficial than just doing a few poses with no framework.
I have somewhat of a mixed view on this. I think the authors are absolutely right about the benefits of yoga, especially for the children who receive speech therapy. Who wouldn't want their clients to have better attention and focus? However, I think it is stretching the boundaries to say that practicing yoga is practicing speech therapy. I wouldn't feel it was ethical to simply do yoga for my 45 minute session and then state the benefits given in these articles and submit my billing. If my patients need speech therapy, and I am licensed and certified to provide that, then that is what I should provide. Not to mention that many of the clients I worked with were too young or too impacted by their disabilities to actually participate in following even simple directions.
However, I could justify doing 5-10 minutes at the beginning of a session in order to focus a child. Or I might use it in a joint session with an occupational therapist as part of a calming break between more challenging activities. I could also see suggesting it to parents as an activity for their child. I think using yoga as part of your clinical repertoire takes discretion on the part of the therapist, but it is definitely an interesting idea to pursue.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Thursday, December 16, 2010
90 Minutes in Heaven
I got sucked in by the bargain rack, yet again. I can hardly pass up a $5 book.
After reading the back of the book, I thought it looked like a fascinating read. It is the story of a man who was in a terrible car accident, died and went to heaven and then was brought back to life. Sounds fantastical, right? And some aspects of it were. But I was disappointed, to be honest.
While it was written with a biographer who has written "over 90 books" I thought the writing was stilted and forced a lot of the time. It felt a little bit defensive. It didn't flow well.
Also, while the title and summary make it sound like it's about heaven, it's actually more about the author's recovery process after a terrible car accident which leaves him dead for more than an hour. Near-death experiences are interesting story fodder, but I felt like this one fell a bit flat.
After reading the back of the book, I thought it looked like a fascinating read. It is the story of a man who was in a terrible car accident, died and went to heaven and then was brought back to life. Sounds fantastical, right? And some aspects of it were. But I was disappointed, to be honest.
While it was written with a biographer who has written "over 90 books" I thought the writing was stilted and forced a lot of the time. It felt a little bit defensive. It didn't flow well.
Also, while the title and summary make it sound like it's about heaven, it's actually more about the author's recovery process after a terrible car accident which leaves him dead for more than an hour. Near-death experiences are interesting story fodder, but I felt like this one fell a bit flat.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
The Secret History
A couple of friends from my yoga blog recommended this book. I grew up on a steady diet of dark Anne Rice books. I love dark books. And this was certainly a dark book.
At an elite, small university in Vermont, six students take their Greek education very seriously. Four of the students try to recreate a bacchanalia. It goes horribly awry and a local farmer ends up maimed to death. One of the excluded friends, Bunny, a character that seems to have no conscience or morals, finds out about the incident and begins to blackmail his friends as he struggles with what they did.
The group, led by eccentric Henry, are constantly in a worried frenzy that Bunny is going to tell someone what they did. Apparently their only solution to the problem is to kill Bunny.
The story, told by one of the friends, chronicles how they came to the decision and how that decision ruins their lives.
"It's funny, but thinking back on it now, I realize that this particular point in time, as I stood there blinking in the deserted hall, was the one point at which I might have chosen to do something very different from what I actually did. But of course I didn't see this crucial moment then for what it was; I suppose we never do. Instead, I only yawned, and shook myself from the momentary daze that had come upon me, and went on my way down the stairs." p. 199
"After dinner, I went back to my room. I dreaded the thought of the night ahead, but not for the reasons one might expect--that I was worried about the police, or that my conscience bothered me, or anything of the sort. Quite the contrary. By that time, by some purely subconscious means, I had developed a successful mental block about the murder and everything pertaining to it. I talked about it in select company but seldom thought of it when alone." p. 317
Brush up on your classics and your Greek. This book is full of delicious literary references and I'm sure I only understood half of them.
At an elite, small university in Vermont, six students take their Greek education very seriously. Four of the students try to recreate a bacchanalia. It goes horribly awry and a local farmer ends up maimed to death. One of the excluded friends, Bunny, a character that seems to have no conscience or morals, finds out about the incident and begins to blackmail his friends as he struggles with what they did.
The group, led by eccentric Henry, are constantly in a worried frenzy that Bunny is going to tell someone what they did. Apparently their only solution to the problem is to kill Bunny.
The story, told by one of the friends, chronicles how they came to the decision and how that decision ruins their lives.
"It's funny, but thinking back on it now, I realize that this particular point in time, as I stood there blinking in the deserted hall, was the one point at which I might have chosen to do something very different from what I actually did. But of course I didn't see this crucial moment then for what it was; I suppose we never do. Instead, I only yawned, and shook myself from the momentary daze that had come upon me, and went on my way down the stairs." p. 199
"After dinner, I went back to my room. I dreaded the thought of the night ahead, but not for the reasons one might expect--that I was worried about the police, or that my conscience bothered me, or anything of the sort. Quite the contrary. By that time, by some purely subconscious means, I had developed a successful mental block about the murder and everything pertaining to it. I talked about it in select company but seldom thought of it when alone." p. 317
Brush up on your classics and your Greek. This book is full of delicious literary references and I'm sure I only understood half of them.
Monday, December 6, 2010
The Monsters of Templeton
I have to admit that I bought this book because of its cover. I was walking through Hastings, saw it, saw that it was a NYT Bestseller, and picked it up.
I'm not in the habit of reading books that I don't enjoy. I figure there are so many amazing reads out there, why trudge through something miserable? With that said I'm not quite sure why I continued on with this book.
Willie Upton returns to her hometown pregnant and disgraced (her opinion). While home the lake monster dies and she is digging up family history and trying to get along with her mother. Templeton is the shadow of Cooperstown, New York and Willie Upton is a descendant of the great writer Jacob Franklin Temple (James Fenimore Cooper). Willie's mother tells her that her father is not who she originally told her and encourages Willie to research into family history to find the identity of her father.
Thus the book goes through generations of the family told from different points of view. Which, in theory I like, but with that many voices in that short of a book, it just got annoying.
I desperately wanted to like the main character. The author tried to make her this intelligent, charming character. I found her weak, whiney, and anything but intelligent. I didn't feel any connection to her at all. Nor the hippie to born again mother, Vi.
The book had all the elements of a good story: lake monster, secret history, ghosts, heartache. But, for me it never came together.
Which is why I can't figure out why I read the whole thing. I actually enjoyed reading it with all my criticisms aside. It was a fun read. It was a fast read.
Try this one at your own risk. And, if you make it through, let me know what you think.
I'm not in the habit of reading books that I don't enjoy. I figure there are so many amazing reads out there, why trudge through something miserable? With that said I'm not quite sure why I continued on with this book.
Willie Upton returns to her hometown pregnant and disgraced (her opinion). While home the lake monster dies and she is digging up family history and trying to get along with her mother. Templeton is the shadow of Cooperstown, New York and Willie Upton is a descendant of the great writer Jacob Franklin Temple (James Fenimore Cooper). Willie's mother tells her that her father is not who she originally told her and encourages Willie to research into family history to find the identity of her father.
Thus the book goes through generations of the family told from different points of view. Which, in theory I like, but with that many voices in that short of a book, it just got annoying.
I desperately wanted to like the main character. The author tried to make her this intelligent, charming character. I found her weak, whiney, and anything but intelligent. I didn't feel any connection to her at all. Nor the hippie to born again mother, Vi.
The book had all the elements of a good story: lake monster, secret history, ghosts, heartache. But, for me it never came together.
Which is why I can't figure out why I read the whole thing. I actually enjoyed reading it with all my criticisms aside. It was a fun read. It was a fast read.
Try this one at your own risk. And, if you make it through, let me know what you think.
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