When we got to her home and she exited the car, a bit more stressed than usual, she simply said with a chuckle,  ”You’d think I was an old lady.”

 My mother is 87 years young. She continues to work full time at the Five Star Wynn Resort on the Las Vegas Strip. She is known as Grandma Mary in the employee gift shop. She has NEVER been late for work. Has won employee awards, and greets each customer as if he/she were her first.

Live your life and forget your age.

~ Norman Vincent Peale ~

I think he knew my mom, Mary Kepler

My husband, Tim, is a member of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Volunteer Police Department. They were named the #1 volunteer police department in the United States for 2011. That is Sharon Harding, (bottom left photo) holding the trophy, along with Capt. Maczala, from L.V. Metro, and Earl Beach, director of  Metro volunteers at McCarran Airport.

Year-end stats for the McCarran Metro Volunteers are staggering with 3375 shifts and 163,509 public or department assists! Total hours these men and women volunteered at McCarran airport totaled 18,983. That is just for McCarran. Metro Volunteers assist the public all over the Las Vegas Valley in various positions. We can all be proud and grateful for their dedication and time.

When you’re traveling in or out of McCarran Airport and see a YELLOW SHIRT, ask a Volunteer or just say, “Hi.”  They’re there to assist YOU because they care.

 Reading to your child is the best predictor of successful school outcome.

Plan book time into your daily schedule.

The memories will last a lifetime.

You can access all of my Autism Spectrum Blogs for ADVANCE Magazine for the Speech-Language Pathologist through one new article, 2011 ASHA Convention Coverage. Each of the sessions I attended and blogged about deal with some aspect of autism/ASD. These are intended for SLPs, other professionals, and parents. If you have any questions, please give me a click.

Did you know SLP stands for more than Speech-Language Pathologist?

We stand for so much more. The other meaning for SLP is “Simply Love People.”

As we walk into a new year, 2012 has many promises ahead for those who simply love people. The year will march along in its own way, day-by-day. Some of those days will be filled with rewards and some may not. Many of those days that lie ahead will see sparkles of stardust through a child’s eyes sprinkled with fashion and care from their SLP.

Those days will fill themselves with words that the SLP carves out of knowledge, hard work, dedication and love for their profession. Why? Because we simply love people and the SLP’s goal in life is to help people (both children and adults) achieve their goals.

2012 will not come cheap or easy for those who simply love people because we care, but never too much. We spend our own finances. We learn at a pace beyond compare. We dream of our clients at night and do more than our share during the day. But the smiles from across the table, or over the phone, or five-in-the-hand tell us that our hearts know the answers as to why we are SLPs and work with children on the autism spectrum and all disabilities with speech and language needs.

2012 will give us legs to walk the walk and eyes to see all that we can be to a child with speech/language disorders and his/her family. The SLP is most often the first line of communication to the young family. As that child grows, the importance of the SLP is relied on more and more by the family in order to make good choices for its child’s education, home and community. That’s the SLP. It’s a daunting responsibility at times, but we do it because as SLPs, we simply love people.

2012 will be a year of learning more about autism/ASD in the life of the SLP and in the world community. There is research being conducted around the globe, but most important is what the SLPs are doing with an individual child. As SLPs and parents, don’t let one methodology drive your therapy. Don’t let yourselves be intimidated. The SLP should set a goal of obtaining all of your CEUs in some facet of ASD this coming year so that you can walk that walk. Perhaps most important of all is to listen to the parents’ wants, needs and concerns.

2012 will end all too quickly. There is one thing I know for certain: people who simply love people will live for years to come through the legacy they so generously bestow. That’s the SLP in all of us who have made this profession a lifetime of commitment, reward, and joy.

May your New Year be filled with good things for your family and for all of our children with ASD and all speech/language needs and their families.

A very Merry Christmas 2011

May your Christmas dream come true.

May your tummy be full and

May your family enjoy a safe and wonderful true meaning of Christmas.

Have YOU read these to your child?

The Book Review’s 10 Best Illustrated Children’s Books for 2011, in alphabetical order, are: “Along a Long Road,” written and illustrated by Frank Viva (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers); “A Ball for Daisy,” written and illustrated by Chris Raschka (Schwartz & Wade); “Brother Sun, Sister Moon: Saint Francis of Assisi’s Canticle of the Creatures,” written by Katherine Paterson, illustrated by Pamela Dalton (Chronicle Books); “Grandpa Green,” written and illustrated by Lane Smith (Roaring Brook Press); “Ice,” written and illustrated by Arthur Geisert (Enchanted Lion Books); “I Want My Hat Back,” written and illustrated by Jon Klassen (Candlewick Press); “Me … Jane,” written and illustrated by Patrick McDonnell (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers); “Migrant,” written by Maxine Trottier, illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault (Groundwood Books); “A Nation’s Hope: The Story of Boxing Legend Joe Louis,” written by Matt de la Peña, illustrated by Kadir Nelson (Dial); and “A New Year’s Reunion,” written by Yu Li-Qiong, illustrated by Zhu Cheng-Liang (Candlewick Press). Next year, The New York Times Best Illustrated awards will celebrate its 60th anniversary.

There is no better language learning that reading to and with your child.

The best predictor of school outcome is how much a child reads and is read to at HOME.

Away in a Manger

For the dog lover in all of us.