Progress Doesn't Take a Holiday: How to not lose skills over the holiday break

This past year I have learned the importance of rest and giving myself a break. Being a business owner I often feel like if I am not working on or in the business the momentum of success will be lost. It has created exhaustion and an unhealthy scarcity mindset. Forcing myself to slow down and take time away I have discovered that progress is not lost. In fact, after a restful weekend I come back to work refreshed and find I am more creative and productive. And while therapy is not a job or a business it can feel that way to our clients. I want to promote healthy boundaries around work and rest and remind us all that the progress made in therapy is not lost during breaks. Here are a few other reminders as we move into the holiday season:

Progress is cumulative: Skills build on each other and while newly targeted skills may be more prone to getting lost when taking a break, solidified skills will likely not be affected.

Skills are more salient in real world scenarios: Being aware of specific skills and targets in therapy, noticing every day events and activities that involve those skills, and using those activities to try those skills is the most efficient way to generalize these skills. The best therapy sometimes doesn’t take place in a clinic at all.

Ask your therapist: Before the holidays ask your therapist what is one simple thing you can work on during your break. We’ll help you identify practical, individualized strategies that fit your life, so you can spend less time worrying about therapy and more time enjoying the moments that matter.

When you come back to therapy, take inventory of the previous goals for yourself or loved one. Ask your therapist what areas they noticed have changed for the better, or worse, and which areas were unchanged. 

From all of us at SaSSKC, we wish you and your family a safe, joyful, and restful holiday season!

Holiday Meals Without the Stress: Modified Diets and Picky Eaters

Cheese balls. Cranberry sauce. Eating an enormous meal at a non-meal time of the day. Sitting and chatting with people who you haven’t seen since last year. What do all of these things have in common? Holiday Meals.

Here at SaSSKC, we are preparing our clients for holiday meals. We are teaching ways to reduce stress, feel confident, and focus on safety and participation. From our very youngest picky eaters to clients on modified diets, and even those who do not eat orally, we are setting the table, pun intended, to ensure that holiday meals and gatherings are centered on connection and celebration, not on what or how you eat. Here are some tips to make Holiday meals less stressful.

• The Holidays are not the time to introduce or carry over therapy strategies.

  • Do not expect your loved one to try new or challenging foods.

  • Any new or relatively new concepts should be avoided.

• Before the meal: Plan for success 

  • Find out what foods will likely be served at the gathering. Discuss the menu with your child or loved one. 

  • Offer to contribute to the meal by preparing at least one preferred or safe (both emotionally and physically) food for the menu. 

  • For children, consider timing: avoid arriving overly hungry, tired, or dysregulated. Discuss what the meal might look, sound, and smell like. 

  • For older adults, consider fatigue, medications, positioning, and the length of the meal.

• At the table: Make participation an option 

  • Let the person sit with everyone else whenever possible or desired. 

  • Provide choices rather than demands. •Keep portions manageable. 

  • Bring preferred or necessary tableware and dishes. 

  • Remember that being at the table is participation, even if someone eats very little.

• Recruit allies: Who wants to join Team Safe Eating? 

  • Discuss concerns and needs with other adults who will be present. 

  • Allow them to make plates and run interference if/when questions start to fly about eating differences. 

  • Practice self-advocating with your loved one so they can express their needs to others.

• Reflect 

  • After the meal, reflect on what went well and what you might like to change in the future. 

  • Offer specific praise to your child so they, too, can feel accomplished about their participation. 

Remember: we here at SaSSKC want everyone to enjoy the holidays. If limited or no participation in holiday mealtime events is on the menu this year, that is okay! Your mental health and happiness are the most important!

More Than a Meal: Building Cognitive Communication and Executive Functioning Skills in the Kitchen

Holiday meal preparation is about more than recipes and getting dinner on the table. It involves planning, remembering, problem-solving, following directions, and communicating with others. These everyday activities provide natural opportunities to practice cognitive communication and executive functioning skills across the lifespan.

At Speech & Swallowing Specialists of Kansas City (SaSSKC), we help individuals build skills that support participation, confidence, and independence in everyday life. This holiday season, the kitchen can be a place to do just that!

What Skills Are We Practicing?

Preparing a holiday meal involves many of the same skills we use at school, work, and home.

• Planning and organization: Creating a shopping list, gathering ingredients, and deciding what needs to happen first.

• Attention and memory: Following a recipe, remembering instructions, and keeping track of multiple dishes.

• Problem-solving and flexible thinking: Figuring out what to do when an ingredient is missing or a dish takes longer than expected.

• Communication: Asking for help, explaining a task, following directions, and coordinating with family members.

• Self-monitoring: Checking progress, noticing mistakes, and adjusting as needed.

  
  

Three Ways to Make Holiday Prep Meaningful

You don’t need to add another activity to your busy holiday schedule. Instead, look for opportunities to practice skills while doing things you already need to do.

1. Make a plan together.

Before cooking, talk through the steps. What ingredients are needed? Which dishes take the longest? What can be prepared ahead of time?

Try this: Create a checklist, organize recipe steps, or assign tasks to family members. For children, this might mean following a simple sequence. For adults, it could involve planning the timing of an entire meal.

2. Think aloud and solve problems.

Model how you approach a task. For example, “The vegetables need 20 minutes, and the casserole needs 40. Let’s figure out when each should go in the oven.”

Try this: Ask questions such as, “What should we do next?” or “What could we try if we run out of an ingredient?” Allow time to think before offering help.

3. Communicate and collaborate.

Cooking together creates opportunities to give and follow directions, describe ingredients, ask questions, and share responsibilities.

Try this: Invite someone to explain a recipe step, request the supplies they need, or teach another family member how to complete a task. Adapt the complexity to the person’s abilities and provide support when needed.

How SaSSKC Can Help

Cognitive communication and executive functioning challenges can affect everyday activities, relationships, and independence. Speech-language pathologists can help individuals develop personalized strategies for memory, attention, organization, problem-solving, and communication.

At SaSSKC, we work with individuals across the lifespan to help them participate more fully in the activities that matter to them, from family traditions to daily responsibilities.

This holiday season, remember that it’s about more than a meal. It’s about connection, participation, and building skills that carry over into everyday life.

If you or someone you love is experiencing difficulty with thinking, memory, or communication, contact SaSSKC to learn how speech-language therapy may help.

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