Why are early interventionists and developmental therapists implementing “routines-based intervention” with families, and how can ALL families benefit from this approach?
On this episode of the Learn With Less podcast, Ayelet is joined by Stacey Landberg, M.S., CCC-SLP of speechtheraping.com. Stacey is a pediatric speech-language pathologist and regular presenter on topics related to early intervention, autism, and navigating parenthood in the digital age. She is also the mother of two great kids.
On this episode, we discuss:
- Stacey’s own professional background, and how she came to do the work she’s doing today
- What everyday routines have to do with early development
- Why these everyday, mundane tasks are such powerful opportunities for supporting early development
- Why early interventionists and developmental therapists are implementing “routines-based intervention” with families, and how this is model different from what traditional therapy looked like with 0-3 year olds
- How the Learn With Less philosophy goes hand in hand with this new model of intervention
- Stacey’s top tips and resources for parents hoping to maximize the interactions they have within everyday routines
Great resources we mentioned in this podcast episode:
Family-Guided Routines-Based Intervention
Harvard Center for the Developing Child
Understanding Your Baby and Understanding Your Toddler (books)
Learn With Less® Curriculum Online Program
Learn With Less® Facilitator Training & Certification Program
Connect With Us
Ayelet: Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest
TEXT TRANSCRIPT OF THIS EPISODE
Ayelet: Today I am speaking with Stacy Landberg of speechtheraping.com. Stacey has devoted her career to supporting communication and connection between young children and their caregivers. She has worked in the homes of hundreds of families across Southern California, and she has guest lectured to early education specialists across the United States.
At the time of this recording, Stacey is in her 15th year of professional practice as a speech language pathologist, and her current work is focused on interdisciplinary and early intervention and dissemination of best practice patterns for improved child and family outcomes. Stacey, you are an incredible resource for parents and caregivers and professionals working with families. So I’m so excited to finally have you on the show today.
Stacey: Yay. Thank you, Ayelet. I’m so happy to be a guest, it’s just an honor because I obviously love the work that you do as well.
Ayelet: Thank you. Well, I’ve asked you to come onto the show today specifically to talk about, you know, how to use everyday routines to support infant and toddler development. But first, why don’t you just tell us a little bit more about you and how you got into the work that you are doing today.
Stacey: Sure. So I feel like you already gave me a really generous introduction. I, yeah, I feel like, you know, I always knew I wanted to work with little, little ones, early intervention. So that was why I specifically like went to the program that I went to and pursued that. And then, you know, and then I just, I stuck with it. But it’s easy to get burnt out cause as we know, like little people are, can be exhausting…
Ayelet: … as we know, both as parents and professionals!
Stacey: Yes, and so, and so, you know, then I had my own kids, very close in age, they’re 19 months apart. And I was just really in the thick of like motherhood and how hard that was. It was a very, um, you know, I dealt with all the postpartum stuff and it was such a hard transition and that kind of reinvigorated me to want to just support parents, period.
Not even, you know, of course parents because I’m a speech pathologist of kids with special needs, but just to all parents need support. And so yeah, I just have such a calling towards this young age group. I will say that around like my kids turning four, five, six, it’s like every year the clouds lift a little bit more, but I feel like those early years are just so precious and so that’s kind of why I’ve devoted most of my career to that age group.
Ayelet: Great. Well, we’ve talked, you know, certainly talked on the podcast about everyday routines and everyday household objects, but I would love to start by just hearing from you in your own words, what do everyday routines have to do with early development?
Stacey: So every day routines are like the context, right? Basically, I don’t even, I know that it’s called routines based intervention, but I don’t even love calling it that because as you know, you know a lot of people, we think of a routine as brushing your teeth. But even within that, there are those tiny little moments between like choosing your toothbrush, opening the toothpaste, putting it on. So it’s more of like these, and I think you’ve used the word before, like these mundane moments, right? So it’s creating the magic in those little moments.
For me, that’s so cool and special because really as adults we do that stuff automatically. That’s our procedural memory. Just we don’t think about it. We don’t even know later if we think someone asks you, where did you put your toothbrush back? Like on the left side or the right side, you might not even remember. Because it’s so habitual, right?
But for little people it’s like those tiny moments are new and exciting for them. And that’s really where learning happens. And of course it happens within play as well. But when we bring those elements of play into these little moments or just love and excitement into them, that, that was such a mind shift for me as a parent because I had been doing therapy, right, in air quotes, for so long with like a bag of two ways, a bag of tricks and sitting down.
And then I had my own children and I was like, Whoa, when am I ever going to sit down and do this with them? And I didn’t need to because that’s not where the magic happens, right? So it was such a mind shift for me, even though I had that training in school and I, I was aware of it. It just, yeah, it really shifted for me once I entered motherhood. I don’t know to actually answer your question about what of routines.
Ayelet: Well, yeah, I mean it, like you said, it’s the context for learning, right? It’s that it’s, it’s those things that happen day in and day out and it’s the, it’s implanting those moments with play. I think that’s, yeah, that’s such a key.
Stacey: And playfulness. So, cause we all have our own sort of definitions of what play looks like. Right. So you know, if you’re playful to children, that’s how they experience as fun. Yeah.
Ayelet: Exactly. So, okay, so let’s get a little bit deeper into it. What is it about everyday mundane tasks and everyday objects that are such powerful opportunities for supporting early development? What, what makes them so strong?
Stacey: Okay, so they’re special, right? So first let’s talk about the mundane moments, the routines themselves. Why are they special? They’re special because they happen over and over and over again, right? So, and they’re functional for the most part. Meaning a parent doesn’t have to have add anything else to their schedule. They don’t have to go to a class, they don’t have to read a specific book, get a specific object. They’re already doing it. They’re already putting, picking out socks. They’re already putting shoes on.
So it, and they have functional outcomes. Meaning when you embed our activities, our learning and our play into these moments, the functional outcome is my child’s shoes are on their feet and we’re ready to go. So now as a parent it’s like, okay, I didn’t have to add anything extra because we’re already so overwhelmed, right? And then there’s the opportunities for repetition, right?
Because you wash your hands five times a day or 20 times a day. So the idea is if you’re already doing it, the child has that opportunity of repetition to learn and practice. But if you’re going to say, okay, instead, you know we have to add play, a specific toy or a specific routine or this or that, how often does that get done? How often does the child have that interaction?
It might be once a week instead of five times a day. Two of the reasons they’re special routines are also predictable. So like I said, for adults, it’s this like automatic memory. And so if we do something the same way kind of every day like, okay, it’s, we’re going to eat, I’m going to pull the high chair over to the table, I’m going to reach over. You’re going to reach out, I’m going to put you in.
Well, maybe the child is reaching up there because you know, reaching up to request being picked up because that happens so frequently that they’ve learned, okay, in this routine, this is where my job is, this is how I initiate. And those are the building blocks, right? So their routine is kind of like the anchor. It happens all the time. It happens in the same way very often.
And then the child knows, Oh, this is where I get a part, this is how I can initiate. And then as adults we build off of that. So they reach up and we say, up! And then the next time and the next time that happens 20 more times and then they say up and then we say, up! Now you’re in, and then the child, you know, so it’s like there are these building blocks that are anchored within the routine. That’s why there’s, yeah.
Ayelet: Yeah. Those are literally the moments of learning. Of learning language, of learning fine motor tasks, of learning all of it. And building anticipation, which of course is a cognitive task. Like it’s all all in there. I love it. Thank you for that. Okay. So why are early inter, I mean this is, I think fairly clear where we’re going with this, right? Why are early interventionists and developmental therapists implementing more of this as you called it, a routines based intervention model with families?
And talk a little bit about the difference between that and then what you had described earlier as that model of like more traditional therapy, what that looked like or what that used to look like with zero to three year olds. Because we do have a model of routines based intervention. I believe there are even some states now that require early intervention therapists, those servings zero to three year olds to implement, uh, early, a routines based intervention approach. So talk a little bit about that.
Stacey: Yeah, so the, so there is like a nationwide shift and in some States we’re a little more ahead in this direction than others. But basically the, like what we would consider like the old way is the traditional model and it’s also been called the medical model or living room therapy. So the clinician comes in with like a bag of tricks and sets up the therapy in the living room and just says like, okay, now we’re gonna do potato head. Now we’re going to do blocks. Now we’re going to do read a book.
And it’s not to say there’s not benefits from that, but especially with this really young age, we know that we can have such a bigger impact on a child’s overall development when we embed learning into let’s say like 10 or 20 everyday moments, then in this like one hour devoted because that’s the value of their routines. They repeat so frequently. And so I might be a specialist with speech and language, right? But every parent is going to be this expert on their child.
So if I can teach mom or dad or help support them on how to do this, when snack time, when you know, opening the door to go outside and play, then that intervention can happen 20 times a day, all throughout the week, even when I’m not there. It’s this model of supporting parents and as parents, as we feel supported, we’re encouraged and we realize, Hey, I have the tools, I just maybe, you know, needed to see them from a different perspective and now I get to use them effectively with my child.
Ayelet: Yeah, exactly. I think I hear from so many parents, you know, I came into this, I know that these are, you know, special and precious moments that I have to take advantage of the, these first three years, there’s so much brain development, blah, blah, blah. Right? And this is, there’s marketing tactics that are, this is what the baby industry is using to market, you know, expert curated toys and toy subscription boxes and, and so when we realize that, okay, the learning is literally happening right in front of you, that’s so powerful and such a shift.
And I think it’s been a real shift, too, and is continuing to be a shift for many therapists as well and professionals working with, with families because it does require a little bit more of many things, including up more flexibility, more integrating the parent or caregiver into the therapy, and so many different things. So yes, go ahead.
Stacey: Oh, I was going to say, you made me think of something, I hope it’s okay to chime in with this, but, I just feel like the, like what you hit on with the marketing industry and like you need this toy or that book or this, you know, in my mind, like those are not for the child, those are for the adults, right? Because the child is so excited about putting the lid on the toothpaste and trying to figure that out and that magical moment and hearing the word toothpaste and like our excitement about it and we, and, and that opportunity of just simple engagement is thrilling for them. Right?
So when you have the… So for adults to get that same thrill out of something we’ve done a gazillion times, we have to have something novel or exciting, right? So the new book or the new toy or that this or that kind of invigorates that adults passion. Um, you know, really not at all needed for the child. This is all new and exciting for them. Every little moment.
Ayelet: Yeah. Well and that is exactly why I love showing families how those mundane every day objects are so powerful and, and that you can do exactly the same thing with a, you know, beautiful plush finger, you know, puppet and a dishwashing glove, which I…
Stacey: Or a sock, or a paper bag!
Ayelet: Exactly! It’s all right there in front of you. It’s a matter of exploding your own sense of like, Oh actually it has exactly the same developmental value. It’s all a matter of how you use it. So that really brings me into my next question then. I know that you are familiar with the philosophy that I am sort of calling Learning With Less. So how does this really go hand in hand with this new model of intervention? Can you explain to the people?
Stacey: I think I kind of feel like that’s sort of what we’ve been describing all along. Definitely goes both in the same like grounded in the same philosophy. What else can I add to that though? I guess sometimes my concern is actually that all the stuff, all the like, you know, toys and electronics and all these things are almost a distraction from missed opportunities that we’re not getting when we include the child in sweeping with us. Right?
Because it’s like, Oh well look at the, here’s the new toy. So I, I do, I just definitely feel like less is more… because with less, there’s, you are bringing more to the table, right? Like now it’s about the engagement in the interaction, which is really, that’s more important to any child’s learning than anything else, right? Is that relationship piece. Yeah.
Ayelet: So how do we, how do we really infuse all of these things with the relationship piece? That’s what we’re going to get into in just a second. So we’re going to take a break to hear just a quick word from our sponsor and then we’ll hear a few tips from Stacy about supporting early development through everyday routines and hear about some of her favorite resources for parents and caregivers interested in learning a bit more about this topic.
Ayelet: Okay Stacey, let’s hear it. We would love to hear your top tips for parents and caregivers who are hoping to maximize those interactions they have within everyday routines. So what are some of your best tips for families who need a few more ideas and support? Because again, this is not just about intervention.
This is about all families. We can all use these things. They are just the building blocks for learning and development. Whether your child is developing along a typical progression or whether they are experiencing delays. Let’s hear your best tips.
Stacey: Okay. I feel like this is actually a hard question for me because it’s just in so many ways it feels like common sense, right? Like use what you have, make it fun, get in there, be, you know, just be creative. But actually like being creative is not all that easy for a lot of adults and a lot of parents because you know, we all, we have a constant task list of things to do. So we know that play is great for children. So of course anytime we can play and just, you know, I always say just like looking at what’s in your recycling bin.
Like what can you just take out of that and make into play, you know, like making rolling, you know, I mean, I don’t have to give you any ideas to figure it out you’re the queen of this, but, you know, take toilet paper rolls that you literally like roll down a hill. Like that is so exciting to kids. Right? So I just think it’s this idea of novelty.
A lot of times like looking at something from a different lens and in that sense, my biggest tip for parents is mindful activities that they can do for themselves, right? So that we are making time for ourselves to practice mindfulness, to engage in something that’s creative and artistic or beautiful for ourselves.
Whether it’s cooking, whether it’s gardening, whether it’s knitting, like whatever it is. Something like those practices, we have to think that we’re using a different part of our brain when we’re doing that and as we’re experiencing that, we want to think that’s what we want to bring. That sense of presence is what we want to bring to the moment of putting the shoes on, right? Like how do we bring the art into this? And that same feeling that we’re getting, right, into the these other moments because for children, that’s the, that’s what the thinking is happening in their brain.
We’re just over conditioned and we’ve done it thousands of times. But if we can build our own mindfulness practices, you know, it’s like I said, I don’t have a lot of stuff, but it goes along with your Learn With Less curriculum because we don’t need a lot of stuff. I don’t need to give you a list of 20 resources to then take extra time away to build.
So I would say prioritizing like your own mental health, that’s always my first, creating some time for mindfulness for yourself and then realizing that that’s what we want to cultivate in these everyday moments for kids. So it’s not a magic cookbook or any recipe like that, but that is my top suggestion.
Ayelet: I love that. And I love the two sides of it because it looks like it’s that feeling that you get when you’re doing the thing that you need to do for yourself, like that, that, and you’re able to do that with your child so much better when you’ve had that moment. But that’s what we bring to that moment of play. And like you said, putting your shoes on. That’s, that’s it. Oh, I love it. Beautiful. What else? What else? What else?
Stacey: I feel like a scenario would be helpful for me, but, um, I’m trying to think. So other thing is, I, you know, as for parents, you know, a lot of our kids with the screen time stuff and, and that’s a different topic altogether. But what I will say is we know kids like to watch the videos that are like opening a box, right? And we look at it and we’re like, that’s so boring. We watched cartoons or this was so exciting. But if we just look at that content that they’re interested in and think like, well look, they care about this silly little stuff.
So maybe, maybe we can just use that as a, as a guide for ourselves to be like, it doesn’t have to be fancy. It doesn’t have to be expensive. But I can, you know, realize how powerful just the simplest little thing is and that my child is interested in it and how we can use that. Kind of just like as a reminder for ourselves. Yeah. Do you have any, like any other things that you are thinking, I’m sure I’ve talked about this before and I didn’t want to overwhelm parents with too many.
Ayelet: Well, those two are just such great tips and I mean for more specific ideas, check out my Instagram or Facebook page. And I know you’re always sharing fun things too, Stacey.
Stacey: Yes. And I definitely, I mean you’re one of my go-to resources all the time. So I feel like there’s a lot out there, but there’s not a lot that I can recommend full-heartedly knowing it’s really quality content. So thank you for that.
Ayelet: Thank you. That’s a huge testimonial and I feel very honored. Well what, so what are some of the other favorite resources that you do like to share with families?
Stacey: Yeah, so I often share of course Zero to Three just for overall development. I like that one. There’s the family guided routines based intervention website that’s out of Florida State. So that’s my former professor’s website where she talks all about embedding into daily routines. That’s my number one website for professionals. Parents can also see videos there.
Then there’s, there’s a few others that are sometimes parents like to watch a video, right. To see like, well, what should I be doing or what should this look like? So the Center for the Developing Child out of Harvard also has some really high quality content that I highly recommend and it’s free.
Ayelet: Great. That’s great. Very cool. Thank you so much Stacey. This is awesome and thanks to all of our participants of the Learn With Less curriculum online program who are listening live as a benefit to our membership community.
So we will continue the discussion and open up for a Q and a session for you guys in just a minute. But for everyone listening live, I mean, sorry for everyone listening from home or on the go. Thanks so much for joining us and we will see you next time. Stacey.
