Relocation to Mentari Business Park, Sunway

Dear parents, friends and colleagues,
A blessed Ramadan and Hari Raya to all!

Speech Oasis Enterprise will be relocating to MENTARI BUSINESS PARK, SUNWAY, in October 2011. This office block is opposite Sunway Pyramid area, near traffic lights, and can be seen from the LDP (next to Dominos Pizza - blue corner block).

My 14 months in Paramount Garden has been really good. With this move, I'll be losing gardening space :-), PG yummy foods and my friendly aunty and uncle neighbours. Nevertheless, Mentari Business Park will be a permanent place , at least for the next 2 to 3 years. Yes, some of you are worried about parking and security... MBPJ Parking (60sen per hour) is available right in front of the building and there's a security guard sitting at the ground floor too.

More updates will be posted here soon.

Sharing some photos here.

Useful readings in Mandarin found on this website

http://connectability.ca/Garage/wp-content/uploads/translated/Understanding+communication+Chinese.pdf


http://connectability.ca/2011/03/02/foreign-language-tip-sheets/

Uncovering Reading Problems in Children

Very Very Important to Have Our Child's Hearing Tested /Screened

Hearing loss is an invisible impairment... Found this useful article that explains lots about it -
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/836646-overview

What do Speech-Language Pathologists (or Therapists) do?

"Speech-Language Pathologists (or Therapists) are professionally trained to :
prevent,
screen,
identify,
assess,
diagnose,
refer, and
provide intervention for, and
counsel
persons with, or who are at risk for, articulation, fluency, voice, language, communication, swallowing, and related disabilities. (American Speech-Language -Hearing Association, ASHA)‏

Does my child need a speech-language assessment ?

I would recommend a speech-language assessment (or at least a consultation) with a qualified speech-language pathologist/ therapist if your baby is very quiet (i.e., not making vocal sounds) or if your child :
- By 12 months, not gesturing (pointing, waving bye-bye), tolerating solid foods
- By 15 months, not understanding and responding to name, ‘no’, ‘bye-bye’
- By 16 months, not using single words (e.g., milk, ball, papa, mama)
- By 24 months, not using two-word sentences (e.g., want milk, eat sweet)
- By 36 months, not using longer sentences
- is difficult to understand
- for any reason, stops talking
- shows difficulty in reading and spelling in school
(Note: list here is a guideline and not exhaustive)

If you feel there is a problem with speech and/or language skills, do not wait and see.

Seek the help of a speech-language pathologist/ therapist near you.

A directory of MASH-registered speech-language pathologists can be found here:
http://www.mash.org.my/membership/ (whoops, please note that my details in this directory will be updated in July !! )
MASH = Malaysian Association of Speech-Language and Hearing

Birth of Speech Oasis

I've registered Speech Oasis Enterprise as a private speech therapy centre, in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

Why this name - "Speech Oasis" ?

Often our lives are like deserts - dry and empty.

An oasis is "an isolated area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source."

I thought of the name "oasis" as it is associated with "refreshment" & "renewed strength" for travellers in the scorching desert.

Therapy is often challenging. Here at Speech Oasis, i commit to take the journey with you and your family, to seek out better speech-language and communication skills !