About Little Language!

Little Language began when Laura Dyer,a certified speech-pathologist, found herself answering lots of questions for new parents on how babies develop speech and language. She would provide written information... bits and pieces of many different resources to answer the parents' needs. One day, she decided that she should write a professional handbook especially for parents, teachers and caregivers on speech and language development.

With the help of her husband, Mark, they have built a business dedicated to providing important information to parents, teachers and caregivers by promoting ideal language enhancement for all children.

Laura Dyer received her undergraduate degree in Communication Disorders at Florida State University. She dedicated much time at the University to assisting on research for norming a test that measures communicative acts in infants. She completed her graduate work in Speech-Language Pathology at Auburn University, receiving the outstanding graduate student award. She then worked for nine years with both children and adult clients on enhancing communication skills.

With the writing of the book, came the idea for songs to reinforce the language concepts. With an educated background in music, Laura and her husband wrote 20 educational and original teaching songs.

The idea for teaching toys came from a bag full of instruments from Laura's mother, a music educator for 20+ years. Having provided the children with lots of instruments, Laura noticed that the JTG/Bambina castanets were used by both her younger and older child. Furthermore, they looked like they were opening their mouths to sing the songs! The castanets were added to the retail store. Now we have added a Teacher's Resource guide and Laura has recently completed a brand new book, Look Who's Talking that was released by Simon and Shuster in 2004. Laura and her husband live in Southeast Tennessee and she works part-time as a speech pathologist in a variety of settings.

Laura's hobbies are entering national gingerbread competitions. She has placed in the top 10 the last 3 years in the Grove Park Inn National Competition. She has served on the Read to Succeed Council while living in Rutherford County and enjoys promoting a love of reading any way she can. One way is by choosing literary themes for her gingerbread entries that have been featured on national television and on local networks and newspapers. Here are some pictures of her winning entries:

"Mitford Village" - Based on the Jan Karon Mitford Series - 7th Place, 2004.

"If Santa Were President" - Mrs. Clause Receives a check from Simon & Shuster on Her Book entitled "My Life With Santa" - 4th Place, 2003.

"Christmas in Savannah, GA" - 9th Place, 2002