Jennifer Holland embarked on her entrepreneur journey when she developed the idea for a new and improved medical device – the Throat Scope.
After experiencing a “light bulb” moment when a doctor used a wooden tongue depressor to pry open her first-born’s mouth, Ms Holland found her drive and began researching her idea to develop an alternative revolutionary tool for oral cavity examination.
What started off as a prototype costing about $1 a piece led to an estimated $15 million business in just three years.
The Sydney-based mother of four visited Macleay College this week to share her experience with entrepreneurship businesses students.
“When I set out on my journey, I knew that I had to do one thing and it was to find a technology that could compete with the wooden tongue depressor which was about two to four cents, so how do you do that?” Ms Holland told the students.
“My very first prototype was actually an LED light strapped to a piece of plastic where the light transmitted through the blade and came out the end. I made that at home. It cost me practically nothing.”
After developing the prototype, Ms Holland presented it with the aid of a visual patent designed by herself to the Queensland government biomedical board at a mentoring session in 2010.
She then seized the opportunity of becoming involved in Queensland’s grant scheme What’s Your Big Idea? in 2011, successfully winning $50,000 to go towards the continual development of the design and the next prototype of the Throat Scope.
“I went in there and I executed, and I think the main thing around how I actually pulled off getting that money and the funding from the Queensland government was that I was prepared,” Ms Holland said.
After an appearance on Channel Ten’s Shark Tank in 2015, Ms Holland put together a team of professionals to help commercialise her product.
“It was all about building a tension around the launch and making sure that we built the media’s attention, got them interested in what we were doing and tried to bring them on board,” she said.
“We are actually now distributing to 145 countries around the world. We’ve done distribution deals in Europe, Canada and hopefully the US.”
The Throat Scope has made an appearance on Sydney’s well-known television show Bondi Vet, featuring a pug with a troublesome tongue, as well as The Today Show earlier this year.
Ms Holland is now focusing on distributing the Throat Scope into a number of retail chains.
It can be difficult for a doctor or parent to examine a child’s throat. If a wooden tongue depressor is used, with one hand the doctor or parent depresses the child’s tongue, and a light is directed into the child’s mouth with the other hand. But what if the child doesn’t want their mouth examined? There are no more hands to hold the child still or to help keep their mouth open!
Throat Scope was developed by a mother, Jennifer Holland, who had to restrain her child while the doctor pried open the child’s mouth with a wooden tongue depressor – a distressing experience. It was following this experience that Jennifer decided to develop Throat Scope.
The Solution – Throat Scope
Throat Scope is an illuminated tongue depressor. Coupling the blade of the tongue depressor to the handle activates a light source, which directs light down the blade. When the blade is inserted into the child’s mouth the child’s throat is illuminated. Consequently, with one hand a doctor or parent can depress a child’s tongue and illuminate the child’s throat. This leaves a doctor or parent with a spare hand which can help to keep the child’s mouth open.
In 2010 Jennifer filed her first patent application for the Throat Scope product. She now has trade marks, patents and designs protecting her product.
Throat Scope is now being sold all over the world, especially in Australia, Canada and Europe. In Australia the product can be purchased at Chemmart Pharmacies for home use, and at EBOS Heathcare and Vital Medical Supplies for the Healthcare industry.
The Message
Patents, designs and trade marks protect the Throat Scope product, and appropriate intellectual property protection was the foundation of this business. This intellectual property protection, coupled with a great deal of effort, drive and determination has resulted in the commercial success that we see today.
I love simple ideas that are genius. Today’s post is a Throat Scope Review and it’s one of those simple genius ideas. You know, the kind that make you say, “Why didn’t I think of that?” A company from Australia, Throat Scope, reached out to me a few weeks ago and I was instantly interested in their product. Throat Scope is an illuminated tongue depressor. Wait, seriously, why didn’t I think of that?!
They sent me a Throat Scope and set of blades to test out and I am so impressed with this product. The simplified review? It works, reduces the materials I need, and engages kids. It’s a win.
Throat Scope was started by a company in Australia. It was actually featured on Shark Tank Australia. It will be sold in the US soon.
The details:
The unit has a base with a light that shoots into a clear disposable blade.
The unit costs about $20 and 50 replaceable blades are about $15.
The battery life is 20 hours
The blades slip off with just a simple release.
It looks like a lightsaber and kids (and adults?) LOVE that.
It provides a view of the soft palate and uvula.
No more holding a pen light and tongue depressor while trying to position the clients body/face.
My brother was in town and I forced him to let me inspect his oral cavity using the throat scope. I was surprised at the amount of light the Throat Scope puts out. It definitely works!
The disposable blades make it perfect for healthcare.
For one method of teaching the /r/ sound, I like to use a Throat Scope.
It’s like a glowing tongue depressor from a company called Throat Scope. I absolutely love them!
I’m going to use the Throat Scope in combination with the therapy mirror. It gives the children a really good view of their mouth.
You can really see inside the mouth, and it’s very very bright. That can help them learn anatomy and you can point out the different structures using something like dental swabs.
“See over here? You need these sides of your tongue to go up back here to your back teeth. So say /r/.”
“/r/.”
And they can really see that /r/ sound a lot more clearly.
You can also use a pen light, but I like this because I can actually stick it inside of the mouth, too. So, I could say,
“Okay, right back up here, that’s where I need the sides of your tongue. So put your tongue right back there.”
“/r/.”
And these tips are recyclable. So, when you’re done, you can just recycle them.
Never miss a blog!
Subscribe to get updates on new blogs from Holland Healthcare.
Articulation and Mirror Therapy Tool – Throat Scope
If you’re an SLP and have tried to do some articulation and mirror therapy with a student to help with tongue placement, you’re going to love. this. tool.
It’s called Throat Scope. You can use this to literally light up the inside of a child’s mouth so that they can clearly see where to place their tongue for sounds like /r/, /k/, and /g/.
When I first saw this, I thought it looked kinda like a Darth Vader glowing Light Saber. So, I’m guessing there will be some Star Wars fans out there who think this Scope is pretty cool and would be more than happy to participate! ;)
I’m also thinking about those school nurses and parents who have students with special needs, who have trouble getting kids to open their mouths long enough to see what’s going on in the back of their throat.
At least with Throat Scope, you will get a clear look, even if it’s quick!
It’s simple and easy to use. I found this Throat Scope for about 20 bucks.
I’ve been looking to find some things specifically for SLPs because I so often share ideas that are often more appropriate for special education teachers. I saw today’s tool in a video done by a fellow SLP who goes by the name Peachie Speechie. It’s not only great for when you want to do some mirror work, but it’s also a great tool for parents and nurses!!! I actually ordered this tool online but was hoping to find it somewhere local since the package has a sticker that says, “As seen on TV.”
You won’t want to miss this!
So, here’s how it works:
It’s just a light. And this little plastic Saber tongue depressor kind of thing that lights up.
You simply put it into the student’s mouth, and you get a much clearer look.
DISCLAIMER: In this video, it says you “can disinfect blades between students or uses.” HOWEVER, THROAT SCOPE BLADES ARE SINGLE-USE ONLY. Throat Scope blades are FDA-approved for single-use only to eliminate the risk of cross-contamination. Reusing blades puts you and your patient at risk. Please dispose of the recyclable single-use blades in your recycle bin and change blades between each use and each patient.
I’ve been looking to find some things specifically for SLPs, because I so often share ideas that are often more appropriate for special education teachers.
I saw today’s tool in a video done by a fellow SLP who goes by the name Peachie Speechie. It’s not only great for when you want to do some mirror work, but it’s also a great tool for parents and nurses!!! I ordered this tool online.
Read the original blog by Carla Butorac at Behavior Communicates HERE.
Never miss a blog!
Subscribe to get updates on new blogs from Holland Healthcare.
Restraining a sick son while a GP pried open his mouth with a tongue depressor sparked the idea for an examination tool that’s now secured global distribution deals worth more than $15 million.
In 2009 young mum Jennifer Holland struck upon a simple idea that would make throat examinations an easier process for health professionals as well as parents. Seven years of persistence and determination later her invention Throat Scope has gone global with distribution deals that will see it sold in more than 140 countries.
As she approaches her start-up business’s first anniversary since launch, entrepreneur Jennifer Holland’s story continues to enthral those who hear it.
The mother of four children under the age of ten is the inventor of Throat Scope, a light up tongue depressor aimed at making throat examinations easier for both doctors and parents.
Newcastle-based Holland and her company have been on an accelerated ride since appearing on Channel Ten’s Shark Tank in May 2015 and then securing international distribution deals worth more than $15 million that will see the product sold in more than 140 countries.
The former accountant’s Shark Tank pitch – with oldest son Ronan alongside her – garnered some desperately needed cash, as well as advice, that’s been the springboard to the global markets she was seeking.
“It was an amazing moment for the business,” says Holland. “My husband and I had invested about $150,000 in it up until then. We’d decided to risk it for the idea, but we didn’t realise the length of the journey, how long it can take to find the right investors. It’s hard.”
Based on Holland’s presentation of her device, which comprises an LED-lit tongue depressor with a disposable blade, ‘shark’ investor Steve Baxter offered to inject $76,000 in return for 30 per cent of the company and a five per cent royalty until the money is repaid.
Just as valuable as the money was the advice Baxter gave her on how to get Throat Scope to market, says Holland.
“I think people forget these are five people with brilliant brains [on the show] and they’re going to find anything you don’t know, that you haven’t thought about. Behind the scenes they do a lot of due diligence on your company,” Holland says.
“Steve straight away said, ‘Jen, you need help: you need to find a team to support you, you need advisors.’ So I went out and found my team.”
That team included Throat Scope corporate director David Toomey, commercialisation director Charles Cornish and company secretary Duncan Cornish.
The team raised $360,000 on a pre-sale valuation of $2 million and secured distribution deals with major healthcare distributors in Australia, Europe and Canada.
“We then had the money to do our tooling and get the trademarks and patents we needed to go worldwide and get the commercial product that you see today up and running. It happened quickly. I did Shark Tank in February 2015 and launched onto the market in October. The last year and a half has been a blur.”
To help drive the product’s launch the team undertook another $1 million capital raising, reaching the target in July. The company is also in the process of signing off on a deal with a US healthcare distributor. Holland says the marketing push there will accelerate when the product hits shelves next year.
She headed to the US in early September for meetings with potential cross promotional partners and is considering a temporary relocation of her family there next year. “We’re tossing up a few options,” she says.
Light bulb moment
A budding entrepreneur from her teens, Holland says she’d been on the lookout for ‘the big idea’ for many years. But it was at a trip to the doctor with her then 15-month-old son Ronan at the end of 2009 when the inspiration for Throat Scope struck.
“Ronan seemed to have a sore throat so I took him to the GP,” says Holland. “The doctor got out his wooden tongue depressor and held it in one hand and the torch in the other and asked me to restrain my son while he pried open his mouth. It was pretty unpleasant and I thought there must be a better way.
“When I got out of the surgery I Googled it and found there was really nothing out there. That was an amazing moment. There were products available but they had a fibre optic cable running through the blade and were too expensive compared to the wooden tongue depressor doctors used.”
Holland lodged some patents and began developing the product. In 2011 she won a Queensland Government innovation award and began using the $50,000 prize money to develop and produce prototypes.
Securing the right investors to take the product to the next level proved a major challenge with some personal and business hurdles that saw several attempts fall through but Holland persisted. It was early 2015 when she spotted an ad calling for business innovators for a new TV show. “I put in for it, they phoned me the next day – it turned out to be Shark Tank – and the process began,” she says.
In August Holland also appointed a general manager whose key role will be managing the manufacturing side of the operation freeing her to focus on what she loves best: research and development, and marketing her product.
“I have a range of other products I’d like to bring out under the Throat Scope banner,” says Holland. “And I’ll also be able to do a lot more on the sales and marketing side. I’m very excited about that.”
Are you struggling with eliciting the /K/ and /G/ sounds from some of your students or kiddos? Jenna Rayburn from Speech Room News is here to help! Here are 5 tips – okay, more like 7 or 8 tips – to help.
Eliciting /K/ and /G/
Today we’re talking about the tricky /k/ and /g/ sounds and eliciting /k/ and /g/. I hear a lot of people complaining about those ones.
Let’s talk about Throat Scope. This is something I’ve been using with my /k/ and /g/ kids – actually all my kids – it’s one of those great ‘As Seen On TV’ things! It was made in Australia by a mom. Let me show you what it does.
So it’s a light-up tongue depressor. Watch. Can’t you see my palette, isn’t that awesome?
And it looks like a Light Saber, which makes every kid willing to do it.
What I usually do is a bring a puppet, like a dinosaur puppet, and I have the kiddo do it so they can see what we’re going to do… So then I’m not just attacking them with the light saber.
It’s way better than the cherry-flavored tongue depressors, way better!
I put this in my mouth, and you can see. I don’t have to have a separate pen light.
So for /k/ and /g/, I’ll have it in my mouth… And they make disposable that you can attach. So I’ll have one for myself, and one for the kid, and we can swap out the base. The base is what has the light in it. You put the tongue depressor on and it works. So once you slide the tongue depressor or the blade on there, the light just stays on.
Finally, a therapy tool we can afford!
—
Welcome to the Speechie Show! Being a speech language pathologist often means having too much work and not enough planning time. To beat the overwhelm, we’re bringing you the tricks and tools that will make your job a little bit easier.
Carrie: Hey everybody welcome to the Speechie show. I am your host Carrie Clark with SpeechandLanguageKids.com and I’m here today with Jenna Rayburn with Speech Room News. How are you Jenna.
Jenna: Doing great, how are you?
Carrie: Good, I’m excited to have you on. I know that a lot of my followers also follow you so I’m sure our friends are very excited to see us both sort of in the same place, almost.
Jenna: Simultaneously, kind of. Thanks for having me on.
Carrie: Absolutely. So today we’re talking about the tricky K and G sounds.
Jenna: Da Da Daaa….the dreaded sounds.
Carrie: Absolutely. I hear a lot of people complaining about this one so. Good topic today.
Jenna: And R
Carrie: Yeah, R and K and G and we’ve hit all of those on the Speechie show. If you are new to the Speechie show this is a weekly show where I interview another speech language pathologists and we talk about one topic for a while and we get feedback from you. If you are watching online right now. So, if you are watching with us, what is it..December 5th today…if you are watching with us here on December 5th, go ahead and type in for me in Facebook live. Are you having trouble with the K and G sounds. Or are you good to go, I don’t know why you’re here. But go ahead and if you’re having trouble too, type yes for us so we know you’re here. So, we are going to go ahead and talk about K and G in just a minute. We also have some giveaways coming so don’t skip out. Hang on till the end to get the giveaways. But Jenna why don’t you go ahead and tell us a little bit about yourself for anyone who is not familiar with you.
Jenna: Yeah, well thanks so much for having me on again and we’re going to tackle K and G today. So, my name is Jenna Rayburn and I am a school based speech language pathologist and I live in Ohio. This is my 7th year as a speech therapist and I work in a preschool right now. I’ve done…sorry I have a cold…excuse me….Right now I work in a preschool only special ed program. My district has 13 different elementary schools and then they send all their preschoolers to one building. So, it used to be an elementary school and now it’s a preschool only. So right now, I live preschool all day every day. And about 60% of my week is doing therapy and about 40% of my week is part of the evaluation team. So, every week I do play based assessments for incoming kiddos who are qualified for preschool.
Carrie: That sounds fun.
Jenna: Yeah, and I’ve done up to middle school age. I haven’t really dabbled in the high schooler and beyond but all the pediatric levels I enjoy, but preschool’s my favorite. That’s why I’m talking about K and G because everybody is doing cluster reduction and everybody’s fretting in my land.
Carrie: Absolutely and I don’t see any comments on there. If you all are watching live tell us if you’re working on K and G with any of your students. And you have a giveaway for us too later, what are you giving away?
Jenna: I will be giving away something called Fallen Flakes Finology because I love alliteration. Um and it’s going to have winter activities so you can do those starting now all the way until…if you live in Ohio it snows in April unfortunately…and its all the different chronological processes so you’ll have lots to practice with your students. It’s really interactive so I’ll show you that in a little bit too.
Carrie: Perfect. Ok so everybody hang tight. We are going to be doing giveaways. She’s giving away that. I’m giving away 2 free months in my membership program for speech language pathologists.
Jenna: That’s a good giveaway.
Carrie: Yeah. So, stick around for that. Don’t forget to share this video. The more we share it the more it will go around so if you know someone who needs help with K and G, tag them and share it on their Facebook page. Or share it on your own Facebook page for your friends as well. Alright let’s go ahead and jump in. We have 5 tips to share with you today and Jenna is going to tell us the first one which is using gravity. Jenna tell us about that.
Jenna: Well I guess I’m starting kind of backwards because this is one of my last resort tips, but for some reason I’ve had maybe five or six kids in my career that this was like that one thing that I like well I could’ve done that a month ago, and this would have been a lot easier. But I just use gravity so I usually have them lay on their back or on an exercise ball and we try to use gravity to listen for the “K” or “G” sound, getting that tongue elevated in the back and sometimes no matter how many cheerios I put under their tongue or how many times they hold their tongue tip down, just using that gravity helps them feel it and feel what it’s supposed to feel like. So, it elicits that sound and then we start using strategies when they’re sitting upright because we don’t all just lay on the ground all day. Using gravity sometimes really helps me get that tongue elevated in the back of their mouth.
Carrie: So basically, you’re just having them lay down and having them now say “K”?
Jenna: Yeah, I have them lay on their back and open their mouth as wide as they can and I have them do animal sounds. Which is one of the ways that I elicit it is through animal sounds like having them growling or making a noise like that. So, I have them lay flat on their back and just try to elicit it normally but I’m using gravity to help that tongue get it back there.
Carrie: Ok. So, you could actually, you actually have them lay down and then try other strategies too. So, you could do this with any of them.
Jenna: It’s the last resort.
Carrie: I love it. You know you also mentioned the cheerio thing which I don’t see on our list so will you mention that one? That will be our bonus, you get 6 today guys.
Jenna: Ok six and a half. It’s kind of the same thing I don’t really put in there. But I just always have them hold their tongue tip down with their finger. I don’t try to put my finger in their mouth because I don’t want to get bit #1 and #2, some kids are so gag reflexive…they have an easily triggered gag reflex and I don’t want that to happen so I have then use their own finger and hold the tongue tip down and say that sound “k” Camel. Once I have them do that and I try to wean them off of that I use the cheerio and I have then put a cheerio right underneath their tongue and I have them try to hold down that cheerio with their tongue. Because sometimes if they’re focused on that then sometimes I can get their posterior tongue to elevate so I can get that “k” or “g”.
Carrie: Absolutely. So, that was like three for one guys. We’re banging them out here. Alright so Angela says she always has K and G for her pre-k kiddos definitely. So, and looks like Frahannah just shared the video, thanks. So, don’t forget to share the video guys and stay tuned cause we’re doing some giveaways.
Jenna: Yeah
Carrie: Also, if you guys have any questions about eliciting K and G or any of the strategies we’re talking about right now, go ahead and type those in. If you are watching with us live, we’ll answer them now. If you are watching later then we’ll answer them whenever we can get back to you. So alright let’s move on to #2 slash 4…hahaha…wherever we are. So, that one is utilizing animal sounds. Tell us about that one.
Jenna: So, preschoolers have such a hard time following a one stop direction like “throw this in the trash can” and if I try to give them a one-step direction that relates to their mouth and lifting their tongue, it’s just too hard. So, I always start with that natural, however I can elicit that sound that they might already be doing through animal noises or car noises or train noises or whatever it’s called. And so, I usually use animal noises like a growling sound to elicit that “grr” sound in the back. And sometimes even if they’re not doing it at all in any place in words, I’ll hear it in that animal sound. So, that’s kind of like the first thing I ask them to do if I’m going to check for sounding ability or check if they can even do it. Before I even say ya know “watch my tongue and copy what I do” I just say “oh let’s pretend we’re bears grrrr” and I just try all these different sounds and see if I can elicit it though an animal sound.
Carrie: Yeah, I’ve also done like kind of a monster sound so we’ll just go like krrrr. Which it’s kind of like a stretched-out K almost and that seems to help for some of my kids and they really have fun with that too.
Jenna: Yeah, to get that voiceless sound. And then my next tip kind of falls back so then for the “k” I usually do the cough sound. I’m like “oh let’s fake a cough” k…k….k…and I like mold their cough into a K cough.
Carrie: Yeah. Ok if you guys have used one of the animal sounds or coughing, lets type in what you call that. So, like what kind of sounds, is it a monster sound. What’s worked for you, for your kids. And then touching on that I’ve noticed once you can get them to make like a coughing sound or like a “K” kind of growling sound the you can kind of like you said, shape it down so you can say ok let’s practice on making that really short. Or really choppy and try to get them to do it different ways that sounds more like a K without actually telling them their making the K. Because them of course they’re like oh yeah Tah Tah that’s my K.
Jenna: Yeah, I guess that should have been my very first step and that’s what I always do is I rename the sound. So, if it, whatever is the trigger that helps like if you’re lying on your back and you get it, I’ll call it your napping sound.
Carrie: Nice
Jenna: Because you were laying on your back when you got it. If you were growling like a bear when you got your “gah” it becomes the bear sound. Now if you walked into private speech therapy and said I’m working on my bear sound, that person might not know, but that doesn’t matter cause to me I’m just trying to help that kiddo reframe that. Because you’re right, the first time you say ok now practice Kah sound he’s going to go t t t.
Carrie: Yeah, we don’t talk about the K sound.
Jenna: And sometimes I call it a new sound if I can’t get the kid to elicit it, like if nothing worked right off the bat, I just call it your new sound… “oh let’s do that new sound that we practiced last week”. So, it becomes the new sound. Anything but calling it the K or the G sound.
Carrie: Yeah and Shannon is saying they call it the back sound, so that’s good too, I like that. Yeah and then of course you’re going to call it by what it is once they can do it, but you have to break that mindset first.
Jenna: Yeah
Carrie: Definitely. Alright.
Jenna: To change that pattern.
Carrie: Uh Ha, absolutely. We have a ton of people on here. We have 26 people live on here watching right now. Thank you, guys, for joining us. Don’t forget to share and stay, stick around because we’re going to do some giveaways here in just a sec. We have two more tips for you. We’ve already thrown out a huge number of tips so far. So, let’s do Hippo mouth. Tell us about hippo mouth.
Jenna: Hippo mouth. I use to just call it the open mouth but then one of my kiddos was like “it’s like a hippo mouth” because when you think about a hippo mouth they open their mouth so wide that’s like the biggest mouth I can think of so now I use the hippo mouth.
Carrie: I like it.
Jenna: So now when all else fails I just tell the kiddos to open their mouth as wide as then can like the widest. Everyone do it with me. If you have your mouth open as wide as you can, you cannot say tah. Ya just can’t make a T instead of a K.
Carrie: Nope
Jenna: Now you might not be able to get a good K, but if you have your mouth open as wide as you can you can kind of shape it from there because you just can’t make a tah when your mouth is open as wide as you possible can.
Carrie: Perfect, I love that one. Yeah, the first time I tried that and it worked with a kid I was like are you kidding me, I just needed to tell you to open your mouth…hahaha
Jenna: A hippo mouth? Ok great we’ll do this forever! So just opening your mouth as wide as you can, you really can’t. And as I start bringing it back down I start doing that finger hold kind of thing to keep that tongue down. But we just practice it with our mouth wide open as we can. We’ve got out hippo mouth.
Carrie: Awesome, I love it. I love it. Let’s see Mel, thanks for joining us Mel. Ok we have one more tip to share with you. If you’ve missed any of the tips leading up to now we’ve, you will be able to watch the recording afterwards, but we have one more tip to share and then we’ll be moving into our giveaways so stick around. Mel says the hippo sounds fabulous. Absolutely I agree…hahaha. Ok so our last one is, when all else fails, cycle. Tell us about that.
Jenna: Cycle it. I think that K and G is one of those sounds that you could like bang your head against the wall everyday if you have a kid who just can’t get it. I’ve only had one kid I sent to Kindergarten that never ever got it and she had autism and so I, theirs other kids out there. But if you cannot get it, there is no point in practicing it wrong a hundred times a day if you don’t have other things to work on. I just don’t think it’s worth it. So, what I do if I have a kid who I cannot get um it in in any place. I can’t get it in isolation, we’re not even close, I just kind of put it aside. Even if I think theirs other, if that target is more important than other ones and I use the cycles approach and I cycle it. So, we’ll work on it and we might do auditory the whole time but we’ll work on it for a little bit, do auditory, work on the elicitation and then put it away for a few weeks. And sometimes it’s hard to do the cycles in a school setting. It’s hard for me too, so I just try to run through it so that I’m making sure I put it, you know I kind of think about it in months at a time. So, this month we’re really going to work on it and then I’m going to put it away and then I might test it again and see if we’re ready to try it again at a later date.
Carrie: How often do you cycle back? Does it depend on how many goals they have?
Jenna: Most of my kids have goals for like two to three processes. So, that could be a lot of cycle because we’re writing yearlong goals. So, that could be a lot of cycles when you think about your breaking it down to like the individual sounds within those processes and if you’re thinking about blends and taking those apart. So, when you’re thinking about that, there is a lot to be targeted. So usually I have plenty to work on if I can’t get the K and G and I’ll just come back to it and I’ll keep coming back to it and make sure the kiddo is still aware of it. Still going to do auditory but just naturally when I’m doing therapy on other things but I definitely cycle through it. Just try not to beat your head against the wall with it if you can help it.
Carrie: Yeah
Jenna: It frustrates the kiddo too cause it’s hard to have your speech therapist everyday to say you’re not doing it right and you want to find success.
Carrie: Yeah, I’ve found that the months seems to be a pretty good time frame in terms if you’re going to try something and not making any progress in a month, especially in the schools, that seems to be a pretty good like “ok we gave it a good month, let’s put that one away and come back to it”. So, I agree.
Jenna: I see my kiddos twice a week so that would be like 8 different sessions so I thinks that’s a pretty fair amount of time. If I haven’t been able to get it at all then I’ll just put it on the shelf and then take a month off and then try it again.
Carrie: Absolutely. Alright we have a couple comments here.
Angela says “I always say use your cough sound”. Have them cough into their elbow when producing it. Hopefully help them to cover their mouth when they really are coughing…hahaha…yep.
Debbie is watching from Kuwait, wow welcome you get the furthest person away award. And
Chelsie says I call the G gulping water and the K knocking door sound.
I like that, those are good names.
Jenna: I may have to steal that.
Carrie: Ok perfect. Alright we have reached the giveaway stage so if you guys are watching on Facebook live with us right now on December 5th you are eligible to enter the giveaways. I have to preface this. I’ve had some people try to enter via email and that’s not how this works so I’m going to give this analogy. So, it’s like watching Jeopardy at home and shouting out your answer, you don’t get to win. So ya have to be in our live studio audience which happens to be on Facebook right now. Ok so for giveaways talk about what you’re giving away and any other resources that you like for K and G.
Jenna: Yeah so first I’ll talk about a hard resource I’m holding it. So, this is a product that I have been using like crazy with my K and G kids. Actually, all my kids, but let me hold up the box so you can see it. If you just screenshot it, this would be a good time to do that so you can see what it is. I’ll throw a like in here when we’re done being live. But it’s one of those great “as seen on TV” kind of things that was made in Australia by a mom and let me show you what it does. So, it’s a light up tongue depressor…watch…
Carrie: Oh, my gosh that is so cool.
Jenna: Can you see my pallet? Isn’t that awesome. Also, it looks like a lightsaber which makes every kid willing to do it. What I usually do is bring a puppet. I have a dinosaur puppet and I have the kiddo put it in the puppets mouth so they can see what we’re going to do cause then I’m not just like attacking them with the light saber. And then it’s way better than the cherry flavored tongue depressors.
Carrie: Hahahaha…absolutely.
Jenna: You have them put this and then you don’t have to have a separate pin light, its way better. So, for K and G I’ll have it in my mouth and they make disposable blades that you attach. Here’s like one of the blades. So, I’ll have one for myself and one for the kid and we can swap out the base. The base has the light in it when you put the tongue depressor on it, it works.
Carrie: That’s awesome!
Jenna: I know right! So, once you slide the tongue depressor or the blade on there it just stays on.
Carrie: I love it!
Jenna: Alright so it’s called Throat Scope. It was made in Australia but it’s available in the US as of January, so perfect timing and it’s like $15 or something.
Carrie: Woah!
Jenna: Finally, a therapy tool we can afford!
Carrie: Right! Yeah Emily says she wants that. I agree, I want it too.
Jenna: I think it’s throatscope.com I’m pretty sure and you can preorder them. I’m going to order like a bunch because I need one in my bag and my rolling cart. I’ve had mine since the beginning of the school year and I’ve been using it like crazy. And then they sell, the package comes with like your Throat Scope, the base and then three blades for like the $15-18, whatever the price was and then you buy the replacements in bulk. Like doctors, therapists, those people.
Carrie: Nice
Jenna: Yeah so, it’s still pretty cheap it’s like $20 bucks for a big thing of blades and it’s lasted me. I haven’t run out yet this year. So, that’s called the Throat Scope and that’s my first favorite tool.
Read the original blog from Speech and Language Kids here.
Never miss a blog!
Subscribe to get updates on new blogs from Holland Healthcare.
Have you ever taken a trip to the doctors when it was impossible for the doctor to check your child’s throat because they refused to open their mouth have the wooden stick and have the doctor stick their whole head in their mouth to check it out?
Have you ever had a sick child and really just wanted to look at their throat yourself?
Have you ever wanted to see in your child’s mouth to see if those teeth have popped through yet?
WELL now you can……
Thanks to a very clever Australian Mum who went through an experience with her child that gave he the brainwave. She had to restrain her child at the doctors and hold them down, while the doctor had the wooden tongue depressor and penlight to check out their throat. After the traumatic experience Jennifer thought of the simple and clever idea of the all-in-one plastic depressor with built in light!! You may have seen Jennifer on the Shark Tank or even on the Today Show.
With young children, I feel like they are always saying something hurts in their mouth or they have a bit of a sore throat. Previously I have told them to open their mouths and say it all seems fine, as I couldn’t really see anything at all! Since having the Throat Scope, we have seen ulcers in the mouth, molars popping throat and a very red throat – luckily no white gross pussy stuff!
I have been known to use my iPhone torch to look in the kids mouth, which half sort of works, but also a bit awkward if you are trying to hold their tongue down as well! As the Throat Scope is 2-in1, there is no need for my iPhone or the wooden depressor I ‘borrowed’ from the doctors.
The Throat Scope is so easy to use and assemble! You simply clip the plastic depressor into the handle and the light automatically turns on, and then just pull off when finished. Hopefully you won’t be using it too often, but it contains 3 powerful longlife LED lights and has a 5 year shelf life. The Throat Scope comes with two plastic depressors and they can be cleaned with alcohol wipes in between use to reduce cross-contamination.
I have also used for my 4 year old son who attends speech pathology. Correcting speech is an interesting experience, as we have both learnt where your tongue needs to be for particular letters. One of the harder sounds/letters for children is ‘C’ and this requires the tongue to be down, so using the Throat Scope gently to suppress the tongue has helped my son know where his tongue should be for his ‘C’ words.
Your doctor, dentist or speech pathologist may not have a Throat Scope, so maybe take your own or tell them you think they need one, why not spread the word!
The success of the Throat Scope continues and it has now been launched into the USA! We all love an Aussie Mum invention – thanks Jennifer!
Aussie Entrepreneurs who are Chasing Dreams & Improving our Health.
Jennifer Holland is a mother of four, and has created an internationally acclaimed health product available in 140 countries across the world in a deal valued at over $15 million. Jennifer created Throat Scope, a medical device that incorporates a tongue depressor and light source in the one easy to use unit. The product has also been endorsed by the USA Oral Cancer Foundation as the number one tool to detect early stage oral cancer.
This is a wonderful story of inspiration about an Aussie Mum who had an idea, and got after it. It’s a story of innovation, creativity, determination, desire and passion.
Here’s what we cover in this interview with Jennifer:
What was the genesis of Throatscope the product – how did it all start?
Why did Jennifer decide to have a go at this idea?
Creating an emotional WHY, and how that can influence your determination.
The backstory of how the $4 prototype created at the Reject shop became an intenational invention.
Did Jennifer always believe in her ability to bring this idea to fruition?
Winning in the Shark Tank!
How the advice of a 4 year old made the difference in the journey of Throatscope.
Being a Mum and balancing a family day-to-day.
The International Edision Awards for Innovation and what that will mean for Throatscope.
How do you protect your idea and why is it so important?
Shining a spotlight on innovations and the teams behind them, The Edison Awards™, celebrating 30 years of honoring the best in innovation and excellence in the development of new products and services, announced the 2017 Edison Award Winners on Thursday, April 20.
With more than 500 senior executives and their guests in attendance, the awards were announced at a Gala dinner held at the Capitale in New York City. Nations represented at the event include Australia, Canada, Germany, Israel, Malaysia, Nairobi, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, United Kingdom and the United States.
Being recognized with an Edison Award™ is one of the highest accolades a company can receive in the name of innovation and business success.The awards are named after Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) whose inventions, new product development methods and innovative achievements that changed the world, garnered him 1,093 U.S. patents and made him a household name around the world.
The Edison Awards honor excellence in new product and service development, marketing, human-centered design and innovation. These Gold, Silver and Bronze Winners were chosen as the “best of the best” by the world’s top senior business executives, academics, and innovation professionals.
Silver Award:
Throat Scope® by Holland Healthcare Inc.
The unpleasant experience of restraining a toddler whilst a doctor used a wooden tongue depressor and flash light to pry open the toddler’s mouth, gave inventor Jennifer Holland (shown at top, center) her light bulb moment. Throat Scope® provides medical professionals with one free hand, a light source located inside the mouth for a fast, accurate and pleasant oral examination experience.
Is someone in your family suffering from a sore throat? The Throat Scope let’s you check easily! Simply attach the plastic disposable tongue depressor to its lighted handle, place on the child’s tongue and look in.
Throat Scope illuminates the throat and mouth from the inside, providing you with a fast and accurate exam. The LED light provides bright illumination of the entire mouth and throat. Simply detach the blade from the handle with an easy one-flick action.
“Two thirds of oral and orapharyngeal cancers are detected at the later stages, slightly more than half will be alive in 5 years”.
Throat Scope is aiding in detecting these deadly cancers early, both in-home and in clinics across the globe. When you visit the dentist, make sure you are screened and make sure to screen yourself regularly at home.
Have you ever wondered what happens next for the companies that get the Sharks to bite?
The CEO Magazine recently spoke to resident Shark Steve Baxter about how to impress him with a pitch. These 6 start-ups managed to do just that on Shark Tank. Here’s how they have benefited from his investment.
Throat Scope
Jennifer Holland, CEO of Throat Scope
Founder: Jennifer Holland
HQ: Redhead, NSW
Idea: Throat Scope is a child-friendly oral examination device that removes the need for intrusive wooden tongue depressors and pen lights.
Investment: $76,000
Outcome: Throat Scope has gone on to win several awards including the including the 2017 Edison Award and 2015 Sydney Design Award. Now available in 150 countries including the US, the brand has seen revenue grow by 300 per cent year on year.
As far as maintaining our teeth goes, most of us dread going to the dentist and only resort to twice-daily brushing and not-often-enough flossing. But there’s a lot more we could (and should!) be doing with our choppers than the basics. We’ll tell you 5 new products you need for a healthy smile.
In fact, the annual International Dental Show just wrapped up in Cologne, Germany, and the event is known for debuting some pretty cool dental products and developments in the industry. While most of the products are geared towards dentists, this year saw a few new products for patient use as well.
So whether you’re OCD about your dental hygiene or just looking for new and improved upgrades for your medicine cabinet, check out the new-new that’s about to take dentistry by storm.
Quip Electric Toothbrush
Electric toothbrushes have been around for some time now, but many people are hesitant to switch out their drugstore-bought brands. Often this is because the electric varieties are pretty pricey, with refills alone costing around $50 a pop, and often bulky (who has that much counter space in their bathroom?). Enter: Quip, a high-tech quality brush you can score for just $50, with refills costing just $10! Buy it now: Quip Electric Brush, $50
Philips Sonicare AirFloss Ultra
If you’re like most people, your dentist probably spends a good 10 minutes of your appointment talking about how you’re not flossing enough. Let’s be honest—flossing is tedious and can be a real pain, but it is a super important component of personal oral hygiene. That’s why air flossers are becoming increasingly popular. They use rapid bursts of air and water droplets to virtually floss through your teeth, scraping away plaque and food. Pretty cool, right? Buy it now: Sonicare AirFloss Ultra AirFloss Ultra, $70
PopWhite Whitening Primer + Toothpaste
If you happen to dye your hair blonde, you may already be familiar with the purple color-correcting technology (purple shampoos and conditioners have been used for decades to reduce the brassiness in blonde hair). Now, a new company, PopWhite, promises to color-correct your teeth with purple toothpaste that promises to make your teeth whiter in as little as one brushing! Best part? It’s free from peroxide, a bleaching agent found in most whitening products that’s not all that great for you. Buy it now: Whitening primer + Toothpaste, $18
Throat Scope Tongue Depressor
Gone are the days of using wooden tongue depressors to do mouth exams. There’s a new device called Throat Scope. While it might not be the most glamorous tool to have in your medicine cabinet, it’s one of the handiest, especially if you have little ones running around. Throat Scope is the world’s first all-in-one lighted tongue depressor—it essentially lights up your mouth, making for easier examinations of sore throats, strep throat, cutting teeth, oral thrush and inflamed gums. It’s also an early detection tool for oral cancer, which affects nearly 50,000 people every year. It can be used at home, though medical professionals are turning to Throat Scope, too. Buy it now: Throat Scope, $20
Breathometer
No more showing up to a work happy hour or dinner date unsure of whether you may have bad breath. This FDA-approved removable mouthpiece syncs with an app via Bluetooth and gives you the 411 on you breath situation. How? You bite down on the device and it sucks a sample of air from your mouth. It runs this air through electrochemical sensors that detects sulfur molecules in your breath. Then it gives you a grade ranging from A-F. If you get an F, it’s time to book an appointment with your dentist, stat. Buy it now: Breathometer, $99
Read the original Healthy Smile article by Class Pass HERE.
After experiencing a “light bulb” moment when a doctor used a wooden tongue depressor to pry open her first-born’s mouth, Ms Holland found her drive and began researching her idea to develop an alternative revolutionary tool for oral cavity examination.
The mother of four children under the age of ten is the inventor of Throat Scope, a light up tongue depressor aimed at making throat examinations easier for both doctors and parents.
From start-up business to taking on the world – a Lake Macquarie mother’s invention is finding a niche in the US.
Thanks to a very clever Australian Mum who went through an experience with her child that gave he the brainwave. She had to restrain her child at the doctors and hold them down, while the doctor had the wooden tongue depressor and penlight to check out their throat. After the traumatic experience Jennifer thought of the simple and clever idea of the all-in-one plastic depressor with built in light!! You may have seen Jennifer on the Shark Tank or even on the Today Show.
Jennifer Holland is a mother of four, and has created an internationally acclaimed health product available in 140 countries across the world in a deal valued at over $15 million. Jennifer created Throat Scope, a medical device that incorporates a tongue depressor and light source in the one easy to use unit. The product has also been endorsed by the USA Oral Cancer Foundation as the number one tool to detect early stage oral cancer.
Being recognized with an Edison Award™ is one of the highest accolades a company can receive in the name of innovation and business success.The awards are named after Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) whose inventions, new product development methods and innovative achievements that changed the world, garnered him 1,093 U.S. patents and made him a household name around the world.
Throat Scope