Summer brings some great opportunities to work on speech and language skills. The following are some simple, fun (and maybe slightly messy) ideas to make speech and language exciting for kids.
When you read books to a young child, it encourages bonding, may calm your child, and promotes communication and longer attention span. Young children who are exposed to reading early often love learning and do well in school later. Books can also help children make sense of new and unfamiliar situations.
Have you heard about teletherapy? Teletherapy is simply therapy, over the internet, through a live video connection. The treatment is very similar to what a child receives in person; it’s just done using a computer. If you’ve ever used FaceTime or Skype you’ve used the same type of technology that teletherapy uses. Teletherapy can be used with…
Play-dough has been around for ages and is a near-universal childhood toy. As an adult, even I love to knead and roll the stuff! But as much fun as play-dough is, it’s also a great choice for kids with delays and disabilities. Following are a few ways play-dough can help kids with special needs: Stress…
Does your child use an AAC or communication device? Halloween is a popular holiday for many children, and there’s no reason why kids with AAC devices can’t participate fully in the fun! First, you’ll want to program some key Halloween words and phrases into the AAC device. Some devices actually come programmed with a Halloween…
We all know how frustrating it feels to try to communicate with someone who is not paying attention. We have something important to say, but our conversation partner is checking her phone, looking everywhere but us, and when we ask a question, the response is “Huh?” None (or very little) of the information we were…
Kid’s Creek Therapy recently hosted the LAMP conference, an event where SLPs, OTs, teachers, paraprofessionals, ABA therapists, and parents gathered to learn more about the LAMP approach to augmentative alternative communication (AAC). All of our SLPs, in addition to one of our OTs, attended the conference and were trained on the LAMP principles. In today’s…
Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are known by many different titles. The most common are speech therapist, SLP, or speech teacher. Many specialties encompass the field (language, articulation, fluency, voice, swallowing, pediatrics, geriatrics, aphasia) and within each specialty there are more areas of focus related to work environments or diagnoses. Speech-language pathology is a career which offers…
Did you know that 11% of children ages 3–6 have a speech, language, voice, or swallowing disorder and almost 15% of school-age children experience some degree of hearing loss? Communication disorders are among the most common disabilities in children nationwide. May is Better Hearing & Speech Month – a perfect time to help families learn…
It may sometimes seem like a difficult task to think of language activities to play with your child, but it doesn’t have to be! You can use everyday moments and activities to encourage language and communication skills and also incorporate quick and easy language games into your everyday life. Setting aside time in your days…