Middle School Speech Building Ideas. Image source: Eagleharborva.com
Does your 12 year old son or daughter struggle with speech and communication skills? If so, it’s not too late to get your child on the path to improved communication — and have some fun doing it. It can be tricky keeping a middle school student interested in anything educational for very long , so we’re always on the lookout for good speech therapy ideas for middle school students. The key to keeping this age group interested and motivated is providing them with games and activities that keep them engaged, while giving them the opportunity to see noticeable improvements within a fairly short period of time. Continue reading →
Music is an excellent source of speech therapy. Image source: loogguitars.com
Do you have a little Stevie Wonder on your hands? Lady Gaga? Do you hear singing at all hours of the day? If so, you know that singing and songs are a significant part of your child’s life. In fact, many children sing more than they talk! Through singing and song, children can actually achieve improved articulation skills, just from belting it out. Even simple children’s nursery rhymes can help develop pronunciation and articulation skills. For children who need any type of speech and language therapy, music is essential. It is motivating, familiar, rhythmic, stimulates a variety of senses and most of all – FUN! Continue reading →
You Can Help Develop Correct Speech Habits at Home. Image source: blogs.trb.com
Whether or not your child has been diagnosed with a speech sound disorder, there are many things you can do at home to help develop correct speech habits. You can even start developing these habits when your child makes his first babbles! Every child develops at a different rate and there is a wide range of what is considered normal in a child’s language development. You can take an active role in helping encourage your child’s speech and language development, just by adding a few easy steps into your daily routine.
Easter is an excellent time of year to work on speech therapy at home with your kids. The colors of the trees, smell of fresh blooming flowers, chirping of the birds are all excellent ways to engage your child’s senses. But how about using an Easter Egg as an inexpensive speech therapy tool? Yes, both a real egg and a colorful, plastic Easter egg! These eggs can provide an opportunity for you to work on socialization, articulation and language skills with your child in a variety of ways, and have fun together as a family.
As we celebrate National Autism Awareness month, we’d like to share with you ideas for activities that help support children with autism. Autism is an increasingly more common neurological condition that affects brain development. As such, children diagnosed with autism have more difficulty socializing with others, effectively communicating and responding appropriately to the environment around them. Are there activities that you can do with your child to help encourage effective communication and engagement? Yes, read on!
If your child has autism, you know that it affects each child differently. Children with autism possess a wide variety of skills, strengths, and needs. In addition to individualized therapy, there are simple, everyday activities that parents, teachers and caregivers can do to help support children with autism. We’ve put together a list of materials and fun activities that encourage social skills, and enhance communication for children with autism.
What kinds of activities and games are best? An article in Science Daily, discussed the importance of play in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). “Children with ASD chose to engage in play that provided strong sensory feedback, cause-and-effect results, and repetitive motions,” said Kathy Ralabate Doody, Ph.D., assistant professor of exceptional education at SUNY Buffalo State. Any opportunity to explore colors, shapes, textures and sensory experiences can help stimulate attention and create a sense of fun!
5 Ways to Use Technology for Speech Therapy at Home
This week, Microsoft made a big announcement that it will soon be offering Office for the iPad! This is great news for those looking to create and edit documents, spreadsheets and presentations on the iPad or mobile device. This latest announcement further demonstrates the prevalence of technology in our lives presently and in the future. Can technology help dedicate time to working on speech therapy at home? Absolutely! If you have access to mobile device such as an iPad, there are many free apps and online resources that can help your child improve his or her communication skills with speech therapy at home.
Spring has sprung, and what better time to practice those “s” sounds! Did you know that the “s” sound is one of the most mispronounced sounds in the English language? According to Pronunciation Workshop, approximately half of all “s” sounds in English are pronounced as a letter “z” or “th.” For a child with a speech impediment, the “s” sound proves particularly challenging. Common in articulation disorders, a child drops the “s” sound all together such as “and,” instead of “sand”. Or a child may mispronounce the “s” sound at the beginning or end of a word, giving him a lisp.
It’s St. Patrick’s Day! Even if you are not of Irish descent, St. Paddy’s Day is a great excuse to wear your favorite green outfit and make it a fun holiday for your kids! Most likely, your kids will celebrate in their classrooms with green cookies or punch, but here are some non-sugary ways to celebrate our favorite leprechaun, with your favorite leprechaun! Enjoy!
This week, on Speech Therapy for Kids, we offer you a “Top Seven” list of inexpensive speech therapy resources for your kids. There are many reasons why having a handful of speech therapy resources are valuable for parents. Often, parents are unsure if their child needs to see a speech therapist and would like to try some exercises with them at home first. Also, sometimes it’s not possible to schedule a visit to a speech therapist because of financial reasons or because there are no therapists nearby. Or, parents with kids in speech therapy want to supplement the lessons with activities at home. The following list provides supplemental and alternative resources for parents and kids.
Speech Therapy for Kids: 4 Crucial Topics to Cover After Your First Visit
Our series this week talks about your child’s first visit to a speech therapist. Once your child has been diagnosed with a speech impediment or a speech disorder and your appointment is set, you want to make sure to be as knowledgeable and organized as possible in order to get the best out of the first visit. We have given you a handful of tips on what to expect from your first visit to the speech therapist. After the visit is complete, you can expect your SLP to review the results of your child’s evaluation and recommend a treatment plan. But there should be more to it. The results aren’t always cut and dry. You will want to make sure to cover the following topics so you are well informed about your child’s treatment going forward.
