Tools for Speech Therapy: 5 Fabulous Apps for Kids

by Courtenay M. Apps Articulation Disorders At Home Ideas Language Development Parents' Corner Speech delay Speech Disorders Speech Therapist Speech Therapy Techniques

Speech Therapy Apps

Get your iPads ready! Games, puzzles, stories on the go?  Speech Therapy is no longer one size fits all. Recent innovations in technology provide many valuable tools for speech therapy. Apps, iPad games and gadgets offer opportunities for learning at every level of speech therapy and often help make the therapy fun. Of course, apps should not be viewed as a replacement for a comprehensive speech therapy plan, and you should always seek to contact your SLP if you are planning to use applications, games and gadgets in conjunction with your therapy sessions.

Continue reading →

Articulation Disorder Study: Helping Sound the Letter /R/

by Courtenay M. Articulation Disorders Parents' Corner Pronunciation & Lisps R Sound Speech Disorders Speech Therapist Speech Therapy Techniques
Articulation Disorder - Treating the /R/ Sound

Using a tactile tool can help increase success rate in children with articulation disorder.  Image Courtesy of eHearsay: Electronic Journal of the Ohio Speech-Language Hearing Association.

As we finish of our in-depth look at articulation disorders this week, we would like to share with you some details from a recent clinical study which demonstrated the importance of a tactile tool in speech therapy. The study, published in the journal eHearsay: Electronic Journal of the Ohio Speech-Language Hearing Association tested the effectiveness of a hand-held tactile tool, Speech Buddies, in treating the misarticulation of the letter /r/.

Continue reading →

Top 10 Online Sites for Building Language Skills

by Courtenay M. At Home Ideas Language Building Games Language Development Parents' Corner Speech Therapy Techniques
Websites Designed for Building Language Skills

Many websites are designed to help your child with building language skills and improving communication.

Online games and resources are excellent tools to help children build language and vocabulary skills and prepare them for reading and speaking success for the future. Using the computer to access online resources, children of all speaking abilities can develop vocabulary skills, learn to distinguish certain sounds, begin to recognize letter shapes and their sounds, learn to follow directions and learn basic building blocks in sentence formation. Yes, the games and activities are so fun and you may not think they’re actually learning – but with our recommendations, rest assured these sites are teaching children skills for building language skills and future effective communication.

Continue reading →

Super Low Cost Speech Therapy Tips and Tricks!

by Courtenay M. Articulation Disorders Arts and Crafts At Home Ideas Language Development News Parents' Corner School Speech delay Speech Disorders Speech Therapy Techniques State Resources
Activities such as blowing bubbles are excellent low cost speech therapy activities that you can do at home!

Activities such as blowing bubbles are excellent low cost speech therapy activities that you can do at home!

Speech and language disorders affect children of all races and social-economic groups. If left untreated, speech disorders can affect a child’s ability to interact and communicate with others. Parents are constantly searching for low cost speech therapy tools and ideas. But where do you begin? The Internet is jam-packed with tools, gadgets, whistles and websites that can be confusing and misleading for parents. We have narrowed down a few low cost speech therapy ideas for you to try. Of course, we always recommend that you check in with your pediatrician or licensed speech therapist first before taking on any therapies on your own.

Continue reading →

Is Delayed Speech More Common in Boys Than Girls?

by Courtenay M. Language Development Parents' Corner Speech delay Speech Disorders
Are Boys Speech Delayed More Often Than Girls?Image courtesy of Flickr.com

Is Delayed Speech More Common in Boys Than Girls? Image courtesy of Flickr.com

Ahh, the weekly playgroup! Another situation where you realize that every single toddler in the room seems to be speaking in clear sentences except for your son? Of course, the reasoning side of your brain is telling you NOT to compare your child to others, but the emotional side tells you that it’s hard not to compare when you are witnessing it for yourself. Is my son’s delayed speech normal? Like everything else child-development related, children learn at different rates. Your child may be swinging a golf club like Tiger Woods, or he can do triple flips on the trampoline, but he still cannot speak in complete and clear sentences. It’s okay. There is real research that indicates many boys start talking later than girls.

Continue reading →