Education, guides, and resources on Language Development
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It is not uncommon for infants and toddlers to experience fluid in the middle ear or ear infections at some point during their early years. However, long-term ear infections or fluid in the middle ear that may go untreated can cause speech delays that may require some form of speech therapy.
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If your child has been diagnosed with ASD – Autism Spectrum Disorder – you already know about some of the hurdles they face. While Autism doesn’t have characteristic physical features, like other brain abnormalities and injuries it is often marked by depressed or delayed communication skills, making interacting with the world so much harder. It sometimes feels as if there is an invisible barrier between your child and the people and experiences that make up your community. New approaches with music in speech therapy have been showing great promise for kids with Autism – from high functioning Autistic children to nonverbal Autistic children. Music therapy in general has been used for decades to treat anything from cognitive to behavioral to social disorders. Now speech-language therapists are finding the benefits of this therapy method to help their Autistic patients. Continue reading
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Imagine if you went to the dentist office and they told you that you had a cavity in your front tooth. They scheduled the appointment to repair it, you go in and have the Novocain injected, and the dentist begins to drill. Then he stops and scratches his head. No matter how far he drills, he can’t find the cavity he thought was there – he can’t find anything to repair because the cavity is not even in that tooth – it was a dental misdiagnosis. We don’t hear of this situation happening because cavities are usually concrete problems that can easily be seen on x-rays, if not just by the human eye. Speech disorders, however, can be complicated to diagnose, especially when there are other health, behavior, and environmental factors to consider. Continue reading
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If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then sometimes the speech disorder is in the ear of the listener. If you’ve done any travelling, live in a large city with cultural depth, or have moved from one state to another, you have probably noticed various accents and dialects within the same language. When it comes to articulation disorders, sometimes it is actually more dialectal difference than actual disorder.
Typical articulation disorders that emerge in childhood might include any of the four following:
In fact, many times very young children are just experimenting with language and these signs of disorders are outgrown by the time the first day of kindergarten has arrived. For some kids, however, these articulation disorders persist and speech therapy is used to help them overcome these communication hurdles. Continue reading
Source: tvo.org
An artifact doesn’t just have to be a fossil or a museum relic. An artifact from a literacy standpoint is as easy to come by as ABC blocks or musical Leapfrog toys and essential for reading and language development, especially in the early years. Literacy artifacts are objects or possessions such as newspaper print, magazine, building blocks, nursery rhymes or other items a child might be surrounded with to encourage reading. Literacy artifacts are only successful, however, if adults and teachers model them and show children how letters come together to read words and then string those words together. Adults might also model and point to a string of words and letters from left to right to show children how we read. Teachers must point to and model literacy experiences with their child, particularly in the early years. If this seems a bit daunting, check out some creative literacy artifacts for some inspiration.
Source: friendshipcircle.org
Playing with little ones serves and important purpose in the world of speech and language therapy. “Early intervention” is a support system for children with developmental disabilities or delays and their families. Speech language pathologist might provide early intervention services to a child between the ages of birth-three years, before they qualify for preschool. According to a review of the efficacy of the Early Start Denver Model for children with autism, early intervention services (at least following this model) could reduce the need for future therapies.
Source: infographicsshowcase.com
Being “tongue tied” isn’t always just a figure of speech. For children with a physical tongue-tie (called “ankyloglossia”), speaking, breastfeeding or dentition might be affected by a shortened frenulum inside the mouth. The frenulum is the small attachment between the floor of the lower jaw and the tongue. When you lift your tongue, it’s easy to see and feel. A shortened frenulum, in the case of akyloglossia, restricts the movement of the tongue and is considered a congential condition present at birth. Without the freedom to move it properly, difficulties with the normal function of the mouth for speaking or eating might arise, though the definitive connection between the two is hard to say. For that reason, it’s important for speech therapists, the experts in language and sometimes feeding, and parents to know about children who are tongue-tied.
Source: oconnoreducation.org
Reading a book without words can seem a little counter intuitive. After all, how do you promote early literacy skills without text? And, how do you actually “read” the story? These types of books actually have a host of benefits for kids and if you’re not doing it already, using wordless picture books in speech therapy should be a part of your practice. This, according to a new study, may be especially important when teaching toddlers and can expose them to richer language.
Source: newsfeed.time.com
Communication is complicated. How often do you find yourself asking your friend to “say that again?” or misspeak with a wrong word or a nonsense word by mistake? It happens to everyone. Despite well-developed communication skills, even adults can’t speak clearly at times. Why? Because successful communication requires the synchrony one of many skills. For some children, correcting an articulation error in speech therapy, that sound might only be one piece of the communication puzzle. In fact, that’s exactly why speech pathologists do an evaluation, to assess, using an arsenal of measures, many elements of communication. Fortunately for parents who might be concerned, there are two simple things that might be impacting a child’s communication that can be easily addressed.
Source: ywcaelgin.org
Parents are the best teachers of language. They have the most opportunities to impact a child’s language development. At-home speech therapy should include several important language expansion techniques that parents and other communication partners should use. While it might feel or sound silly, communication partners should talk aloud to young children, nearly narrating events and actions, even though the child might not respond. Some tips and techniques include:
