Choosing Toys that Build Communication Skills

by Chris O Language Development Speech Disorders Speech Therapy Techniques
Image Courtesy of stellarcaterpillar.com

Image Courtesy of stellarcaterpillar.com

At the heart of learning for children you can often find play. Learning to communicate is no exception, and there are toys and techniques that can be used to help build language and speaking skills in children. The toy box can be transformed into a learning toolbox with a few simple additions that target the difference types of learning styles best suited for your child – auditory, tactile, and more. If you’re trying to build communication skills in your child or student, try any of these 8 toys and techniques to develop language, speech, and the foundations for healthy communication. Continue reading →

Kids Can Face Aphasia Caused by Hemiplegia

by Chris O Language Development Speech Disorders Speech Therapist Speech Therapy Techniques
Signs of a stroke

Image Courtesy of e-healthdiary.com

If you’ve ever heard of aphasia, chances are you that you have associated it with a condition that affects an older population. However, as many as one in every 1,000 children are affected by childhood hemiplegia, which commonly results in aphasia for these children. Children with hemiplegia (trauma or injury occurring to one side of the brain) may show signs soon after birth, or might not be diagnosed until later in childhood.  A child with aphasia might only show mild signs or may find it very hard to communicate at all. Continue reading →

Say What? Voice Disorders in Kids

by Chris O Language Development Speech Therapist Speech Therapy Techniques

How Parents, SLPs, and Voice Coaches can Help by Teaching Vocal Hygiene

Kids who yell are using poor vocal hygiene

Image Courtesy of thesecondset.com

Maybe you’ve told your kids to wash behind their ears, but have you ever considered their vocal hygiene? Maybe it is time to start, especially if you’re concerned they might have a voice disorder, or dysphonia. While they are some of the rarer forms of vocal and speech problems, voice disorders affect an estimated 1 million children in the United States. Most of these children develop voice disorders due to unhealthy communication practices, such as yelling and straining the vocal cords. While vocal hygiene plays a part in many voice disorders, there are other causes that need to be evaluated by healthcare professionals.

  • Laryngitis (the most common type, caused by what some might consider vocal abuse)
  • Vocal cord paralysis
  • Contact ulcers and sores
  • Tumors on the vocal cords, voice box, and within the air passages
  • Vocal fold nodules Continue reading →

Reaching Through the Autism Barrier with Music and Speech Therapy

by Chris O Language Development Speech Disorders Speech Therapist Speech Therapy Techniques

How Speech Therapy and Music Can Work Together to Help Those with ASD

autism and music therapy

Image Courtesy of blogs.longwood.edu

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 →

Disfluency Challenges: Word-Final Disfluency vs. Non-Stuttering Like Disfluency

by Chris O Speech Disorders Speech Therapy Techniques

Speech Therapy Help for These Similar Disfluencies in Children

When you think of stuttering you might envision a scene from The King’s Speech or someone you know who struggles with the beginning sounds of words. But what about when you hear those repeated sounds at the end of words – is it stuttering or something else?

Speech disorders can sound similar but have very different origins

Courtesy of DIYHealth.com

Sometimes the difference between typical disfluency and stuttering seems to only be as insignificant as a syllable. But when it comes to speech disorders, syllables take on significant roles. A recently recognized disfluency known as word-final or word-end disfluency usually falls under the general category of non-typical stuttering and can be challenging for pediatricians and caregivers to recognize as a stuttering speech disorder. Making the challenge even greater, SLPs are often charged with discriminating between word-final disfluency and non-stuttering like disfluency.

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Easy Exercises for Improving Executive Functioning

by Holly F. Speech Therapy Techniques

 

working memory components

Source: learnnc.org

Living in a digital age, most of us rely heavily on electronics to keep ourselves scheduled and organized. Why? Because the cognitive burden of storing so much information in our heads can be overwhelming. We can thank or blame executive functioning for this- the coordination of our brain’s many components that help us remember, organize, prioritize and problem solve. For many children with executive functioning disorders or struggles, language processing can be a significant challenge. In fact, children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) often have executive functioning challenges that specifically should be addressed in speech therapy. Just like organizing a drawer, organizing your thoughts can be challenging when memory, impulse control and reasoning are impacted.

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Best Practices in Teaching Bilabial Speech Sounds

by Holly F. Speech Therapy Techniques
B sound speech therapy visual

Source: expressivelyspeaking.wordpress.com

Baby babbling is usually the classic example of bilabial sounds, like “bababa” and “mamama.” Bilabial speech sounds are those that are made by using both lips, pressed together for sounds like /p/, /b/, and /m/. These sounds are usually mastered by age three but can be lingering challenges with children affected by speech sound disorders. They can be challenging to tackle so here are some suggested best practices for speech therapy.

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What to Know when Talking to Your Child with a Language Disorder

by Holly F. Speech Therapy Techniques

 

child reading with mom

Source: news.appstate.com

Children with language disorders, whether they be of articulation, expression, comprehension or others might need some extra assistance from their communication partner. A communication partner is the person listening and sharing in the conversation and for children, this is often an adult. Communication partners can do a lot to support a child in conversation, making it easier or less challenging to communicate. Here’s how:

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Easy Summer Articulation Activities at-Home

by Holly F. Parents' Corner Pronunciation & Lisps Speech Therapy Techniques
tracing letters in sidewalk chalk

Source: boyohboycrafts.com

Summer is a great time for fun in the sun, splashing in the pool and, articulation? Don’t let the downtime set your child back; encourage them to continue maintaining their target speech sounds with great at-home activities.  Even if you’re not signing up for formal training with the Speech Buddy Kick Start summer event, speech therapy at home is each to achieve. Sometimes it can take a little planning while at other times it can happen spontaneously- like deciding to write articulation targets or sounds in sidewalk chalk (above). Here are some easy articulation activities to try. Continue reading →

Great Materials for Getting Rid of Gliding in Speech Therapy

by Holly F. Speech Therapy Techniques

 

r and w minimal pair cards

Source: adventuresinspeechtherapy.wordpress.com

Gliding is the term used to describe a phonological process that occurs when someone replaces specific consonant with “w” or “y”. There are different types such as replacement with liquids or fricatives but let’s talk about liquids, /l/ and /r/ with replacements by /w/ or /y/. You might here “yego” instead of “lego” for “wun” instead of “run.” In this case, a child is having difficulty with an entire class of sounds and that’s why it is referred to as a phonological process. While it typically disappears by age five, speech therapists are often confronted with gliding at much later years and attempts to reduce it can be tricky. Fortunately there are a variety of great materials available to get rid of gliding in speech therapy.

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