Amazing Online Games For Learning Language

by Holly F. Speech Therapy Techniques
technology in education stats

Source: pbslearning.org

 

Education has changed. Teachers no longer use chalkboards and students no longer use chalk. Instead, we are living in an age where education is infused with technology and those chalkboards have been replaced with Smartboards – the new learning medium of interactivity. While education changes, so does speech therapy. In speech therapy, the web can be a wonderful resource for interactive games and language learning activities, all accessed through the click of a mouse. While the iPad holds the media spotlight, the web still boasts the most users and has great content if reviewed through a language learning lens.

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3 Listening Games to Promote Comprehension

by Holly F. Speech Therapy Techniques

 

kids playing a listening game

Source: gogosqueez.com

Children receiving speech and language therapy to improve their expression (how they use or say words) may also have deficits in comprehension (understanding language). The two skills are essential to good communication and are always addressed and evaluated by a speech pathologist. Areas to work on in language comprehension include: following directions, comprehending concepts, answering questions, and listening for details. Good listening skills allow students to follow the teacher, respond appropriately to directions/demands and follow the details of a story-book. In therapy, be sure to modify the task so that a child does not get frustrated by the difficulty. If the child had a hard time following directions, try not to bombard or give several in a row. Break up long language into smaller pieces and provide support and encouragement throughout the task. Try these listening games and activities in speech therapy or at home to target and improve comprehension.

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Social Thinking Conference Coming to Kansas City April 18-19

by Holly F. Speech Therapy Techniques State Resources
Michelle Garcia Winner speaks

Source: socialthinking.com

If you haven’t heard the term, “thinking with your eyes” you haven’t yet spent the day (or two) with Michelle Garcia Winner.  Michelle is a speech pathologist and creator of the “Social Thinking” curriculum for students with Social Thinking challenges including those with ADHD, high functioning autism, Asperger Syndrome, ADHD, PDD and nonverbal learning disorder (NLD).  Speech therapists and parents in the midwest will get a chance to experience and learn Michelle’s curriculum during a two-day core conference covering her two most popular workshops on April 18-19, 2013 at the Ritz-Charles in Kansas City.

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How to Teach the “F” and “V” Sounds in Speech Therapy

by Holly F. Speech Therapy Techniques

 

Dr Seuss' One Fish Two Fish

Source: Betterworldbooks.com

Does your child have trouble saying “fish?”  Ask your child to describe the picture above and listen to the “F” sound in the word, “fish.” Do they substitute another sound? Or perhaps they skip it altogether and just say “ish?” For many children, “fish” can be a tricky word to say. F, and its partner in crime,  V, are tricky sounds for some children. In speech therapy, we usually check the developmental norms to decide if this sound should be targeted according to the child’s age. We can expect a child to master the F and V sounds around ages four and eight years (respectively). If the child is not saying these sounds, they might benefit from intervention and articulation therapy. They are similar in the placement of your articulators (teeth and lips) but different in the way they are produced. Someone saying an “F” sound is allowing a lot of air to escape around their teeth, while a “V” sound is made by creating vibrations of the vocal cords.

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10 Ways To Teach A Child Colors

by Holly F. Speech Therapy Techniques
colors and their meanings in culture

Source: fastcompany.com

Colors are an important language concept. We use them to describe most everything in our world and organize things according to them. In speech-language therapy, colors are often taught and at the very least assessed as part of a standard language battery. Though it might seem easy to grasp, learning colors can be a challenging task for children.  Children often learn names of nouns before they learn descriptive words about those nouns (like colors) and can be easily confused when an array of colors are present in a large group. The typical developmental timeline is that children name some colors correctly by the end of their fourth year. At age five, children should correctly name at least four colors. For a child with a language impairment, this can be even trickier and ultimately delayed. Try focusing instruction to teach a child colors with these ten activities.

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Taking Speech Therapy on the Road- 3 Language Activities while Traveling

by Holly F. Speech Therapy Techniques
raod trip facts and information graphic

Source: atlasvanlines.com

With spring break in full swing, parents and children are taking to their cars and minivans for fun-filled family road trips. After you gas up the car, fill the tires, check the transmission and your camping trailer, consider how you can incorporate language learning into the trip. If you have a youngster you probably know that keeping them occupied in the car can be a challenge, but if you have language learning in mind you can come up with some fun and engaging activities. Speech-therapy techniques often rely on creativity, and the car is no different. Though it might not seem as though you have a lot of materials, and while you might have some handy mobile devices or DVD players, here are some suggestioned speech and language activities for a road trip that the whole family can enjoy.

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Speech Therapy in Your Pocket- 5 iPad Apps for Speech Production

by Holly F. Speech Therapy Techniques

 

children using ipad apps

Source: onlinegrad.marygrove.edu

Speech therapy requires therapists to be armed with a variety of materials for promoting speech production. Traditionally, these have been articulation cards, books, mirrors and boundless therapy toys. This makes for a lot of materials to tote around and can ultimately become tiresome. Thankfully, working on speech production has never been easier if you’re outfitted with a mobile device. Not only can you condense materials into one pint-sized tablet, but you can reinvigorate your therapy sessions with new apps and their game-changing technologies. Here are five iPad apps for speech production that you should know about. Each contains high quality graphics and new ways to infuse technology into your speech therapy sessions.

Teach Your Child to Say the L Sound

by Holly F. Speech Therapy Techniques

 

words with L

Does your child say, “wake” for “lake?” Have you heard your student shout “wook!” instead of “look!” If you’re hearing these errors you might be concerned with the /l/ sound. Many children have difficulty making the  /l/ sound and will omit it from a word or substitute a different sound like /w/ or /y/.  Luckily, there are a variety of speech-therapy techniques that you can use at home to tackle this tricky sound.

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Spring Themed Ideas for Language Activities in Speech Therapy

by Holly F. Speech Therapy Techniques

 

Spring Crafts

Source: overstock.com

Spring-themes aren’t just good for articulation therapy, try spring theme ideas in language therapy too. These activities are also great for getting crafty.  Speech and language therapy often encompasses both aspects of communication. New themes are great for introducing vocabulary. For this theme, think of the following spring vocabulary: flowers, rain, chicks, bunnies, grass, March, April, May, seasons, basketball, spring break, bugs, birds and the concepts: weather, growing, and new – just to name a few.

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Great New Spring Themed Articulation Therapy Activities

by Holly F. Speech Therapy Techniques
the process of articulation therapy

Source: mommyspeechtherapy.com

Stuck for new articulation therapy ideas? Whether you’re working at the sound or sentence level, everyone can benefit from some fresh ideas. In honor of the first day of spring coming this week, here are some fun ways to incorporate them into speech therapy activities. This is a great time to buy colorful materials, like eggs or colorful grass. Try to avoid the sweet treats, though they look tempting and have cute shapes (Peeps, Eggs). Making and using some of these activities with plastic materials will make them last until next spring and promote healthy habits.

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