Embarking on the journey of speech and language therapy can be daunting and causes anxiety in many parents/carers. Here is my recipe to success in supporting your child with their speech and language development.
Realising, or being told that your child has difficulties learning to speak, or being understood can be difficult to hear and know what to do. But, you are now on the journey.
As speech and language therapists we rely on those supporting children on a daily basis, i.e. parents/ carers/ grandparents/ teachers/ schools to work regularly with the child in question. It isn't about what we do in a therapy session, it is about how you integrate what you are doing into every day life. That is what is helpful. So I have created a 'recipe' that you can follow to help your child on this journey which I hope will lead you to successfully achieving your goals.
"We are over the moon with his progress and the strategies you suggested are really helping him. He seems to be saying more words day by day."
Recipe to success: What you need when supporting your child with Speech and Language Difficulties.
Ingredients
Here is the list of things you will need:
You Number 1 on the list is always you! The person who supports them, looks after them and helps them. Without you they won't get anywhere. Having a few people in your household ready to do practice really helps keep the burden off one person and gives your child lots of different perspectives and appraoches to do therapy which keeps it interesting.
Enthusiasm - you will need this in spades. Unfortunately as a speech and language therapist we cannot click our fingers and make a child "better". If you are enthusiastic about the activities your child needs to do, then they will likely be enthusiastic too. We all have our days when enthusiasm lacks - if you can give 2-3 minutes that will make all the difference.
Time - set out a time when you are going to practice. By setting out a time when you will do practice you are more likely to be successful. By making practice part of your routine it will becomes something which is expected rather than unexpected and your child is more likely to engage. I know this is very challenging - I struggle to do my own daughters piano practice, but honestly, setting time aside like you would to go to a gym class, do reading practice or head off to beavers will make your life easier.
Resources - this is where we as speech therapists come in. You should be provided either physical copies or electronic copies of resources or given places where you can get specific resources which are tailored to your child's needs. This is something which every therapist should provide. I provide my clients with a resource lending library which is great as you don't need to print and create resources - I do it for you!
That all sounds pretty simple, right? Well carry on to see the directions.
Directions
Make sure you have a good understanding of what you need to do. We all go through the same thing when we walk away from an important meeting - what was it they said? What do I need to do again? How do I use that resource? It is completely normal. Ask your therapist to write down what you need to do so you have it, or ask if you can record them doing the activity with your child so you can watch it later. If you are confused or have forgotten ask them for another explanation.
Practice in your session. When you go to therapy sessions get involved in the therapy. I cannot stress how important this is. It is not about your therapist doing the therapy and you watching. Get involved and practice alongside your child. At the end of the day you are going to be doing this at home. Ask to have a go with the therapist watching to make sure you are doing it right. What if your child is being seen in school I hear you ask? Well ask your therapist to send you a quick video of them doing the activities - this could be when they get home or a pre-saved video. A lot of schools won't let you do videos in the school so it might not be with your child. You could also ask for some sessions to be completed at home rather than at school so you are in the loop.
Set times when you can practice As simple as this sounds, but identifying a specific time you are going to practice every day you are more likely to stick with it. Make a time which is already part of your routine e.g. just after you eat breakfast, just before a bath, as soon as they get home from school.
Short, sharp, intense and regular practice wins. When I say short and sharp, I mean it. 5 minutes is plenty to do every day. If you can get a good 5 minutes of practice in then that is going to be way more beneficial than 20 minutes twice a week. You'll get your child's attention for a good period, and finish while they are still motivated meaning they are more likely to be happy to do it the next day.
Variety is the spice of life We all get bored doing the same activity over and over again... children are no different. Try and change up what you are doing. If you are targeting multiple things then choose one or two each day rather than all activities. If you have one target then ask your therapist to give you ideas on how to diversify what you are doing. Even the simple things like running from one end of the room to the other rather than sitting at a table can make a significant difference.
Integrate activities into daily life. You can integrate speech therapy targets into your daily life, and day to day activities and your child won't even realise they are practicing. For example when walking to school identifying all the things they see which start with their target speech sound, when bouncing on the trampoline following multi-step instructions (jump on one leg then land on your bum), when eating dinner remembering all the steps you did to create their dinner (we turned the oven on, then we.... what did I do before I put the carrots in the pan?).
If you can do all of the above you are more likely to get better and quicker results from speech therapy. Those who really invest time in it see the best results. Consistency is key and having a variety of tasks and ideas is important. Ask your therapist for help if you are struggling, they should be able to give you further ideas.
If you are in East Devon and need help then please get in touch!
Treetops Speech & Language Therapy
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