“We know that it is important that young children hear language, and that they need to hear it from people, not from screens…..” — Dr. Perri Klass, writing in The New York Times.
Read more about how picture books can be an important source of vocabulary for young children here, at the Psychological Science journal.
“What does your child need?”
One of the first steps in obtaining services for your child is meeting with a Speech-Language Pathologist to develop a treatment plan. Faced with the challenge of trying to summarize their child’s needs, however, parents often answer, “I’m not sure,” or “I want him to be able to talk.” While this is valuable information, it does not create a full understanding of what your child needs in order to be successful.
Thoroughly completing a Patient History form, like the one you can download here, is a solid first step in communicating with an SLP about your child’s needs. Beforehand, you can focus your thinking by answering a few basic questions about your child in these general treatment areas:
● Communication skills
● Daily Living Skills
● Socialization or Social Skills
● Academic Readiness or Academic Skill Building
● Behaviors (Maladaptive, Oppositional and/or Adaptive)
● Behaviors (Hyperactive and/or Self-Stimulatory)
Of course, not all of these questions will apply to your child. But how you answer the questions that do apply will greatly aid your discussions with your SLP as you work towards developing specific goals:
Step 1
Basic Communication
What to ask yourself when thinking about your child’s communication needs:
● Is your child able to gesture for what he/she wants? How does your child go about getting your attention? Does he/she pull you, grab you, point or guide you to what he/she wants?
● Does your child have any language skills? If so, does he/she seem to understand the meaning of the words he/she uses?
● Does your child have conversational skills? In other words, does your child understand questions in context, respond to others, ask appropriate questions or show interest in others through conversation?
● Is your child able to describe or name objects?
Step 2
Daily Living Skills
What to ask yourself when thinking about your child’s daily living needs:
● What type of things is your child capable of performing on his/her own? Can your child dress/undress, groom and feed himself?
● Is your child toilet trained? Does your child have additional bathroom skills such as washing hands, face and keeping proper hygiene after using the toilet?
● Is your child aware of safety measures such as not touching hot items or not talking to strangers?
● Can your child tolerate grooming?
Step 3
Social Skills
What to ask yourself when thinking about your child’s socialization needs:
● How does your child react to unfamiliar people? Does your child approach strangers by touching them or staying close to them?
● Is your child able to play with another child not just side by side? Does your child share toys or attention with others?
● Can your child tolerate loud noises or busy environments? Can your child tolerate physical contact? Does your child become agitated when other children cry?
Step 4
Academic Readiness
What to ask yourself when thinking about your child’s academic needs:
● What academic skills does your child already possess? Does your child have math, reading, writing skills? If so, what is his/her level or abilities in these areas?
● Does your child have difficulty with attentiveness, ability to focus and sit still? Is your child easily distracted?
Step 5
Behaviors
What to ask yourself when thinking about your child’s behavioral needs:
● What type of behaviors does your child engage in; for example, is your child aggressive towards others and/or himself?
● Does your child hit, bite, kick or scratch other often?
● How does your child respond when he/she is asked to do a non-preferred task? Does your child protest, become verbally aggressive, simply ignore you or attempt to walk away?
● Does your child engage in repetitive behaviors or self-stimulatory behaviors such as hand flapping, rocking or repeating noises or words?
● Is your child constantly moving, engage in pacing, etc.?
● Does your child throw items or destroy property?
These are just some of the questions that can help you identify specific goals for your child’s treatment plan. There are more behaviors that can be included, some of which may be unique to your child. The most important thing to remember is to be as clear and concise as possible when discussing your child’s abilities, needs and behaviors. The more information you are able to provide, the better. The more your SLP understands your child’s behaviors and specific needs, the better he/she will be able to develop an individualized service plan to help your child attain and maximize his/her full potential.
Familiar voices can improve spoken language processing among school-age children, according to a study by NYU’s Steinhardt School. However, the advantage of hearing a familiar voice only helps children to process and understand words they already know well — not new words that aren’t already in their vocabularies.
Research has already demonstrated this “familiar talker advantage” among adults, describing the ability to accurately (and quickly) process what a person with a familiar voice is saying — even in a crowded room with a lot of background noise. Up to this point, however, little research had been done to see how children process familiar versus unfamiliar voices.
The study revealed that children between ages 7 – 12 could more accurately repeat words spoken by familiar voices, demonstrating that their spoken language processing improved with familiar speakers. Familiarity was not useful for words the children didn’t know.
Read more details about the study at NYU’s website, or the Journal of Child Language.
Since oral language and vocabulary are so connected to reading comprehension, children with limited vocabulary skills face increased challenges once they enter school and start learning to read. Addressing this “Language Gap,” literacy experts are emphasizing the importance of natural conversations with pre-school-aged children, asking questions while reading books, and helping children identify words during playtime. Such activities boost early vocabulary skills in a natural setting, while aiding in later success with reading comprehension. Read more at the New York Times
Premature infants face many health risks, including an increased risk of language delay. But a recent study helps to confirm an easy and cost-effective intervention that parents of premature children can start immediately: Talking and singing to their baby in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
“It turns out… that the much-ridiculed stream of parent-to-child baby talk (Feel Teddy’s nose! It’s so soft! Baby feels hungry? Now Mommy is opening the refrigerator!) is very, very important.” Click here to read more in the New York Times.
Tickling a baby’s toes may be cute, but it’s also possible that those touches could help babies learn the words in their language.
Research from Perdue University shows that a caregiver’s touch could help babies to discern individual words in a continuous stream of speech. “We think of touch as conveying affection, but our recent research shows that infants can relate touches to their incoming speech signal.” said Amanda Seidl, an associate professor of speech, language and hearing sciences who studies language acquisition. “We found that infants treat touches as if they are related to what they hear and thus these touches could have an impact on their word learning.” Watch Seidl discuss her research in this video
Having your child evaluated for possible speech disorders can be a big step forward. This handout tells you how to prepare for your first visit with a speech therapist: Our First Session
“Recent research shows that brain development is buoyed by continuous interaction with parents and caregivers from birth…”
Read more about what the city of Providence is doing to help families, at the New York Times.
One way to think of a habit is as “an acquired behavior that occurs involuntarily.”
Looking both ways when crossing the street, nail biting and neatness can all be habits. Obviously some habits (like smoking) can cause damage, while other habits (like eating fruit every day) are very beneficial.
Oral habits involve the mouth and everything in it — tongue, lips, palate, teeth, gums. Such habits include:
• Brushing teeth
• Gum chewing
• Finger and thumb sucking
• Biting the inside of the mouth
• Mouthing objects
• Drooling
• Tongue popping/clicking
• Flossing
• Tongue thrusting
• Mouth breathing
• Straw and cup drinking
• Suckling
• Nail biting
Some of these habits are perfectly normal during the course of a child’s development. Most children, for example, take a pacifier at some time and/or habitually tongue thrust until they are approximately 3-4 years old.
Problems occur, however, when such habits persist into the school years. Research has demonstrated a link between some persistent oral habits and the presence of articulation disorders, while children already receiving articulation and/or oral motor therapy may find that these habits are impeding their progress.
Notify your SLP if your child habitually performs any of the following behaviors:
• Drooling
• Constant oral stimulation with inappropriate objects (ex. pencil)
• Mouth breathing
• Frequently positioning tongue where it is visible
