Speech Therapy Tips from a Fellow Mommy

By: Regina Scannell, MS, CCC-SLP

In college, as part of the training to become a Speech-Language Pathologist, I learned ways to facilitate language growth in young children. Now that I have three children of my own, all 5 and under, I find myself practicing what I preach. The things SLPs learn, and what I do at home with my children, aren’t magical tricks or complicated procedures that require a doctorate degree to implement. Most of what I do on a daily basis is really simple, once you get used to doing it. Here are some of the things I do every day to help my children become great communicators. These strategies work for typically developing children ages birth-6’ish, as well as older children who are at-risk or identified as being language delayed.

• During chore time, while preparing meals, brushing teeth, (pretty much any time you have a young child next to you), talk about what you’re doing. It sounded like this while I was making breakfast this morning:

“I’m going to get a bowl. Now I need to open the fridge and get the eggs. Puuulll. Got them! Time to get cracking [laughs to self at my witty pun]. How many eggs do you want Corban? [pause for response-which doesn’t come]. One or two? Two, okay. Now I’m going to add some milk and stir stir stir. Ready to take the eggs over to the stove. Oh, hot! I better be careful!”

This technique, called self-talk is a highly effective way to model practical language to your little ones. It feels a little silly at first, but the more you do it, the more natural it will become. Sometimes I don’t even notice I’m doing it anymore. Notice that in this whole dialogue I only asked two questions, one open-ended, “How many eggs do you want?” and one choice question, “One of two?” Limiting questions allows children to hear language, without the demand of having to perform or respond to it. It allows them to take the time that they need to process words, and compartmentalize them into the appropriate “file folder” in their brain.

• Whenever we read together, which I can’t stress enough the importance of, we do much more than read the words on the page. With my 20 month old, I name-name-name! I might paraphrase the plot, but really, she gets more out of talking about the pictures. Try making a game out of it. Use a repetitive phrase and attach it to the labels. I see a…car. Give your young talker a chance to have a turn pointing, even if they can’t form the word, and don’t forget to praise their efforts! Yes. You found a shoe. Then point to your child’s shoe to give them a concrete reinforcement of what ‘shoe’ means.

 

• I don’t do this so much anymore, but with children in an early stage of language development copy their noises. Even if they are just blowing raspberries to entertain themselves, you can still start a conversation with them. This teaches important social communication skills such as turn-taking in conversation, as communicating to your child that what they have to “say” is important.

 

• When my children are in a stage where they are becoming better communicators, I play dumb a lot.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what you’re pointing at.” 

I know as parents, we see our children in need and want to rush to their aid, but DON’T. One of the rules in our home is that the kids have to communicate if they want help. If my husband or I see them struggling, we say something appropriate for their age and cognitive level, like, “That looks challenging, let me know if you need help,” for the oldest, down to “help?”for the youngest. Helping them before they ask robs them of the opportunity to express themselves, and if done often enough, teaches them they don’t have to talk at all because someone will come take care of it.

 

• Along the same vein, I don’t give my kids what they want when they cry. Even my 20 month old is capable of using words to communicate her desires. And my 3 and 5 year olds are required to use “big sentences” to make requests.

 

• My last insight, and this might be the most important one of all, is to have fun talking with your children. These tips aren’t a to-do list, they aren’t mandates, and they certainly aren’t to make you or your children perform on demand. Communication is a gift, a fun way to interact with others. That’s the end goal.