Kids come to speech/language therapy for a lot of reasons. All kids that come to speech therapy have something they are working on, called goals. Speech therapy goals help kids become better communicators.
Goals that kids might work on in speech therapy are:
-Saying speech sounds clearly
-Talking with smoother speech
-Understanding and using language
-Learning social skills
Why work on saying speech sounds?
Sometimes kids say speech sounds differently than most people. This can make it hard for other people to understand them. Once kids learn to say speech sounds clearly, people can understand them better. Kids won’t have to repeat what they say as often. Other people will know what they are trying to say the first time.
Why work on smooth speech?
Some kids stutter. They may say something and it won’t come out the way they want. They might repeat sounds or words. When they talk, the words might feel like they get “stuck”. In speech therapy, kids learn strategies to help make their speech smoother. This can help them feel more in control of their talking. Saying what they want becomes easier when they use their strategies.
Why work on language skills?
Some kids need extra help understanding what other people are saying. Going to speech therapy can help kids understand directions or the questions people ask them. Kids may also have a hard time putting the thoughts in their heads into words. In speech therapy, kids learn new words to express themselves. They learn to put together sentences so they make sense. They can get better at telling a story, asking questions, or describing things. This helps them communicate their ideas to other people.
Why work on social skills?
There are a lot of expected behaviors we have for people in different settings. Some kids learn these behaviors really quickly. Other kids need a little more time or help to learn expected behaviors. Learning expected behaviors makes it easier to talk to people and make friends.