How to Help Your Child...

HOW CAN I HELP MY CHILD TO IMPROVE HIS/HER ARTICULATION SKILLS?

• BE UNDERSTANDING. Learning to communicate is an extremely complex process. Your child’s progress may be slow but celebrate their small successes, praising them when appropriate. Your child may exhibit delayed or disordered speech and language skills but please trust that they want to improve. Speech and language delays and disorders often occur for reasons that are out of your child’s control. For example, they may have underlying hearing issues, motor issues or processing issues.

• BE A PRACTICE PARTNER. Learn about your child’s speech and language goals by asking your child or their speech/language pathologist. Ask your child’s therapist what you can do at home to help your child. Please note that home practice should only occur when a child is successful with a particular skill in the therapy room. It is better to not have a child practice their skills at all, than to have them practice them incorrectly. Typically 5-10 minutes of practice several times a week is enough. Most importantly, make it a fun experience.

• DO NOT CORRECT SOUND ERRORS THAT YOUR CHILD HAS NOT WORKED ON YET. We do not want your child to get discouraged or to learn to produce a sound incorrectly.

• REVISE YOU CHILD’S SPEECH SOUND PRODUCTION FOR SOUNDS THEY ARE TARGETING IN THERAPY. If your child is working on a particular sound in speech therapy and they mispronounce, repeat what they said while overemphasizing the correct production of the mispronounced word. For example, if your child, who is working on their L sound, says, “You wike that dog?, then you should revise what they say “Yes, I do like that dog.”, while slightly exaggerating the repaired sound.

• ADDRESS HEALTH ISSUES THAT MAY BE CONTRIBUTING TO THE PROBLEM. Oftentimes, articulation disorders result from chronic ear infections or perhaps prolonged thumb sucking. Your child’s dentition may also play a role in their speech sound development. Bring your concerns and your child’s speech therapist’s concerns up to their pediatrician, dentist or ENT.

• PLAY WITH YOUR CHILD. This is a great opportunity to model accurate sound production and revise their mispronounced sound/s. Please only revise those sounds that are directly being targeted in therapy sessions.

• TALK TO YOUR CHILD. You and your child should establish certain times of day that he/she will be expected to focus on sound production (ex: dinner, driving in the car, etc). During that time, ask your child to repair most, but not all sound errors. Over time, gradually increase the times during the day that sound awareness/corrections will be expected and monitored.

• READ TO YOUR CHILD. Consider the sound/s that are being targeted in therapy sessions. If you are reading, model correct sound production while you read and go on a scavenger hunt looking for words containing your child’s sound in the illustrations. If your child is reading aloud, encourage him/her to use correct sound production while reading aloud.

HOW CAN I HELP MY CHILD TO IMPROVE HIS/HER LANGUAGE SKILLS?

• TALK to yourself about what you're doing, thinking and feeling while completing a household activity. Allow your child to comment and ask questions.

• Use PARALLEL TALK. What exactly does this mean? Talk about your child’s actions while he/she is engaged in an activity. Use rich and specific vocabulary to comment on their actions and experiences.

• DESCRIBE objects you are using for an activity. Consider describing using the category an object belongs to, what it does/what you do with it, its appearance (color, shape, size), what it is made of/where it came from, what are its parts and where you might find it.

• LISTEN to what your child has to say. Give them your undivided attention. Respond to his/her comments, questions and ideas

• MAKE TALKING FUN. Use rhymes, make silly voices and use musical activities when possible

• EXPAND upon your child’s language by adding to it.

• READ to your child often. Read everything including cereal boxes, signs, store advertisements and game directions. Discuss what you have read together.

• ASK QUESTIONS. Find out how much your child understands about what you are experiencing together.

• DISCUSS AND SUMMARIZE books and movies that you experience together.

• ENCOURAGE your child to ask questions when they do not understand something they heard.

• OVERLAP INFORMATION in as many ways as possible to help your child fully understand new concepts; Relate new information to something your child can relate to or an experience they have had.

• USE RICH VOCABULARY REPEATEDLY. Children learn new words by hearing it used over and over again in different contexts. The more you use it, the more likely they with master its meaning and use it themselves.

HOW CAN I HELP MY CHILD WITH THEIR SOCIAL LANGUAGE SKILLS?

• ENCOURAGE proper conversational skills such as turn taking, staying on topic, and staying engaged in a conversation. Have a conversation with your child by first choosing a topic (ex: favorite movies) and writing the topic on a paper in front of them. Encourage your child to stay on topic by pointing to the paper if they begin to talk about unrelated ideas. Next, teach your child to take turns speaking during the conversation by using a talking stick. Pass the talking stick (this can be a pencil or ruler) back and forth as you have your conversation. The person holding the talking stick should be the only one talking. Finally, see if your child can earn 10 stickers/checks during the conversation by being an active participant. They can earn a sticker every time they make a comment, ask a question, and/or request information.

• DEMONSTRATE how we change the way we speak depending on the listener or environment. Roleplay with your child by first pretending to be their friend, then pretending to be their principal. Give them examples of how they would change their language when speaking to their friend vs. their teacher or principal. Also, teach your child about polite language vs. impolite language.

• DISCUSS AND LABEL your and your child’s emotions throughout the day. You can also do this while reading books together. When enjoying books together, ask questions such as: “How do you know the boy is angry?”, “What made him angry?” “What is one way he could calm himself down?”

• Help your child UNDERSTAND NONVERBAL LANGUAGE (facial expression and body language) by demonstrating looks of confusion or agreement while having pretend conversations. GIVE THEM EXAMPLES of sarcasm and explain the meaning behind your sarcastic language.

• REMIND your child about the importance of eye contact. It lets the listener know you are paying attention AND it actually helps you pay attention,

Helpful websites for social language:

ASHA- Social Communication Tips:

https://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/Social-Communication/#tips

Super Duper- Teaching Social Skills to Children:

https://www.superduperinc.com/handouts/pdf/144_Teaching_Social_Skills_to_Children.pdf

HOW CAN I HELP MY CHILD THAT STUTTERS?

• Ask your child about the STRATEGIES they’ve learned in speech-language therapy that may help them reduce their stuttering. Help your child practice using this strategy while they are conversing with you during a relaxed time when they have your undivided attention. Your child may have learned to utilize the following strategies : Turtle talk (speaking in a slow relaxed manner), easy onset (beginning voicing in a light, easy manner after exhaling slightly), light contact (touch lips and tongue together very lightly when speaking), or stretching (stretching out the first sound in a word).

• Speak with your child in an unhurried way and pause frequently. Your own SLOW AND RELAXED SPEECH will encourage your child to slow down their rate of speech.

• Try to REDUCE the number of questions you ask your child and instead, simply comment on what they say.

• Set aside a few minutes every day when you can give your child your undivided attention. While conversing with your child, speak in a slow manner and pause between phrases and sentences.

• ENCOURAGE your child/children to take turns when speaking. Allow each person to finish what they want to say. Discourage your children from interrupting one another.

• Keep EYE CONTACT with your child to let them know they have your undivided attention and interest, regardless of whether they are stuttering or not.

• Involve your child in activities that they enjoy and that will help to build their confidence.

Helpful websites for parents of children who stutter:

The Stuttering Foundation:

https://www.stutteringhelp.org/

ASHA website:

https://www.asha.org/PRPSpecificTopic.aspx?folderid=8589935336&section=Treatment

Friends Who Stutter:

https://www.friendswhostutter.org/kids/

HOW CAN I HELP MY CHILD TO HAVE A HEALTHY VOICE?

• Encourage your child to STAY HYDRATED by drinking plenty of water. Avoid caffeinated drinks like iced tea and sodas.

• DISCOURAGE your child from YELLING. This can be harmful to the vocal cords. Children who enjoy sports should be encouraged to clap rather than chant and cheer loudly.

• INSTEAD. If your child often clears their throat, encourage them to swallow or take a sip of water instead.

• LOWER THE VOLUME. Keep the volume on the TV or other devices low so your child doesn’t have to speak loudly over the noise. (It will help their hearing in the future too)

• Encourage daily VOICE BREAKS. This may be a good time for your child to silently read or play on their tablet.

• Make sure your child has a FULL BREATH BEFORE speaking. Your breath is the power behind your voice. If you don’t have a full breath to use, then you are straining and pushing the remaining air out.

Helpful websites for healthy voice habits:

Super Duper- Vocal Hygiene:

https://www.superduperinc.com/handouts/pdf/571_VocalHygiene.pdf