West Canyon
Bluebirds
Welcome to the Speech and Language Information Page for West Canyon Elementary.
My name is Angela Clegg and I have been a Speech-Language Pathologist with Vallivue since 2013. Prior to moving to the Boise area, I worked in a private practice. I have loved working in a school setting and look forward to many more years with Vallivue!
Speech News
- In April, many celebrate National Autism Awareness Month to raise awareness about autism and promote advocacy for people with ASD. How can you help? Put on the Autism Awareness Puzzle Ribbon or help your community host Light It Up Blue where buildings around the globe shine bright blue lights in honor of individuals and families affected by autism.
- The month of May is Better Hearing and Speech Month
Kendra Snow is another one of our excellent Speech-Language Pathologists at West Canyon Elementary.
Final Consonant Deletion
Does your student drop the endings on their words? Does "hat" sound like "ha" and "dog" sound like "dah"? Not sure how to help your student or where to even start? Here is a great link that explains what this sounds like with some great ideas to help your student at home. This link also provides a few free worksheets to help your student practice. Link: https://www.speechandlanguagekids.com/final-consonant-deletion/
Does your student say "DAH" instead of "DOG", and drop many endings on words???
Language Disorders
Students who have difficulties understanding or using language may be identified with a Language Disorder. Receptive Language Disorders may affect following directions, reading, math, sequencing events, classroom behavior, and attention. Expressive Language Disorders may affect verbal output, vocabulary, grammar skills, word finding/categorization, writing skills, or peer relationships.
Ideas to Help Students with Language Difficulties at Home
- Use visual supports provided in the classroom – visuals help to store information in multiple parts of the brain and to target different learning styles.
- Provide Communication Temptations – encourage students to use their words to communicate their wants, needs and ideas. Check out http://livespeaklove.com/2012/02/09/communication-temptations for some ideas.
- Ask questions - what, where and who questions are the easiest. Students may have more difficulty with higher level questions such as when, why, how or what if. Encourage verbal expression by asking wh questions, rather than a yes/no question that can be answered with a head nod or shake.
- Provide Phonemic cues –cue a student to respond by using the first letter of the desired word or phrase (e.g., “How many?” cue “four” by saying “Ffffff”)
- Provide Semantic Cues – give a student additional cues to arrive at an answer:
- Carrier Phrases – “You put juice in a _________.” (cup)
- Attributes – “It’s red and it grows on a tree.” (apple)
- Opposites – “Not up, but ________.” (down)
- Combine with a phonemic cue (It’s in the sky; it’s hot and yellow…it’s the sssss…” (sun)
- Give adequate wait time – some children need additional processing time, and may be hesitant to respond if they feel rushed
- Use Chunking – give directions in 1-2 step chunks to allow for slower language processing. Children with language disorders may miss the beginning or end of the instruction.
- Repeat – repetition of questions or instructions allows for processing time and comprehension of vocabulary.
- Reinforce & Expand – Repeat what the student has said and then take it one step further to encourage increased verbal output and vocabulary. (e.g., “The book, that’s right. We need a book. Let’s open the book.”) (Article from Lisa M. Geary M.S.,CCC-SLP at LiveSpeakLove.com)
Apps for Speech and Language Development
Oh my goodness! There are so many apps to enrich a student's speech and language development, where do you begin?! Here are a few links that list some wonderful apps that may be used for Speech and Language Practice:
