*Click on the photo to link to the article
Here is another interesting article from The Stuttering Foundation on stuttering and the bilingual child. It discusses the relationship between limited language proficiency and normal speech disfluencies.
*Click on the photo to link to the article
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Parents often ask me for speech and language apps that can be used with their student at home. I don't typically use speech and language specific apps, but I like to use motivating apps that can encourage practicing a variety of speech and language skills. With adult participation, almost any app can be turned into a speech and language activity that works on answering questions, following directions, descriptive language, grammar and syntax, fluency, articulation, etc.... I like apps that require a child to narrate what they are doing/what's happening (ex: Story Wheel, My Play Home, Petting Zoo, etc.), use descriptive language (ex: Photo Booth, Cookie Doodle, Squiggles, etc.), answer questions (ex: iStoryTime, Kids Poems, etc.), as well as provide a child with auditory feedback (ex: Garage Band, video recorder, etc.)
Speech and language specific apps often seem very rote and I find that they aren't overly motivating for students.... I recommend being creative and turning a regular old app into a speech and language lesson for your child! If you come across any good ones, please let me know! The use of visuals can help children organize their thoughts and ideas before verbalizing them. Visuals can often help children be more fluent in their retell or story (example: less use of "um" within their story), be more detailed, and overall just be more organized. It is similar to how we encourage children to use graphic organizers to aid in their writing process- graphic organizers can also help with their narrative language! Visuals can consist of picture cues, written cues, object reminders, etc. The hope is that with time and practice, students will learn to provide themselves with cues on their own to aid in their verbal organization (example: writing down transition words such as first, next, and last OR 1, 2, and 3 before providing a retell.) Some examples that we use in speech are below
A parent once shared this moving article from the Childhood Apraxia of Speech Association of North America with me. I think these are important things to keep in mind not only for children with apraxia of speech, but for children with all communication disorders. While we work on their difficulties, we need to celebrate their strengths and successes! *Click on the image for the full size article. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association does a nice job explaining the difference between speech and language. Click on the image below to read their excellent explanation.
Many students are working on their ability to process auditory information in the classroom. This is a visual that I like to use to remind students to use their "listening strategies".
1. Listen- get your ears ready to attend and listen 2. Look- turn your body towards the speaker to help with "whole body" listening 3. Say it to Yourself- repeat auditory information/direction quietly to yourself or inside your head 4. Write It- have paper readily available and write the important pieces of information down so that you can use your written notes as a reference 5. Please Repeat- as a last resort, ask the speaker to repeat what they just said so that you can hear it again Do you ever feel like you don't get much of an answer from your child when you ask them "How was school today?" The Huffington Post had an interesting article about 25 questions to ask your child about their school day. Some of these questions might be worthwhile to consider asking your child at the end of the school day, as they might encourage more specific responses....
Read the article here. |
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