Author: Wee Speech PC

A recent article from the ASHA Leader reports that COVID-19 Mask Use and Social Distancing Guidelines are reported to decrease intelligibility of spoken language by 3-12 dB and even more so for individuals with hearing loss. It is reported that with every three feet of social distance, coupled with environmental noise, the volume of sound in conversation is ultimately measured to be cut in half. It is also reported that people with hearing loss who may wear hearing aids, may struggle with wearing their H.A as they can become dislodged, tangled, or lost as individuals attempt to wear and take off their face masks as needed.. AS COVID -19 has continued, clear speech masks have been marketed to allow for

            With spring and more warm weather approaching, many families are seeking fun things to do outside while still following the parameters of social distancing. The park is a great location for families to visit. While at the park, there are plenty of opportunities to promote language development for younger children. Here are a few ideas for parents: Basic concept pairs: ask your child if they want to go on the ‘big’ slide or the ‘small’ slide; when on the swings, do they want to be pushed ‘fast’ or ‘slow?’ do they want to climb ‘up’ the slide or go ‘down?’ For children who are beginning to use words: elicit ‘go’ when going down the slide or on the swings

According to a study conducted by researchers from The University of California San Francisco, children with a diagnosis of dyslexia were shown to display increased emotional sensitivity in film viewing probes compared to children without this diagnosis. Results from the study showed that children with dyslexia exhibited significantly greater reactivity in terms of facial expression and respiratory rate compared to peers without dyslexia, suggesting an underlying predisposition to stress, anxiety, and emotional dysregulation which could increasingly manifest with challenges in the academic areas of reading, writing which are associated with the diagnosis. 

In his article, ‘Is stuttering increasing during the pandemic?’ speech pathologist, Scott Yaruss, who is widely known for his contributions with  Stuttering Therapy Resources, reports an increase in referrals for stuttering assessment throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Yaruss states that the increase seen is a result of several factors, and does not necessarily mean an increase in incidence of stuttering. These factors include: Parents and caregivers may be experiencing a high level of stress and concern for their children; parents may now be aware of noticeable differences in the way a child is speaking Many parents and caregivers have been working from home or spending more time in the household than before – they may now be noticing speech dysfluencies that

Doing experiments or art projects in treatment sessions or at home can help target a variety of receptive and expressive language tasks. Using simple items such as glue, glitter, water, food coloring, or beads, your child can create a calming jar or a snow globe! Predicting/inferencing can be targeted by asking the child what the items could be used to make or have your child help locate items to use in the process to increase executive functioning skills! Creating a sensory project or experiment can encourage turn taking, commenting, word retrieval, and narrative language while allowing children to experience the craft with their senses.

Students have been virtually learning for about a year now and over this time an increase in students with executive functioning difficulties has been observed.  In the article, “Executive Function Difficulties an Issue for Teens Learning Virtually”, Kimberly Levin discusses specific areas she has observed difficulties in and the strategies she uses in order to help strengthen these skills. -Sustaining Attention: Since students are not always being required to turn on their camera during virtual learning, they are getting more distracted by their surroundings. This is resulting in directions or lesson concepts being missed. Keeping cameras on and actively taking notes during lessons can help a student maintain attention to the lesson. Additionally, placing all other electronics on “Do Not

For professionals who work with toddlers, it has been long assumed that toddlers with less expressive language show more instances of tantrums and problematic behaviors. Researchers at Northwestern University have recently found evidence to support this association. Their findings indicate that young children with decreased expressive language are prone to have more frequent and severe temper tantrums.  The participants of the study included 2,000 children from the ages of 12 months to 38 months of age. Children who had less than 50 words or did not combine words by the age of 2 were considered “late talkers.” It was identified that late talkers had more severe tantrums and they were almost twice as likely to have a tantrum than peers

When working with children with a speech sound disorder, it is important to use target words that are meaningful, functional, and motivating. This can include working on family member names that include the target sound, using favorite books, and incorporating preferred activities. Now, Apple Music partnered with Warner Music and Speech-Language Pathologists to create a new feature called the “saylists.”  The “saylists” use an algorithm to find song lyrics that repeat challenging sounds, such as /sh/, /ch/, /l/, /r/, /s/, for listeners to sing along.  This includes songs by famous artists, such as Ed Sheehan, Madonna, Beyonce, and Adele.  It is so exciting to hear about new ways we can use technology for speech sound practice. Saylists provide a fun,

Research shows that the capacity for regulating emotion is first established in early childhood. Research also shows that children who have challenges regulating emotions early in life are more likely to have challenges making and sustaining friendships with peers. Strong emotional regulation is reported to positively impact children by serving as a strong predictor of academic achievement, specifically with testing performance. Children with better managed emotions are reported to demonstrate better sustained attention, problem solving skills, and integral executive function skills such as inhibition control. Children who learn to regulate emotions from an early age are shown to demonstrate better resiliency given experiences with trauma and adversity. Emotional dysregulation is also reported to be closely linked to clinical disorders such

Is your child trying to generalize their speech targets in their conversational speech? Try to incorporate movement activities to encourage your child to split their attention between the motor movement and their speech sounds simultaneously (e.g. playing catch while having a conversation using their sounds). Retelling their favorite show, video, or book can be another way to have your child practice their speech sounds in their spontaneous speech. Using music is another great way to encourage generalization of sounds! Have your child sing and record their favorite song while attempting to produce their targeted sounds correctly. See if they can hear or see a mistake that they made while singing!