Category: blog

Humans are very social. We use social skills every day when communicating with one another. Building children’s social skills is often discussed, but what are “social skills” really? If your child has been in speech therapy, the terms “social communication” or “pragmatics” have probably come up. These terms refer to the way a child uses language for a variety of purposes (making requests, greeting, giving information/ sharing) while following basic rules for conversation including: -taking turns in conversation-introducing topics of conversation-staying on topic and maintaining a circle of communication-recognizing and repairing miscommunications-rephrasing when misunderstood-use and understanding of nonverbal signals-personal proximity and orientation of body when speaking to others-using facial expressions and eye contact/ eye gaze Weaknesses in social skills create

Some people believe the false assumption that teaching sign language to a child will hinder his or her ability to learn verbal communication. There is no research to support this claim. Research does show that children with speech and language delays benefit from the use of sign language. When a child is unable to express him/herself, challenging behaviors may arise. This can lead to frustration for both the child and the parents. A study by Thompson, Cotnoir-Bichelman, McKerchar, Tate, & Dancho (2007) states that introducing basic signs may contribute to the prevention of behavior problems for young children. It is often easier for a child to learn the motor actions needed to make a sign before they learn the motor

When families come in for an initial evaluation, I sometimes get questions like “What age should my child be able to…?” Or “What should my child be doing at this point in development?”. While this information can be easily provided at the time of an evaluation, the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA) and a nonprofit called Bright by Text came together to help families receive this information at home. After a survey was completed, it was determined that speech and language development is currently one of families top concerns. Thus Bright by Text developed a system called “Identify the Signs” that can send you information about speech and language milestones, warning signs of speech language delay or disorder, activities to

In an article from Fox News 13, Led Bradshaw, a father with a life-long interest in drawing, designed a comic book series “The New Adventures of Jake Jetpulse” to help his son Jake, diagnosed with Autism, learn more about the world. In the comic series, Jake (the main character) has the super power of Autism and encounters many different obstacles which have been recorded from Jake’s own imagination and experiences with peers. These comic book stories have paralleled social stories, an evidence based strategy for supporting children with Autism, which are commonly used to teach different social nuances (e.g. sharing, bullying, etc.) When Jake was diagnosed with Autism, Led’s research as a parent helped encourage his use of visual supports through

Why involve siblings in your child’s speech and language practice? For a child to master new speech and language skills, they should practice several times a week, outside of their speech therapy sessions.  This can be a challenging task for parents who are juggling busy schedules.  With fun, age-appropriate games and activities, your child’s siblings can learn to become helpers to make speech-language practice more enjoyable and enhance carryover of skills. By setting clear expectations and limits, the older sibling can also benefit from this experience.  If everyone has an opportunity to feel special and appreciated, it will create a positive experience for all and ultimately strengthen the sibling relationship. To keep the experience fun for both children: 1- Let

Due to the pandemic, there has been limited in-person interactions. While interactions via Zoom have been helpful to continue working on social skills, it can still be hard to work on some areas of verbal and non-verbal communication. In the article, “Approaches for Helping Students Recoup Social Communication Skills”, Diana Paul discusses different ways to help rebuild social communication skills which may have regressed due to the pandemic. Some recommendations to help rebuild these skills are as follows: –Get communication partners involved: Peers, Parents, Caregivers, and Teachers. This allows a student to learn how to adapt their communication skills with a variety of communication partners in different environments. Additionally, having the communication partners ask a variety of questions (not just single

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

Young children often have difficulty identifying how they are feeling and how to express their emotions appropriately.  Parents may observe behaviors such as hitting, biting, tantrums or outbursts at these times. While these moments can be challenging, they can also be a learning opportunity for your child in understanding and using “thinking and feeling” words. According to The Hanen Centre, studies show that children typically learn these types of words from their parents during everyday activities and conversation. Young children’s first thoughts and feelings revolve around their own wants and needs (“I want juice”) and their physical feelings (“I’m hungry”). As early as age two, they learn to talk about what other people are feeling (He’s sad”). It will take

Children with a history of speech-sound disorders are at risk for reading difficulties. Because of this, it is critical to start working on pre-literacy skills at an early age. Before a child is able to read, there are pre-reading skills that must develop. One of these skill areas is phonological awareness. Phonological awareness refers to the awareness of speech sounds and the ability to reflect and manipulate them. Phonological awareness includes skills such as rhyming, segmenting a word into sounds, blending sounds into a word, identifying the first or last sound in a word, and changing a sound to make a new word. Here are some activities you can try with your child to support the development of these skills: