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The signs of speech and language disorders.

The signs of speech and language disorders

The signs of speech and language disorders 1

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What does a Speech Pathologist do?

Children are “hands-on” learners. They learn by exploring and manipulating objects in their environment using the five senses: seeing, touching, tasting, smelling, and hearing.

Possible targets:
- Colours
- Action words
- Prepositions
- I want phrases

Autism is not a disability. It’s a different ability.

Colour recognition is a key cognitive developmental milestone for toddlers, as it plays an important role in object recognition and is a vital part in helping children to develop their descriptive language skills.

Possible targets:
- Colours
- Action words
- Prepositions
- I want phrases
- Counting

🌈

Possible targets:
- Colours
- Action words
- Prepositions
- I want phrases
- Grouping

Sensory play 🙃

Possible targets:
- Colours
- Action words
- Naming words
- Prepositions
- Requesting

We’re all about functionality!

Possible targets:
- Pretend Play
- Prepositions
- Action words
- Following directions
- Turn taking

Therapy is all about simplicity and functionality. Using everyday objects increases the chances of parents using their creativity to provide a rich language environment at home.😊

Possible targets:
- Identifying body parts
- Pronouns
- Prepositions (on)
- Story telling
- Following instructions

Speech and language milestones 0-12 months

The best activities are usually the ones that require common household items like an oven rack!

Possible targets:
- Colours
- Counting
- Prepositions (in, on, under)
- Adjectives (soft, round, fluffy)
- Two word utterances ( ball in)
- Three word utterances ( blue ball in)

Fine Motor Jelly Rescue!

This is one of those amazing activities which is so well suited for both younger and older toddlers, preschoolers and even school-age children.

This activity is so versatile! You can keep it as open-ended or as structured as you like.

Colour recognition is a key cognitive developmental step for toddlers, as it plays an important role in object recognition. It is also a vital part in helping children to develop their descriptive language skills, which in turn encourages clear communication and understanding.

Colour and shape form the foundation of so many areas of later learning – such as reading, maths and science – but also in the way in which we navigate through the world around us. For example, understanding road signs and traffic lights or the spatial awareness required to figure out how things can fit together and differentiating between colours on maps or wiring – almost every aspect of life calls on these foundation skills.

Art therapy is a creative way for adults to manage pain, stress and memory loss.

As we age, so do our brains. This can make it difficult to carry out some tasks- particularly when living with dementia / Alzheimer’s. Art therapy for adults can help boost these cognitive functions, improving adult’s abilities to use logic and reasoning, problem solve, focus on tasks for a sustained period of time, and improve working memory.

Art therapy can make a massive difference when it comes to both the mental and physical health of adults.

Montessori for Dementia- Implementing a Montessori model is a paradigm shift and requires us to change all we thought we knew about dementia and provision of support services. Montessori for dementia supports both the person and the environment which is adapted to support memory loss and independence. The result is that people living with dementia are able to make meaningful contributions to their community, engage in meaningful activities in addition to having the opportunity to maintain, and even restore function. The approach is flexible, innovative and grounded in research.

Dementia is a disorder that is known to impact brain functions. Memory, thinking and problem-solving abilities progressively deteriorate. Dementia, however, affects the entire brain, which means that the senses will likely undergo gradual deterioration in clients living with the disorder.

Tactile stimulation is known to increase the well-being of dementia clients. Holding an object stimulates brain paths; thousands of nerve receptors in the fingers are stimulated, which in turn stimulates the brain.

As you may have noticed, young children love colours! It catches their eye and grabs their attention. A baby is born with monochrome vision and is unable to distinguish the difference between colours, it is not until around eight months when their colour vision is fully developed. By three to four years, a child can begin to recognise and name basic colours as frequent exposure can help strengthen this skill.

Colour is not only exciting for a child, but it also helps with their learning.

Childhood Apraxia of Speech 💚

Colour recognition is a key cognitive developmental step for toddlers, as it plays an important role in object recognition. It is also a vital part in helping children develop their descriptive language skills, which also encourages clear communication and understanding.

Colour and shape form the foundation of so many areas of later learning – such as reading, maths and science – but also in the way in which we navigate through the world around us. For example, understanding road signs and traffic lights or the spatial awareness required to figure out how things can fit together and differentiating between colours on maps or wiring – almost every aspect of life calls on these foundation skills.

Children with speech and language difficulties can gain so much from simple outdoor activities. The different animals, sights, and sounds in nature, are a perfect way to get them excited about learning new words and verbalising their experiences. And, as we know that learning and development are often best accomplished in the context of engaging play and multi-sensory activities, what better way is there to build essential skills than getting outside to play.

Sometimes, speech therapy doesn’t need to look like a traditional speech therapy classroom regimen. Instead, speech therapy can take on a more creative approach using Art. Yes — Art can be a useful tool to enhance a child’s speech and language development. Whether or not you have a child who needs help with verbal expression or auditory comprehension, there are excellent art-based activities that your child can do to engage all of his senses. And the best part — art therapy can be done at home! I know for some, even the phrase “art project” evokes a fear of mess and chaos! But, for a child in speech therapy, an art experience may be just what he needs to explore his creative side and improve his verbal and comprehension skills at the same time

Sensory bins are a favourite tool of speech therapists, teachers and parents alike! They provide an immersive, hands-on opportunity for children to practice their speech and language skills.

Why use sensory bins?
Because they are FUN and ENGAGING for all. And you can target…

Expressive/Receptive Language:
- Expand vocabulary (nouns, verbs, adjectives)
- Find objects (e.g. “Where is the __?”)
- Following directions (e.g. “Put beans in the bowl and dump it out”)

Social/Play Skills:
- Take turns and share objects
- Asking for objects
- Commenting on what each person is doing
- Pretend play
- Conversation (e.g. “I like the _. What do you like?”)

Articulation:
- Find objects/materials with the targeted sound (e.g. “sand” for /s/, “cars” for /k/)

Want to engage your speech therapy students at a whole new level? Slide some science experiments into your session plan!

When Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs) use experiments, they can make students feel more motivated, elicit more language from them, and help them hone in on several key language skills.

Not to mention–incorporating science into speech therapy is so fun!

Phonemic awareness refers to the ability to recognise and manipulate the individual sounds that make up words. So for example, whether a child can identify the beginning sound in a word, if a set of words rhymes, or break a word into syllables is highly dependent on their phonemic awareness skills.

I often use a multi sensory instruction approach in the early grades to improve phonemic awareness, phonics, and reading comprehension skills. Multi-sensory instruction combines listening, speaking, reading, and a tactile or kinesthetic activity.