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As you and your child begin the speech-language journey, you may wonder how to maintain the positive momentum between speech therapy sessions. Or, perhaps your child has been taking speech therapy lessons for a while, and the therapist has suggested fewer sessions, and you are worried your child still needs the extra support. Caregivers can help their children practice speech-language skills in several ways at home. These strategies can be incorporated into activities already present in your daily schedule. We have compiled 10 ways you can help your child maintain their speech-language progress between sessions. How Often Do Most Children Have Speech Therapy? According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, 5% of children ages 3-17 in the US have a speech disorder. Speech and language difficulties come in many different forms. Some children have severe language impairments while others have mild communication issues. When your child is first seen by a speech-language pathologist (SLP), he or she will perform a speech and language evaluation. This evaluation will tell the clinician how severe the language, voice, speech, or sound issue is. Based on that information and observations from caregivers, the therapist will put together a plan that best meets your child’s needs. They will set speech goals and work with you and your child each session to achieve those goals with what is called a treatment plan. The frequency of speech-language therapy sessions depends on the condition your child has. Children with articulation or phonological processing disorders need around 30-minute sessions twice a week. Others may only attend speech therapy sessions once a week. Some children with severe issues may need more frequent sessions. The more regularly your child attends speech therapy, the better the progress. However, busy schedules, holidays, and sickness may affect your child getting into the speech-language pathologist’s office, on occasion. Unfortunately, another issue many SLP offices face is a long waitlist and large caseloads which leads to delayed sessions for each child. It’s during these times that you may worry your child is losing the practice he or she needs to keep making progress. The California Scottish Rite Foundation has 17 Rite Care Language Centers that provide services to over 2,300 children with speech, language, and literacy disorders. Our centers can provide diagnostic evaluations and treatment for speech and language disorders. We also treat learning disabilities, as well. With centers, in Southern, Northern, and Central California, you can find a facility for your child at no cost to your family. Do Speech-Language Therapy Sessions Become Less Frequent As Your Child Progresses? Caregivers must ensure their child attends regular speech therapy sessions. According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, around 50% of US children with speech, voice, and language disorders between ages 3-17 did not receive intervention services. Without intervention, it is harder for your child to make positive progress toward correcting their speech, language, and voice. They also tend to experience more bullying and less confidence without these services. Regular speech therapy sessions help to reinforce language strategies the therapist is working on with your child. Maintaining this consistency makes it easier for your child to make faster progress. Most children will be in speech therapy for several months and many will be in it for years. Your speech therapist may suggest more frequent sessions if your child is not progressing toward their goals. But, if your child is progressing well, the SLP may suggest reducing the number of sessions per week. This may seem scary, at first, especially if your child has worked hard to get where they are at. You don’t want your child to suffer a regression, pushing them back in their progress. This is why you may be looking for ways you can ensure your child keeps practicing their language skills in between their sessions. 10 Ways to Work on Speech Language Goals at Home If you are looking for ways to supplement your child’s speech therapy at home, we have some strategies you can use to help your child keep moving forward. Whether you want to bolster their skills during times you cannot make it to the SLP office or to provide at-home support as your child begins to graduate from speech therapy, these 10 strategies are easy, efficient ways to maintain speech language progress between sessions. 1. Set Goals Just as your child’s therapist does, you need to create goals together for what you want to accomplish by practicing at home in between speech therapy sessions. It is important to be transparent with your child and explain the reasoning behind practicing at home. Together you can come up with communication goals you believe are achievable while waiting for your next session. The best way to create goals is by thinking about smaller parts of the larger issues. You can also mirror the goals your SLP has suggested in the office. You want to make sure these goals are achievable and are not overwhelming for you or your child. You may want to start with something as simple as practicing a certain strategy for 15 minutes a day. Making the duration of your at-home sessions shorter will ensure your child’s engagement and that you will have time to work with your child through their at-home practice. You can also consider rewarding your child with something they like after they meet a goal. This could be something small like an ice cream—anything motivating that will encourage your child to practice at home. 2. Frequently Repeat Exercises At Home Another important strategy for home practice is to take the new skills your child has learned in their speech therapy session and repeat them often at home. This way, your child is getting constant exposure to these strategies, making them more natural. This carryover into the home will allow these new skills to be tested outside of the therapy room. Many children will feel much more comfortable trying out strategies that may be more difficult at home where they feel safer. 3. Be Consistent Parent involvement in language sessions can be the key to your child’s success. Your input can make their involvement in speech therapy feel more meaningful. If you work on these skills at home, it is important to be consistent. Children thrive under consistency. If your child knows when to expect you to practice together, they can get in the habit, which will make the home practice feel less scary. Consistency also works best in reinforcing therapy goals for your child. The more your child practices, the better they progress. 4. Celebrate Success Whether your child is making small progress in the therapy room or at home, it is important to reward their forward movement. Even if they make small progress in their communication skills, you can make a big deal out of it. Treats, stickers, praise, and special outings can be a great way to let your child know you acknowledge their hard work and are proud of their progress. Positive reinforcement is an excellent strategy for encouraging your child to continue their practice at home. 5. Use Strategies From Your Child’s SLP Many SLPs will give the parent and child “homework.” This homework is usually in the form of strategies or skills that they want you all to practice together to reinforce what they are working on in the office. You don’t need to get a bunch of resources and extra items to practice with your child at home. Spending a few minutes each day going over the strategies your child’s SLP suggested is an easy and effective way of assisting your child with their speech goals. Many SLPs are trained in giving children and families ways to help their child develop not only language skills but increased self-confidence, as well. The California Scottish Rite Foundation provides life-changing speech-language and literacy programs for children. We have individualized services that address the needs of developing children and their families. These services are provided at no cost to the family because donors and granting foundations help fund the resources our Speech-Language pathologists use to help your child on the pathway to success. 6. Teach Self-Advocacy As your child’s communication skills improve, you will want to teach your child to still advocate for themselves. Some children will always have certain speech, language, voice, or hearing issues. It is important to encourage and teach your child how to ask for help and explain to teachers and others that they need accommodations. Although you can advocate for your child for a long time, as your child gets older, the responsibility will fall on them to seek out help when they need it. 7. Model Language Another simple way to maintain your child’s progress between speech-language sessions is to model language. This can be by having a conversation in the car or at the dinner table. When you speak to others, the greetings and tones you use are great teaching tools. Your child will emulate the way you speak and communicate with those around you. You can even practice greetings and conversations by playing games like house or restaurant. In these games, you and your child can play-act conversations that people have in everyday life. This will teach them the skills they need to successfully communicate in the world. 8. Practice With Games For preschoolers, children who have trouble focusing, and most children, games are an excellent way to engage your child in speech-language practice. You can make up games with flashcards that encourage your child to describe the image, using and developing vocabulary to speak about common objects. Making silly sounds can also help your child practice mouth movements and sounds in a much less intimidating way. You can play story games where you pause in the middle of a sentence and your child completes the thought. These types of games will encourage your child to describe, speak, and converse in new ways. 9. Avoid Over Practicing As with everything, too much can be a bad thing. Children need to be able to play and express themselves without worrying that what they are saying and doing is being evaluated. Even though practicing speech skills constantly may seem like the best way to ensure your child continues their progress, too much practicing can cause your child to start refusing to practice. They may begin to avoid speaking to you to get out of having to practice language skills. While practicing at home is an important part of maintaining progress from speech-language therapy, it should be coupled with a genuine connection with your child aside from working on speech skills. 10. Read to Your Child Reading daily to children at home from an early age helps children to build a child's exposure to language, reading comprehension, vocabulary, and language skills. It also helps encourage reading skills and activates areas of the brain that are connected with visual imagery. When your child hears you read, they are building connections with their caregiver, are hearing an example of language, and are learning new vocabulary. Reading can assist your child in reaching their speech, language, and voice goals, as well as helping them to learn to read. Many children with speech and language disorders also have difficulty with reading and writing. Reading to your child is a fun and easy way to encourage language development, and you can begin doing this at any age. If you don’t have a lot of money for books or don’t have books at home, the local library is a wonderful resource for finding books you and your child will enjoy together. Conclusion Whether your child is graduating from frequent speech-language therapy sessions or you want to speed up their progress and reinforce skills at home, there are several strategies for maintaining speech-language progress between sessions. By utilizing these strategies, you can build a closer bond with your child and reinforce the language skills your SLP is working on with your child in therapy sessions. Even a few minutes of practicing a day can make a big difference in your child’s communication development.

For children with few communication skills, it can be difficult to understand what they want or need. For decades, they could not express these desires fully, But, since the 1980s a new system has helped thousands of children learn how to communicate with the people around them. The Picture Exchange Communication System is a great tool to help children with autism or other communication disorders convey ideas and requests with those around them. This system also works well for preschoolers with limited vocabulary. Educators and caregivers can implement PECS to provide these children with a means of expressing themselves. What is the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)? The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is an evidence-based practice for people with disabilities to communicate using pictures, symbols, words, or photographs. This augmentative and alternative communication method is often used for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) as a way to communicate without relying on speech. Lori Frost, MS, CCC-SLP and Dr. Andy Bondy developed the PECS in 1984 as part of the Delaware Autistic Program. The system begins by teaching children a way to use fast, functional communication in the form of simple icons to make requests or express thoughts. Eventually, this communication can build to a more complex sentence-like structure. Although, at first, PECS was received with mixed feelings, it is used worldwide today as an alternative means of communication. PECS and sign language are both alternative ways of communicating that can help non-verbal children produce effective communication. Facts about Picture Exchange Communication System Picture Exchange Communication System can be an effective way to improve your child’s functional communication. According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, the following facts represent studies conducted about the effectiveness of PECS: PECS is more effective in younger children than older ones, with preschool and elementary aged children seeing the best results When all 6 phases were implemented, there were better results than when only the first 3 phases were implemented. The strongest area affected by PECS in children was functional communication. ASD children with multiple disabilities had smaller effects on function communication PECS did not negatively impact behavior, speech, or social outcomes PECS is beneficial in promoting speech in children with low joining attention, low motor imitation, or high object exploration PECS was associated with increased speaking and social approach. These facts are a part of ongoing studies conducted to find out the effectiveness of PECS for non-verbal children. The Benefits of PECS There are many benefits of using the Picture Exchange Communication System with your non-verbal child. First of all, PECS encourages your child to initiate conversations. During PECS training, children learn to seek out communication with peers and engage in conversations. This helps them to learn to communicate their wants and needs with those around them. Initiating conversations is one step in the right direction to learning important language skills. It also supports them in becoming more independent. By being able to communicate their own ideas, needs, and wants, non-verbal children can begin to advocate for themselves and express themselves in ways they never could before. Children who master PECS often initiate conversations that they would have never done before because they find confidence in their new ability to functionally communicate with those around them. PECS works for a wide range of disorders and age groups. Since it is a simple system to learn, children can use this visual way of communicating whether they have ASD or other disorders that affect their speech and language skills. Younger children see the most improvements using PECS, but older children can benefit from learning and alternate ways of communicating, as well. This system is easy for community members and educators to learn. Your child can begin communicating with a larger group of people than they ever have before. Since this is a picture based system, many people can pick up on how to communicate with your child without training. This is a great way to allow your child the opportunity to make new friends and learn new subjects. PECS doesn’t cost much. The training is usually where the main price is incurred, but once the training is complete, you will be able to use PECS at home and in school easily. At The California Scottish Rites Foundation, you can seek speech therapy at no cost to you in the state of California. This can help you to provide your child with an alternative communication method that can greatly improve their life. How Do You Prepare for Using PECS? Before you try to implement a PECS system with a child with communication challenges, you will need to determine some items the child likes. These are used as reinforcers to increase the child’s motivation as they learn to use this new system of communication. If you are an educator, you can ask the caregiver to help provide you with a list of items the child likes. This will begin the communication book that will be the key to communicating with the child. You can also set pairs of items before the child and let them show you which they prefer. Make note of these preferences and keep a selection of them during PECS training. You will acquire pictures of symbols of these items on picture cards to initiate the training. How Do You Implement PECS? PECS training is often conducted with a speech-language pathologist (SLP) who will work with the caregiver and child to learn this system of communication during speech therapy. There are 6 Phases to training a child to use the Picture Exchange Communication System, as outlined in a step-by-step training manual by the National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorders: Phase 1: The Physical Aspect- a child must learn to look at a single picture card, reach for the card, pick it up and hand it to a communication partner. Prompters will use the reinforcers to motivate a child to begin these actions, expanding on them as they continue to practice. They use a verbal prompt to cue the child to the action. At first, they may need to physically move the hand to the card to initiate the exchange. Phase 2: Expansion- The child works on initiating more interaction with adults without physical or verbal prompting. They seek out desired items and are rewarded with the item after picking up the picture of the item. This is an expansion of the first phase. Phase 3: Picture Discrimination- Once a child is able to clearly choose the picture during exchanges, you can begin to place a distractor in front of the child. A distractor is another picture of an item that is not the desired item next to a picture of the desired item. Then, they must discriminate between the highly desired item and the distractor. The prompter will teach the child using error correction to ensure the child selects the right symbol to represent their want. Phase 4: Sentence Building- As soon as a child is able to 12-20 pictures and can discriminate between them for their preferred item, you can begin transitioning to teaching simple sentence structure. This will begin with an “I want” symbol. The educator will teach the child to combine the “I want” symbol with the symbol or picture for their desired item. Slowly, children will learn to construct simple sentences using a sentence strip with velcro on it that a child can detach and move around to create meaning. Phase 5: Responding to a Specific Question- The educator will verbally prompt the child with the question: “What do you want?” In this phase, the child will work to answer questions using the symbols and pictures they have learned to get the desired item. Phase 6: Commenting- In this phase, the child will move from using PECS to request items to describing and naming things. The educator will request information and the child will respond. Eventually, the child will learn to comment without prompting from an educator. Once all 6 phases of PECS training are mastered, a child can proficiently seek their communication book, differentiate between pictures, and create sentences. They also initiate communication and complete the exchange. PECS is most successful when a child completes all 6 phases of the training. Sometimes, people will complete only the first 3 phases of the training. Although these are the most basic needs, transitioning into those more difficult tasks can really open up more opportunities for your child to learn important communication skills. What Do You Do After a Child Completes PECS Training? The prompter will continue to add new pictures to the learner’s communication book, provide copies of this book so the child will have it available throughout their community, and teach other people how to communicate using this method, so that your child can communicate with new people. When Dr. Bondy and Lori Frost first introduced PECS, many people worried at first that PECS stagnates verbal communication, this system is actually often a great way for children with autism or other communication disorders to begin initiating verbal communication. A child will continually learn new words and symbols using this method, which will improve their language skills. It is important that teachers, educators, friends, and family members who will interact with the child are also taught how to use PECS. This way, your child can communicate with the people in his or her life more effectively. What Are Problems With Using the Picture Exchange Communication System? If a child does not want to communicate with others, has poor eyesight, cannot control the movement in their arms or hands, is not motivated to request items, or cannot comprehend language, they may have difficulties with learning PECS. Children with language comprehension issues or physical impairments, they may not be able to use this system to communicate with others. Signs that a child may be struggling with learning PECS include the following: Lack of motivation to request items Resisting prompting Frustration Difficulty focusing Unable to match physical items to pictures Some of these difficulties can be overcome by finding interesting and highly motivating items for the child to request. Use a child’s dislikes to help them discriminate between pictures. You may also need to seek out an Occupation Therapist to help with sensory processing issues. The types of pictures and symbols you use could also affect how a child responds to PECS. Using real photographs of items may be more effective than drawings since they will be more recognizable as similar to the object. You can also use miniature forms of the objects to make it easier for the child to recognize the item they are requesting. Give the Future a Voice The California Scottish Rite Foundation is dedicated to supporting and assisting children in California by providing childhood speech-language, literacy, and education programs. If you are looking for a speech-language pathologist who can help your non-verbal child improve their communication skills by using the picture exchange communication system, then we can help. Our life-changing speech-language and literacy programs address the needs of developing children and their families at no cost to the family. With 17 RiteCare Childhood Language Centers located throughout California, you can find a facility to help you and your child on your language journey. Our programs are funded by donors and granting foundations who are proud to give, knowing that their contributions improve thousands of lives. So, your child can seek the help he or she needs without having to worry about the cost. Conclusion Using the Picture Exchange Communication System can drastically change a child’s life, giving him or her the ability to communicate effectively with those around them. This alternative method of communication provides your child with more initiative, improves their ability to exchange ideas with others, and increases language skills. The implementation of this system should be conducted with the help of a speech-language pathologist, but once you and your child are familiar with the system, you can continue to add new words and grow your child’s vocabulary throughout their lifetime.

A person has a lisp when they cannot correctly pronounce the /s/ and /z/ sounds. This common type of functional speech disorder affects many children and adults. Usually, the lisp develops in early childhood and goes away on its own as the child grows up, but some people have a lisp throughout their lives. There are 4 types of lisps: interdental, lateral, dentalized, and palatal. Read on to understand more about the different types of lisps, their causes, and how lisps are treated. The Four Types of Lisps Lisps are the result of incorrect placement of the tongue inside the mouth. To pronounce the /s/ sound clearly, the tip of the tongue should be just behind the front teeth in a bumpy part of the mouth called the alveolar ridge, close to the roof of the mouth but not touching it. The sides of the tongue are raised toward the roof of the mouth. There should be room down the middle of the tongue for air to travel. The teeth should be together, and the lips should be slightly parted with the corners upturned slightly. /S/ sounds are unvoiced and are created completely with the shape of the passageway you create with your mouth and teeth. Any differentiation in this formation can cause a lisp. Many children have difficulties with the /s/ sound in their early speech development. Most children master the /s/ and /z/ sounds by the time they are 5 years old. There are many kinds of lisps. This articulation problem can be frustrating and embarrassing for children and adults. Understanding the most common types of lisps will help you to understand what causes your child’s condition so you can better know how it will be treated. #1 Interdental Lisp An interdental lisp, also called a frontal lisp, is the most common type of lisp. This lisp is caused by the tongue pushing forward between the teeth, creating a /th/ sound in place of the /s/ sound. This type of lisp is sometimes caused by a tongue thrust. A tongue thrust is an orofacial disorder when a child has an abnormal tongue position. Children with a tongue thrust may have issues with eating and drinking as well as speaking. Prolonged thumb sucking, pacifier use, allergies, and mouth breathing can also cause this issue. When the tongue constantly sits too far forward, it presses the tongue between the teeth causing the interdental lisp. A child with tongue thrust needs to see a dentist, orthodontist, and speech pathologist in tandem to create a comprehensive treatment to address the needs of this condition. Many tongue thrusts resolve by age six on their own, but some continue to persist. However, not all interdental lisps are a result of a tongue thrust. #2 Lateral Lisp A lateral lisp is when the tongue is almost in the correct position, but the sides of it are not high enough in the mouth. The sound a child produces with this type of lisp is a slushy, wet sound when the /s/ or /z/ sound is made. Air escapes to the sides of the mouth rather than flowing down the middle. This type of lisp is often the result of incorrect tongue placement. Teeth misalignment and weak mouth muscles may also cause a lateralized lisp. Sometimes a combination of these issues is the cause. If your child places their tongue between their teeth while making the /s/ or /z/ sounds or their teeth seem to be placed in the wrong position, then your child may have signs of a lateral lisp. You will need to work with a speech-language pathologist (SLP), dentist, and orthodontist to correct a lateral lisp. #3 Dentalized Lisp The dentalized lisp, or addental lisp, is similar to the interdental lisp. In this case, the child pushes their tongue against the front teeth when making the /s/ or /z/ sound. This differs from the interdental lisp, where children push their tongue through their front teeth when forming these sounds. The sound produced by a dentalized lisp sounds like a muffled /s/. Many children have dentalized lisps when they are younger but eventually grow out of the y around 4-5 years of age. However, if a child is still lisping at age 7 or if you feel the lisp is problematic, it is important to have a speech-language pathologist evaluate and treat the articulation error. #4 Palatal Lisp The least common type of lisp is the palatal lisp. This type of lisp is when the tongue raises to the hard or soft palate when making the /s/ or /z/ sound. The tongue blocks the air flow causing a muffled sound that mimics the /h/ or /y/ sounds. This speech sound is not a normal part of speech development. If your child has a palatal lisp, experts advise you to seek out an SLP as soon as possible for evaluation. A speech-language therapist can test your child for speech therapy and treat the lisp before it is too late to correct this speech error. What Causes Lisps? Some lisps may be the cause of a tongue tie (ankyloglossia) which is a condition where a band of tissue connects the underside of the tongue to the floor of the mouth. The tongue is unable to move freely with this condition. Tongue ties are formed before a baby is born. The tissue connection usually goes away as the baby develops. However, sometimes the tissue, called the frenulum, may be too short or tight and stay near the tip of the tongue. It can cause issues with eating and a child’s speech. Often, tongue ties are diagnosed while a child is still a baby and the issue is corrected with a simple procedure where the frenulum is released with a scalpel. Still, some milder tongue-ties may not be detected until the child is much older. Older children often have to undergo surgery to free the frenulum. A tongue tie can result in a speech delay if it is left untreated. Lisps can also be a result of genetics. The development of a person’s jaw, teeth, tongue, and bit can cause a lisp. Abnormalities of these mouthparts make it difficult for a child to produce the desired sounds. Oftentimes, these types of issues may need surgery for correction. Also, children with mild hearing loss may hear sounds at different frequencies, which can affect their ability to hear and repeat sounds correctly. Most lisps are the result of a phonetic disorder. The person simply struggles to position their tongue, lips, teeth, and jaw correctly. A person can make the sounds, but they struggle to achieve these sounds without speech therapy. In some cases, the cause of a lisp may be a combination of the above factors. Treatment for Lisps The treatment for lisps varies based on the cause of the lisp. Some frontal lisps are simply a part of a child’s normal speech development and they will eventually grow out of it. According to the SLP's evaluation, some young children may simply be placed under observation. Most lisps are treated with an SLP over a few months to a few years. The older the child is once the intervention begins, the longer the treatment typically takes. A speech pathologist will work to help people with lisps recognize the sounds they make and be more aware of the position of their tongue. During speech therapy, your child will work on intelligibility. They will practice placing the tongue in the correct place to make the /s/ and /z/ sounds. SLPs give children exercises that involve saying words and phrases over and over as part of their language therapy. They may start by working on correcting single words, first. If your child’s lisp is the result of a dental or tongue issue, they may also need to see a dentist, orthodontist, or otolaryngologist (ears, nose, throat doctor) to help correct any obstructions to correct tongue and teeth formation. Other Similar Speech Impediments Many types of speech impediments affect the way a child produces sounds. Two other common ones include lambdacism and rhotacism. With lambdacism, a child has trouble saying the /l/ sound. They often substitute that sound with the /r/ sound. Rhotacism is when a child has difficulty pronouncing the /r/ sound. The /r/ sound is one of the most challenging letters to pronounce in the English language. There are over 32 variations on how to produce the /r/ sound. Many children have difficulty with this sound. Rhotacism is identified when a child makes a vowel-like sound or a /w/ sound instead of the /r/ sound. The causes of these types of speech impediments are similar to those of a lisp. It may simply be a placement issue with the tongue and mouth or there could be something such as a tongue tie obstructing the sound production. Evaluation by a speech-language pathologist will help you understand these conditions and how to treat them. However, children can have issues pronouncing many different letter sounds including /k/,/g/, /t/, /d/, and /e/, as well. How to Prevent a Lisp You cannot always prevent children from developing a lisp. However, there are some ways you can encourage mouth muscle strength and treat issues that may lead to a higher risk of developing a lisp. Thumb sucking can lead to dental issues or tongue placement issues that may cause a lisp. It is ideal to discourage your child from sucking their thumbs. Pacifiers can also become a problem if your child uses them for a prolonged time. The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry suggests weaning a child from a pacifier by the time they are 3 years old. Encouraging your child to drink through a straw, blow bubbles, and play with horns will build muscle strength in the mouth that will aid in strengthening the muscles needed for producing the /s/ and /z/ sounds. Finally, if your child has allergies and sinus problems, these may eventually lead to a lisp. It is key to seek out a medical professional to best treat your child for these issues to reduce their chances of having speech development issues. If you suspect any delays in speech or speech errors, it is better to seek out a medical professional than to continue to worry whether or not it may be an issue. A speech-language therapist can evaluate and treat children for a variety of speech, language, voice, and learning disorders. Looking For A Speech Therapist to Correct a Lisp Finding the right speech-language pathologist to help your child can be a big task. You may wonder if your insurance will cover the cost or if you’ll be able to afford to get your child the therapy he or she needs. The California Scottish Rites Foundation is dedicated to supporting and assisting children in California by providing childhood speech-language, literacy, and education programs at no cost. We have 17 Rite Care locations throughout California to serve communities throughout the state. Our SLPs are trained professionals who offer individualized services that address the needs of developing children and their families. They not only help with speech, language, and education, but they also help empower children by increasing independence, decreasing frustrations, and leading children down a pathway to academic success. Conclusion A lisp is a common functional speech disorder that affects the articulation of the /s/ and /z/ sounds your child makes. The earlier this condition is detected, the easier it is to correct. The four major types of lisps: interdental, lateral, dental, and palatal are characterized by the placement of the tongue and the flow of air through the teeth. Lisps are treatable with the aid of a speech-language pathologist who will help coach your child on how to position the tongue to correctly pronounce the sounds. If your child’s lisp is caused by an issue with the teeth, tongue, or mouth, dentists and other specialists can help correct these issues alongside speech therapy to correct a lisp. The earlier you seek assistance for your child, the better the outcome on their speech development.

Learning speech is a complex process. Even though the human brain is predisposed to learning patterns of language, sometimes our brains make their own rules for how language should be spoken, especially if a sound is hard to produce. These are called speech errors, and they are more common than you’d think. Leaving off an /s/ sound in consonant clusters is called cluster reduction, and it is a phonological error that a speech-language pathologist can help correct in speech therapy. Read on to learn about the treatment for cluster reduction for /s/ in speech therapy, and how you can help your child work on this skill at home. What Is A Cluster Reduction? All languages have rules for how sounds are combined, this speech sound science is called phonology. Our brains are wired to learn the order and patterns of speech rules, which is how a baby goes from not knowing a language to eventually learning how to speak. When a child is learning to speak, sometimes these sound combinations can be difficult to create so many children will say adorable mispronunciations of words. These are called phonological errors. These mispronunciations may end up becoming rules in the child’s brain for the articulation of certain sounds. Cluster reductions are speech errors where a child condenses multiple consonants into a single consonant sound through omission. A phoneme is the smallest unit of a word that distinguishes it from another. Common phonological errors include fronting (replacing one sound for another at the beginning of a word. (e.g. tea for key), final consonant deletion (e.g. dah for dog), and cluster reduction. A common type of cluster reduction is when a child drops an /s/ sound. For example, a child may say “top” instead of “stop,” leaving the “s” off in the consonant cluster. A cluster reduction may also affect other word sounds. As a child ages, these mispronunciations can become less adorable and more problematic. Other children at school or in the community may make fun of a child for these phoneme errors. The errors may also lead to misunderstandings and difficulty in school. Is Cluster Reduction Normal? Most children go through this phonological process at some point during their language development, usually between 2-3 years of age. These issues typically resolve on their own by the time a child is about 5 years old, according to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). Children may also have cluster reduction without the /s/ sound, which usually resolves itself by age 4. If your child is still leaving off the /s/ sound in words past this age, or your child’s speech is unintelligible to others, you should seek out the help of a speech-language pathologist (SLP). Your child may have a phonological disorder. An SLP can evaluate your child and determine if there are any speech delays. Then, they can suggest a treatment plan that will likely involve speech therapy to improve your child’s speech intelligibility. How Do Speech Pathologists Treat Cluster Reductions for S? There are various speech therapy activities that a speech-sound therapist may use to target consonant cluster reduction for /s/. Your child’s SLP may try some of these exercises or others to teach your child to say the /s/ sound. They will work to build these skills while speech therapy is in session, but they may also ask that a caregiver practice these techniques at home. Caregivers can use these therapy techniques while practicing at home or in between speech therapy sessions to provide a carryover of skills from your child’s last session. Many of these strategies are easy and focus on target words and sounds. They require little or no prep and can be used for young children to correct their error patterns. There are also many freebie worksheets that you can find online and print to practice sound patterns at home with school-aged children. Here are some common techniques that SLPs use to correct cluster reduction for /s/in speech therapy: #1 Minimal Pairs For this exercise, a speech therapist will target some /s/ blends by using pairs of words that only vary in one sound. An /s/ blend is a combination of sounds that go with the /s/ sound in a word. A list of /s/ blends that an SLP may target includes the following: -st -sp -sh -sw -sl You can complete this activity by using matching cards where a child has to say the blend and match the correct blends. Or, you could use concentration games where a child has to pay close attention to the target sound because just one slight variance can change the word. An example of minimal pairs is the word pair: ship and sheep. These two words sound the same except for one sound. If you say that one sound incorrectly, the meaning changes greatly. Oftentimes, language learners will use minimal pairs to help refine learning English as a second language. There are many minimal pair word lists you can find online to use and practice with your child at home. There are also several online games you could use with your child to help them practice this skill. #2 Targeting One Blend Group At A Time Another way a speech therapist may tackle treating a cluster reduction for /s/ is by focusing on a target blend. They can introduce this by using imagery. For example, with the -sl blend, many common words change once you add a /s/ sound to the beginning. (e.g. lip, leap, leave, lamb, led, and lime). The child should look at images that represent these words and then say those words. Then, have the child practice saying the /s/ sound alone. Now, the child should emphasize the /s /sound, and say the word that changes together to hear what word this makes. For example, s+ lip= slip. You can use images to represent this and coach the child through the activity. This method breaks down the sound so children develop phonological awareness of what they are saying. Soon they will be able to catch these error patterns and correct production of the /s/ sound in these blends. Once they master one /s/ blend, they can begin to work on another. #3 Use Imagery for a Helper Sound Imagery is a very powerful tool for teaching children how to recognize and differentiate the sounds they make when speaking. SLPs may use some sort of imagery to help a child think about the way they say words. They could use a “helper sound,” which is a way to get a child to add the /s/ sound to words. For example, they may use the image of a tow truck. When a child leaves off an /s/ sound, the prompter may say that the word is stuck and needs a tow. So, the child will make the /s/ sound to imitate the tow truck pulling out the stuck word. Then, they can say the word with the omitted /s/ sound correctly. So, the exchange ends up similar to this: Child: Lip Prompter: The /s/ is stuck. It needs a tow. Child: Sssssssslip. This is a fun way for children to remember to add the /s/ sound to blends. You may need to model this technique a few times before a child catches on. You can change the imagery to be something the child is interested in. For example, you could have the child imagine a fishing rod and say the /s/ sound to reel the omitted sound up and then combine that sound with the rest of the word. There are also some free resources online you can find with worksheets that can assist you in making this activity more meaningful for your child. #4 Auditory Bombardment The technique of auditory bombardment is where an SLP has a child listen to a list of words with the /s/ sound. The speech therapist reads the words, emphasizing the sounds in the words to make them clearer to the child. This activity can be repeated at home. The idea is that the more a child hears a word and the way it sounds, the more likely they are to start using it correctly themselves. As they hear the words modeled, they learn how they should be said. Caregivers can practice this technique by fitting in target words as many times as they can during a conversation. According to a study published in the National Library of Medicine, auditory bombardment is a way to enhance other language therapies for children with language disorders. These studies suggested that there was more growth in language development when this form of modeling was used together with other techniques. An example of how to practice this is to choose a target word. Perhaps your child has trouble with the word “snow.” Now, you can repeat the word as many times as possible in a conversation with your child, being sure to emphasize the /s/ sound, slowly and clearly. An exchange may go like this: Caregiver: Look at the snow! The snow is white. The snow is cold. Look, when I touch the snow it melts in my hand. Based on your child’s language development, you may be able to elicit descriptions of the snow from him or her, which can give them practice saying the word on their own. #5 The Complexity Approach This method of treatment involves teaching a child more complicated sounds, even ones beyond their developmental level. By learning these more complex sounds, they learn the relationship between sounds, syllables, and words. In essence, they will learn the sound they are struggling with alongside the more complex sound clusters. Teaching a child sounds beyond their development level may seem counterintuitive, but language acquisition is a complex science, and the relationship between sounds is often influenced by the other sounds you combine them with. So, these more complex clusters actually help the child learn both the target sound and other sounds. Many children who are struggling with a cluster reduction for /s/ have developmental delays in other parts of their speech, so practicing complex sounds tackles several areas at once. Common complex clusters that a speech therapist may introduce for a child with a cluster reduction for /s/ are “spl”, “skw”, “sl”, and “spr”. The complexity approach is used to treat functional phonological disorders. It has been used for 30+ years by speech-language pathologists with success. Finding An SLP To Treat Your Child’s Cluster Reduction for S If you are concerned about your child’s speech development or believe your child may have a cluster reduction for /s/, you may be looking for a speech-language pathologist who can evaluate and treat your child. The California Scottish Rite Foundation can help. We offer dedicated support and assistance to children in California by providing childhood speech, language, literacy, and education programs at no cost to families. Our foundation’s life-changing programs are funded by our donors and grant foundations so that families can seek the support and resources they need to empower their children, decrease frustrations, and pave a pathway to academic success without worrying about whether they can afford it or not. With 17 RiteCare Childhood Language Centers across California, you can find the right speech-language pathologist to meet your and your child’s needs. We are dedicated to serving the children in our communities. Conclusion A cluster reduction for /s/ is a functional phonological disorder where a child omits the /s/ sound in words with /s/ blends. This speech error often develops as a child learns language skills, but it should be resolved by age 5. In the case that your child still struggles with cluster reduction, a speech-language therapist can evaluate and treat this language disorder. As a caregiver, you can also help by listening to the exercises your SLP suggests for at-home practice and mirroring some of the techniques that SLPs use at home. With time, your child will feel empowered by their newfound language skills, which will put them on the road to future success.

The time is nearly upon us, and we are thrilled to open our scholarship applications for the 2024 season starting January 15th. Here at the California Scottish Rite Foundation, we recognize the significance of financial aid in supporting your educational pursuits. To assist you in preparing for this scholarship season, we would like to highlight a few changes made to the 2024-25 FAFSA application: 1. The 2024-25 FAFSA form launched Dec. 31, 2023. Before you complete the form, make sure you are educated on which form is right for you. Take a look at this chart provided by Federal Student Aid to further understand your specific circumstances. 2. Any person who provides information on your FAFSA form will be considered a contributor. The term “Contributor” is a new term on the 2024-25 FAFSA form. This term refers to anyone who’s asked to provide their information, consent, and approval to have their federal tax information transferred from the IRS into the FAFSA form, along with their signature. These can include, (you, your biological or adoptive parent, your parent's spouse, or your spouse). Those identified as contributors are not responsible for the payment of your educational costs. Their participation helps to determines your eligibility for federal student aid. The use of the online FAFSA form will tell you who needs to be a contributor determined by your personal circumstances. 3. Both you and your contributor must provide approval and consent to be eligible for federal student aid. This approval and consent allows the IRS to transfer your federal tax information into the FAFSA form. Learn more about what it means to provide consent and approval in 2024-25 here. 4. You must have an account with StudentAid.gov to access the FAFSA form. To start your 2024-25 FAFSA form, you will need to create and/or log in to StudentAid.gov. This will allow you to access the form, provide approval and consent, sign, and, upon completion, submit the form. 5. The formula used to determine your financial aid eligibility has changed. Your Student Aid Index (SAI) is calculated using the information provided on the FAFSA form. Your SAI ranges anywhere from -1500 to 999999 allowing for your college, trade school, or career school to calculate how much and what types of financial aid you are eligible to receive. The SAI replaces the former EFC (Expected Family Contribution) starting in 2024. 6. Federal Pell Grant eligibility has expanded to more students. That's good news! You may qualify for additional Federal Pell Grant funds. This expansion is predicted to allow 610,00 new students eligible for a Federal Pell Grant. Additionally, 1.5 million students will also gain eligibility to receive a maximum Pell Grant award. Your SAI may contribute to the formula that determines your Pell Grant eligibility but it is not the determining factor as the consideration for family size and federal poverty guidelines have expanded. 7. The Student Aid Report is now the FAFSA submission summary. After your FAFSA form is submitted and processed, you will receive an online copy of your FAFSA Submission Summary. This Submission Summary replaces the Student Aid Report starting in 2024. The FAFSA Submission summary highlights your eligibility for federal student aid including your SAI and an estimate of the amount of student aid that you may be eligible for. It is important to note this Summary is not an aid offer, offers will come directly from schools listed on your FAFSA form and with admittance. For more information visit: FAFSA CHANGES COMING

Children are often ascribed with an expectation to lead carefree, happy lives, and to generally experience positivity during their childhood. Now, this may happen in a lot of cases, however, it doesn’t happen with all of them. Certain personality traits in some children may make it seem that they are constantly thinking negatively. This may manifest as a regular unhappy demeanor, lots of complaining, and several others. In this case, such a child may be viewed as being chronically negative. What Causes Chronic Negativity? In psychology, several reasons explain why people can be chronically negative. So, if you’re wondering why is your child is consistently negative, here are five of the most common reasons. Emotional Reasoning This is usually based on feelings and the thought process follows that the justification they come up with for how they feel must hold true. For instance, “I feel lonely, therefore, I’m not liked by anybody.” This sort of thinking can result in a lot of negative feelings. Fortune-Telling This is a really destructive thought process because of the effects it can have. It practically takes pessimism to new levels. It is basically a thought process of viewing the future in a constant negative light. What makes this thought process even worse is the fact that the thinking might affect behavior, causing something to actually go wrong, and it would be taken as confirmation. A vicious cycle of negative expectations and results then begins. For anything good that happens, it would be regarded as a fluke. An example is “I know I’m going to flunk this test.” This results in panic and distracts from actually studying to pass. Overly Generalizing This can also be explained using the confirmation bias. It usually follows picking a negative aspect of a situation and making it align with a recurring pattern that occurs in your life. For instance, “I made some mistakes on my homework, I never do anything right.” These random occurrences which may in fact be very random are accorded more importance than they should be and somewhat enlarged beyond how they should be. Dichotomous Thinking or Black-and-White Thinking For children like this, there are no grey areas. Only black or white, good or bad, positive or negative. There is no making light of a terrible situation or finding the upside in a relatively inconvenient occurrence. This thinking pattern which extends to how they feel manifests as something having to meet all of their expectations completely or it falls short altogether. For instance, a 99% grade isn’t good enough — if it’s not 100%, then it’s regarded as a total failure. This sort of thinking is a surefire way to be chronically negative. Labeling This refers to a situation where your child labels themself or someone and the label practically becomes overarching. Basically, there’s some space to hold a different opinion or see themself or the person in a different light. For instance, “I spilled some water. I’m so clumsy.” Being clumsy becomes the only light in which their personality is reflected. Combating Chronic Negativity Combatting may seem pretty heavy, however, dealing with chronic negativity before it takes root and becomes a deeply ingrained personality trait is crucial. Here are some tips to help. Don’t Acknowledge All Bad Moods This doesn’t imply that you shouldn’t acknowledge your child when they’re in a bad mood. You should. However, don’t address them based on the mood that they’re in, and don’t let it affect yours either. A lack of reaction is a step in the right direction towards eliminating negative behavior. Ensure that your disposition is constantly one that is accepting in spite of the negative temperament. This way, you can subtly influence them over time and equally as important, preserve a good relationship with them. Identify Root Causes Sometimes, the occurrence of a negative mood follows a pattern. It may be worse in the mornings of weekdays when they have to go to school or after school. It may also be heightened by certain situations like fatigue or hunger. By addressing the root cause, you can help effectively deal with this negativity. Identify and meet their physical needs, as well as any need for either structure or a pattern to their day. Consider other scenarios like making plans for new interactions and facilitating overall social development. When you do this, over time, your child is able to get a better handle on their emotions and do better at dealing with negative moods. Confront the Negativity It is one thing to not acknowledge all bad moods. However, one thing you have to do is confront the negativity. Your child shouldn’t escalate their mood such that it becomes the general feeling in the home. Put a foot down when it seems like the complaining and negative behavior is getting out of hand. If they constantly harp about the negative aspects of situations, point out the positives. Also, be sure to address irrational statements. If they’re still not getting off that horse, you can go ahead to say something like “That’s enough. I know you feel some kind of way, but..” So, you shut the lid on it and continue with whatever you were doing. This makes it evident to your child that the case is closed. Demonstrate Positive Behavior A chronically negative child would not suddenly transform into having a positive and cheerful personality. This is something that would happen over time, so, you have to set it on track. For instance, in a situation that isn’t looking great, you can remain calm and optimistic. Encourage your child to review and explore other feelings when the go-to in a particular situation is a negative reaction. If their attitude has caused a rift to occur with a friend, help them repair such a social relationship. Encourage them to explore interests and hobbies that they like and enjoy. This is a great way to help them stay calm and even take it a step further to make them feel positive. If there is a choice to be made, and they aren’t thrilled about either, allow them to choose still. Be sure to remain patient and show lots of love and affection so that they can be somewhat infected by your spirit. Relieve Positive Events and Experiences One way to reinforce positive thinking is to reinforce positive situations. In children below the age of 8, there is a High-Low game that you can use to counter any negative experiences or thoughts with positive ones. At dinner, you can have all members of the family share one higher moment and one low moment in the day. Try to start with the low so that it ends with the high. This has two benefits — first, you get to know how their day went, and you make sure they are left with a positive feeling after, which is what you’re after anyway. For older children, you can approach with a more intentional method that involves maintaining a positive events diary. So, irrespective of how bad they think that their day went, have them write down at least three positive experiences that they had during the day. It could be as basic as really enjoying their lunch or soda to doing very well on a test. The result is that despite a seemingly negative day, they would start to realize that it wasn’t all that bad. This cultivates seeing the good in seemingly bad situations. Encourage Gratitude This involves deliberately practicing gratitude. You could make it a regular occurrence at dinner for everybody to say something that they are grateful for. This ensures that dinner is more positive and the atmosphere feels less heavy. Don’t be surprised if your child is grateful for dinner every night. This is still helping you achieve the result that you want. For older children, consider a gratitude journal, similar to the positive events diary. Rather than fixating on the things that went wrong that day or didn’t go their way, their thoughts are focused more on the good things that happened to them. Something else that this does is that it helps them be really present in every situation. So, for instance, if their friend at school did something nice or told them a kind word, they would likely think to themselves “I’m grateful for the gift of friendship.” Also, you should emphasize the fact that there is a lot to be grateful for and it doesn’t necessarily have to be restricted to the really big things. They can appreciate people, things, and experiences, amongst others. In addition to the journaling, if you want to hear them say it out loud, you can use prompts like “Something I’m grateful for today is…” This sets them on the right track to practicing gratitude. How to Encourage a Positive Attitude in Your Child Fostering a positive attitude in your child is a gradual process and usually requires that you put some basic measures in place. Here are some crucial measures that would serve as a proper base for getting them to develop a positive attitude. Provide a Sense of Security Every child wants to feel safe and secure. This in itself is one of the bases for developing a positive attitude. Insecurities, which result when your child doesn’t feel safe, would eventually play into their attitude. A practical way to develop your child’s sense of security is to have honest and genuine conversations with them. Be open to them so that they know they can come to you anytime without fear of judgment or harsh reprimand. They know that they can discuss sensitive issues with you, even those that they would typically keep secret or try to deal with alone. When there’s any problem, they know you’re there to help proffer a solution. This is how you build a sense of security. Develop Your Child’s Self-Esteem This relates to how they view themselves and as such, can play a crucial role in how they behave and their actions towards others as well. The main elements of self-esteem are how your child regards their abilities and other areas of themselves. How others interact with them can also impact self-esteem. Feedback such as compliments, praise, and criticisms from you can impact it too. The way you treat them as a parent is another crucial factor. Overall, if your child has high self-esteem and regards themself in a positive light, it would reflect in their attitude. On the other hand, a negative view of themself can result in a negative attitude. Encourage Goal Setting No doubt you feel pretty accomplished when you set a goal and achieve it. It’s pretty much the same for your child. When they set goals and achieve them, it plays into having a positive attitude. Achieving set goals does wonders for self-esteem and self-worth. Having a goal also keeps your child busy, so, they have something to work towards. Even before the main accomplishment, they can get dopamine hits from reaching certain milestones or completing various sections of the goal. They start to view themselves in a positive light — as someone who achieves things. Even after meeting the goal, they can always reflect on the fact that they made it happen. This is an excellent way to foster a positive attitude and mindset in children. Be a Model of Positivity If you want to decrease chronic negativity in kids, then you must be ready to exemplify what you want to see in them. Your child is constantly watching you and your reactions to several situations. So, if you’re in a state of constant optimism, don’t be surprised to find that your child would likely be the same. If reverse is the case, it wouldn’t be too long before you spot some negativity in them. You’re a role model to your child in several areas, and your attitude isn’t left out. Model yourself properly and watch their attitude gradually transform to match yours. Conclusion Getting a chronically negative child to experience a change of attitude isn’t magic. It’s a gradual process that requires plenty of conscious work and patience. Be sure to apply the various measures in this article, and as a final highlight, ensure that you’re a model of positivity yourself. Over time, you’re guaranteed to see improvement.

There are several measures that you can put in place to help kids with speech problems. Some of these measures are to be practiced solo, in other words, the kid alone carries them out. While there are others that can be worked on together, one of these is joint attention. So, how do you utilize joint attention? What Is Joint Attention? Joint attention refers to an ability to share the same focus on an ‘object’ with a second party. Objects here may be people, events, concepts, and even actual objects. It falls under the umbrella of social communication and usually begins to develop in infancy and then gradually gets better all through early childhood. This behavior is one that allows two people to focus on the same thing in order to be able to relate with each other. It typically involves gaining, maintaining, and then shifting attention. This concept is crucial for learning language, social development, and cognition. Note that shared attention vs joint attention = joint attention or shared attention. They are an identical concept. When Does Joint Attention Start? Joint attention starts as early as when the child is born and progresses all through early childhood. By 18 months, a pretty firm foundation would have been laid. Here’s a breakdown: Newborn to 8 Months Eye Gaze: this occurs as early as 4 days old when the baby begins to recognize their mother’s face Eyes Checking: this occurs when the baby looks at their mother and then shifts their eyes in the direction of what their mother’s focusing on. This is regarded as early joint attention via gaze; at this stage, participation is passive Eyes Pointing: at the point where a newborn uses their eyes to view an object, they move from being a passive participant to the role of initiator in the parent-child relationship 8 to 12 Months Gesturing/Pointing With Fingers: development of motor skills sees the child point towards an object to share with their parents (this is regarded as early non-verbal communication; developing joint attention using gestures) Line of Regard: at this point, most children can follow the line of sight of their parents to share a focus on an object or person in the distance 12 to 15 Months At this stage, following a line of regard is consistent in the child. So, using eye gaze, the parent can command an infant’s attention upon introducing objects into an environment where they are. Coming to understand that there is intentionality behind pointing. 15 to 18 Months This stage sees children being able to hold joint attention. There would be frequent attention shifts to monitor the other party they are sharing with, and you would find this occurring during social play. To adequately share the experience, the child can spot another person’s attention to events or objects. How Can Joint Attention Happen? Joint attention typically follows two major routes: Initiating joint attention Responding to joint attention In initiating joint attention, the child typically begins the social interaction. For instance, the child could look at an object that catches their attention and then shift their gaze to their parent, cueing them to look at it too. In older children, it may be a vocal attention call such as “Look here, Dad.” When a child starts this sort of joint attention, it could be indicative of their social motivation. In responding to joint attention, the child responds to the action that someone else makes to initiate joint attention. For instance, if a carer points at a bird and says, “Look at the bird!” The child’s response would be to follow the carer’s gesture (this could be by pointing their index finger at the bird) and gaze at the bird. Compared to initiating attention, responding is way easier. What Does Joint Attention Constitute? There are three main components of joint attention. They include: Attention: this refers to being able to follow someone else’s eye gaze Emotions: this covers being able to discern from the other person’s face about how they feel Intentions: this relates to when the child and parent are attempting to do the same thing, and they are both aware of their joint action Why Is Joint Attention Important? Joint attention is a key component of development of cognitive and social communication skills. It is so crucial that it begins right after birth, and by age three, children can easily gain and hold the joint attention of both adults and their mates. When joint attention skills are lacking, children can have a hard time communicating, interacting, and developing relationships with peers and caregivers. For proper bonding, joint attention plays a major role — as well as the ability to view something from someone else’s perspective. Why Do Autistic Kids Find Using Joint Attention Difficult? For kids on the Autism Spectrum, lacking joint attention is regarded as a “core deficit.” For kids with autism, activities like following a parent’s pointing to look at a toy or going up to a parent to tickle them into beginning a back and forth game can be difficult to accomplish. This is often a result of the social skills necessary to share these experiences being absent. For these kids, establishing joint attention is critical for them to be able to effectively communicate what they want or need at any point in time. It is also vital to help them learn socialization — including proper social interaction. How to Establish Joint Attention for Kids With Speech Problems Establishing joint attention follows a pretty comprehensive process that you have to practice consistently and over a period of time. Here are some practical tips to accomplish joint attention speech therapy goals. Copy Your Child Children are almost automatically engaged when you copy what they are doing. This serves to increase their excitement, and they draw you further into their activity. For instance, if your child is throwing a ball around, do the exact same thing with another ball. If they make a particular sound such as “aaa” or a gesture every time they knock a toy over, get another toy and emulate them. This would signal to the child that you find watching them fun, and you can even end up doing it in turns. Model Language Properly You can be a great source of encouragement to your child by modeling joint attention skills. Communicate often and gesture a lot when you’re talking to your child. For instance, you can point to a bunny while playing and say, “Bunny!” When outdoors and you see a bird, you can look up and point and say, “Bird!” If you’re studying a picture book together, you could take their finger, point at the object, and say the name. Give them some time to repeat after you as well. For better results, you can use visual tracking whereby you keep the pointing finger close to your child’s face and then move it gradually in the direction of the object. In addition, you don’t have to do all the pointing. Allow and encourage your child to point at things that catch their attention. To help facilitate their development of the pointing skill, provide routine hand-over-hand guidance. Let Your Child Lead Instead of trying to get them interested in a new activity, observe how your child plays with their toys. Note the toys or activities that hold their attention the most and the actions they carry out with them. You could begin by playing with an identical toy near your child while doing the same thing they typically do. For instance, if they’re playing with a car, lay down with them and play with yours in a line manner. You could even have the cars interact by gently bumping them into each other. This allows you to initiate joint interaction easily. Come Down to Your Child’s Level If they’re lying on the floor, lay on the floor with them so that you’re at eye level. If they’re sitting at their little table, you can get on your knees and hunch forward. Children typically play with their toys very close to their faces, so do the same. The upside to going down to their level is that it’s easier for them to switch attention from the object to you and back. This can also facilitate eye contact. Keep it Fun Play a lot! Kids love very few things more than they love to play. Consider exploring games that do not involve toys. For instance, you could play the hand swing game where you hold their hands and swing when they reach upwards. Piggyback rides — pause to look back at them and continue when they look at you. If your child is pretty active, consider some chasing around. If they really enjoy these activities, there’s a bigger chance that you would share joint attention with them. Start and Pause Don’t rush. Some kids may require a little while to process your invitation to interact and play. Allowing them sufficient wait time to evaluate and understand the situation. For instance, if you’re taking turns when playing with a toy, keep it close to you when it’s their turn. Then look at them like you’re expecting an action. Allow them enough time to review the situation. You could even cue them with a verbal prompt such as “whose turn” or a physical prompt like putting their hand on the toy if they still haven’t responded after a little while. This break in between could help them come to terms with the fact that it’s time to proceed with turn-taking. How to Increase Joint Attention You can increase joint attention by making slight changes to how you interact with your child. Here are some ways: Ensure you always play or sit facing across your child Use several non-verbal gestures while playing Make sure that your position allows you to maintain a lot of eye contact and plenty of smiles To get your child’s attention, try games like peekaboo or blow bubbles Use toys that can have some reaction — cause-and-effect toys Draw attention to your face using accessories like hats and sunglasses Employ animated facial expressions and an animated voice What Are Some Signs of Joint Attention Difficulty in Kids? The signs of joint attention may sometimes not be very apparent, so, your observation skills have to be top-notch. Eye contact avoidance Inability to sustain joint attention when social play is ongoing Difficulty following your eye gaze to share a joint focus on an object Difficulty using direction of gaze or accurately pointing to alert someone else’s attention to something Difficulty sharing emotional states with others This is why joint attention goals for speech therapy aim to improve on these points. What Are Key Things to Know About Joint Attention? There are two key things to know about joint attention to determine that what is happening is indeed joint attention accurately: There are always objects/ events involved in joint attention activities: joint attention doesn’t necessarily refer to interacting together. For instance, you could have an interaction like one where you and your child play a tickle game and then laugh together isn’t joint attention. This is because there is no object or event being focused on. Beyond being focused on each other, there has to be an external action happening simultaneously, like something falling off a table or the breeze blowing the drapes suddenly. One person looks at it and then looks at the other to draw their attention. Joint attention always comprises sharing interests: joint attention is usually for the purposes of social interaction. Drawing the attention of someone else to something just so that they can share their interest. Joint attention doesn’t happen when one person draws the attention of the other to something because they want the object. For instance, when a child points at a cookie box on a high shelf and looks at their parent, this isn’t simply showing interest. They want their parent to help them bring it down. So, this doesn’t qualify as joint attention. Conclusion Using joint attention for kids with speech problems can effectively boost their communication and social skills. This article covers crucial areas like how to teach joint attention and understanding what is not joint attention. If you’re trying to conduct joint attention speech therapy, ensure to go at a slow pace and celebrate small wins.

Besides incredible companionship and being such great playmates, dogs can play an important role in our lives. Canines can help children with speech difficulties. However, this assistance may include tackling social, emotional, and communication problems. Are you interested in getting a therapy dog for your kids? Read this piece to learn how therapy dogs can help children with medical issues that cause speech difficulties, such as Dysphasia. Understanding Speech Difficulties in Children If you didn't know before now, speech difficulties describe a medical condition when your child’s mouth is unable to work together to produce clear speech. When left untreated, speech difficulties make it difficult for your child to read or write. It's possible to treat speech difficulties, such as tongue tie or cleft palate, with surgery. However, most cases can be managed with speech therapy. What Are Common Speech Difficulties? Popular speech difficulties in children include: Stuttering: When your child stutters, it may be a sign of developmental delay. This condition describes a scenario where your child's brain isn't properly coordinating speech functions. Articulation errors: An articulation error occurs when your child is unable to produce certain sounds because of improper tongue positioning. They may struggle with basic articulation activities at home and in school. Tongue-tie: A tongue-tie is also known as ankyloglossia. With this type of physical condition, your tongue becomes difficult to move. Apraxia: Apraxia makes it difficult for you to control the muscles in your mouth. Dysarthria: This medical condition makes young children slur their words. It's usually caused by brain damage. Selective mutism: This is a special type of anxiety that makes it difficult or almost impossible for children to express themselves in certain conditions. What Is the Difference Between a Speech Impediment and a Language Disorder? It is important to note that there are clear distinctions between a speech impediment and a language disorder. Speech impediments occur when your child’s mouthparts cannot work together to produce sounds. On the other hand, a language disorder is a condition when your child struggles to understand what's being said or speak clearly. Speech Impediment and a Child Developmental Milestone Speech is a crucial developmental milestone in the lives of young children. Different healthcare providers have used several milestones to track speech development in young children. Every child is expected to have achieved a certain level of spoken English at different life stages. If you didn't know, a speech impediment is a popular reason your child may struggle with speech issues. What Are the Causes of Speech Impediments? Contrary to what many people believe, there's no single, direct cause for speech impediments. They are often caused by different underlying health conditions. Each of them has different causes and effects on the body. For example, stuttering may be due to developmental delay. However, this condition may also be hereditary or may be due to underlying mental conditions. On the other hand, tongue-tie is a physical condition where your child is unable to separate their tongue from the roof of your mouth. Speech impediments in your youngster may be due to any of the following underlying conditions: Dyslexia: This learning disability may cause young children to struggle reading simple texts for their age grade. Autism Spectrum Discorder: Children suffering from this condition may struggle to interact with others. This inability will affect verbal and non-verbal communication. Loss of Hearing: Children suffering from a loss of hearing may also struggle to communicate because of their inability to process verbal feedback. Cerebral Palsy: Young children suffering from cerebral palsy will have problems coordinating their hands, muscles, and speech. What Is the Role of Therapy Dogs? Therapy dogs have a simple purpose – to provide emotional support to their owners. It's possible to train your pet as a therapy dog whose role would be to support you and your family. These furry friends are treated as part of the family and live in homes. They're not the type of canines you confine to a cage all day. You may also train these pets to visit other settings, including schools, nursing homes, hospitals, and hospice homes. Unlike other domesticated canines, they are docile and friendly to strangers, allowing them to get close enough for a rub or hug. Due to their training, they are patient and unbothered even when disturbed. For instance, when children tug at their fur or force them to sit in their lap. Aside from therapy dogs, there are other therapy animals, including rabbits, horses, birds, alpacas, and llamas. What Is the Difference Between Therapy Dogs and Service Dogs? To avoid any misconceptions, it's crucial to make this distinction before going further. Service dogs are different from therapy dogs. Here's how: More often than not, service dogs are specifically trained to perform specific tasks for their owners. These pets receive intense training to help their owners cope with certain disabilities. In the United States, there are certain laws preceded by the Americans with Disabilities Act that allow dogs to serve as companions to their owners when visiting public places. Therapy dogs are also called ‘comfort dogs.’ Their role is to support the mental health of a person by satisfying their needs for attention and comfort. Due to their sweet, therapeutic demeanor, they offer great benefits to people with health challenges. The major difference between both is that service dogs are trained for a purpose and suit certain people with disabilities, while therapy dogs are an ideal companion for several people. However, you should note that therapy dogs are not covered by ADA regulations. So, you may need to make special provisions beforehand if you're visiting certain places. The pet must get an invite to accompany you and offer solace. How Can a Therapy Dog Support Speech Impediments? Extensive research has proven the effect of therapy dogs on certain mental and psychiatric health conditions. If your child has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, ADHD, depression, autism, and post-traumatic stress disorder, they will benefit from interacting with therapy pets. Autism is a common cause of speech impediments in children. The truth is most emotional challenges leading to speech challenges are caused by physical health problems. And that's why therapy dogs are a great alternative to treat these issues. The presence of these pets usually has a calming effect, making it easier for young children to express themselves. These pets are useful for more than just speech impediments. There's clear evidence that suggests individuals suffering from post-surgery conditions or accidents may also benefit from owning a therapy animal. Interactions with these animals may boost oxytocin and reduce cortisol. What Are the Results of Recent Research on the Effect of Therapy Dogs on Speech Difficulties? As mentioned earlier, therapy dogs are proven to be a great fix for certain mental issues. This section will discuss the scientific evidence proving the positive effect of therapy dogs on popular speech difficulties. What Is the Relationship Between Therapy Dogs and Developmental Dysphasia (DD)? One of the most common speech difficulties in young children is Developmental Dysphasia. Any child suffering from this medical condition will struggle to transform their thoughts into words. Overall, the child may find it difficult to communicate properly. A recent study compared the results of dog-aided speech therapy to conventional speech therapy in children diagnosed with Developmental Dysphasia. This experiment was supposed to prove the treatment comprising a therapy dog and speech pathologist would be more effective. While the results of this research were not definitive, the group that relied on therapy dogs showed better results and plenty of potential to be a more effective solution. Therapy dogs were a potentially better solution for young children because they tackled symptoms of this ailment. Due to the social interaction between these pets and their owners, they may help children open up to their peers, become more confident, and communicate effectively. If you get a therapy dog for children, it will potentially improve the quality of life. What Is The Significance of Therapy Dogs to Autism-Related Speech Difficulties? A child suffering from autism will very likely have communication issues. These issues may range from stuttering to selective mutism. Some autistic children may struggle to understand words and symbols and how to analyze different contexts. In some children, you'll discover symptoms such as intentional blabbing, robot-like speech, or echolalia. However, their speech difficulties may be a result of social or physical issues. Therapy dogs are an effective treatment for autistic speech difficulties; may be combined with sessions with a certified Speech Language Pathologist (SLP). You may also discover that various behavioral problems, including restlessness, tantrums, and anxiety, will be reduced. All these improvements contribute to helping your child find an effective way to communicate. If your child is stressed by the therapy session with the therapist, a therapy dog may calm them down. Also, dogs are effective at calming anxious children, boosting interaction, and preventing isolation. How Can a Dog Boost Successful Communication? Any child struggling with expressing their feelings may have an emotional Issue. When the child constantly struggles to communicate, it may affect their motivation, self-confidence, and willingness to interact with others. Over the long run, these children cannot build meaningful relationships with their peers and adults. Therapy dogs for children know the right time to provide emotional support. They'll never let them feel lonely and tense. To prove how dogs can help children perform cognitive activities, a researcher studied the blood pressure and heart rate of subjects while engaged. It was noted that the presence of a furry friend was linked with a low pulse rate. These pets make kids open to interaction and more assertive. There was further proof that the presence of pets during therapy sessions makes the specialists less scary to kids. If the therapy session becomes too intensive for the child, their pet will support them. Several clinics and hospitals organize programs to train therapy dogs to help patients communicate better. There may be some concern that dogs don't know how to speak. However, this makes them great listeners. Your child will have enough opportunity to practice their speech without any criticism or pressure to perform. Many therapy dog applications are with children. On the other hand, furry pets are also effective for adults. What Type of Dogs Can Serve as a Therapy Dog? Are you looking for the ideal therapy dog? The first thing you should know is that all breeds qualify. All they need is a bit of training - either large or small. Many large breeds, such as Standard Poodles, Retrievers, Labradors, and St. Bernards, are commonly trained as therapy dogs. If you don't have a large living space, it's also a good alternative to choose smaller breeds, including Pomeranians and Minipoodles. However, some are more often used than others. A breed like Labrador is super gentle, and such, is a top choice. When choosing a therapy dog, you should also consider its demeanor. However, note beforehand that your dog's temperament may depend on its upbringing and training. Before qualifying as therapy pets, they are tested for stimuli response. These tests determine your pet’s response to being picked up, loud noises, and being surrounded by equipment. How Do You Get a Therapy Dog? Do you have a child with speech difficulties? Do you wish to train a dog to aid their development? A good idea is to check online directories. Simply search for therapy dogs around your area and navigate through the results. Another simple alternative is to train a pet you previously owned. Search for pet dog training around you for the best alternatives. If you're unclear about the quality of the facility, it's a good idea to phone ahead or send an email to learn about their program, including details about the acceptance procedure. Conclusion Speech impediments are clearly a challenge for many young children and many parents are interested in effecting solutions. Are you one of them? That's where therapy dogs come in. These pets have the ability to offer comfort and soothe emotional needs. However, they can do so much more. There's plenty of evidence indicating the effectiveness of therapy dogs in tackling speech impediments.

Teaching body parts is a crucial part of speech therapy that takes you beyond regular linguistic instruction. It is treated as one of the fundamentals of simple language development. If your child began to speak recently, the next thing is to teach them about body parts. While it may seem ordinary, this knowledge will form the foundation of their communication and interaction with their environment. The Importance of Teaching Body Parts in Speech Therapy However, certain children may struggle to process the names and functions of body parts due to different challenges. Their challenges may range from the ability to process languages to cognitive and sensory level processing in the youngster. To ensure children effectively learn about body parts, they need a tailored learning approach. However, it's easier said than done. This piece will discuss the identification of body parts for speech therapy, including any unique challenges that may occur and how to measure progress. What Are the Developmental Stages of Body Part Awareness in Children? To understand why some children struggle to grasp body parts, you'll need an in-depth understanding of the developmental stages of body part awareness. Often, most children embark on a journey of increasing body part awareness as they go through their growth stages. After birth, infants gain basic awareness of their bodies. Within a short time, they become aware of objects and people, too. During infancy, children can recognize prominent features such as the face, hands, and feet before other body parts. As your child grows older, they will become more aware of their body parts and their functions. For instance, they will recognize the nose is for smelling and the mouth is for eating. If your child suffers from an underlying condition, these developmental stages may not go smoothly. It's not uncommon to find children who struggle to grasp other body parts or process body awareness slowly. As a parent, you need to spot any potential challenges to their development and seek help from speech therapists. Due to their expertise, speech therapists are your best bet to ease any potential issues affecting the child. Speech therapists can identify and tackle challenges associated with learning body parts, especially for impaired children. They work beyond linguistics. They are also experts at analyzing the cognitive and sensory challenges of children. As a result, they will create a learning system suitable for your child's current growth stage. This approach is an effective way to help children towards better language proficiency. The truth is teaching body parts with speech therapy is beyond conventional instructions. It's more or less a unique journey to teach your child effective communication. How to Build a Body Part Foundation Using Speech Therapy? Are you wondering how to teach body parts in speech therapy? You're at the right place. For your child to excel at identifying their body parts, you should build a solid foundation. There are health difficulties that may hamper child development. However, adopting a step-wise approach may be the best way to build this foundation. Introduction to Basic Body Part Vocabulary The journey of body part vocabulary starts with a basic introduction. These introductory lessons are designed to suit the learning capacity of different age groups. If your child is younger than 5 years, their lessons will focus on primary body parts of speech therapy, including the hands, nose, and eyes. As they get older, complex words are introduced. By sticking to this approach, your child’s articulation will be age-appropriate and cognitively manageable. What Are the Strategies for Teaching Foundational Body Part Words When teaching toddlers and preschoolers about body parts, adopt play-based learning techniques. You may also use interactive games, activities, and songs. A play-based learning system will boost learning retention because lessons will be more enjoyable. However, your school-age will benefit from a structured program that includes visual aids, discussions and a long list of hands-on activities. How to Use Visual Aids and Interactive Materials to Teach Body Parts If you want to teach your preschooler about body parts, use visual aids and interactive materials. It's clear that children with speech difficulties may learn faster with a multi-sensory system. And that's why speech therapists enjoy using visuals such as diagrams, flashcards, and online digital platforms. These aids are tools to reinforce retention and create diversity. The truth is that interactive materials for teaching body parts are more than mere visual representations. Your child will gain more from lessons incorporating touch and movement. They create a strong connection between words and their corresponding parts. For instance, you may use certain textured items that trigger sensors on the skin. You may also reinforce concepts relating to arms and legs with a few songs. When you use interactive materials, it creates a new dynamic to the learning process, making it more enjoyable. How to Create a Unique Learning Approach for Different Age Groups To teach speech therapy effectively, you must have a clear understanding of the mental processing capacity of each age group. Then, you'll use this information to create easy-to-understand lessons and navigate any challenges that may occur. What Are the Strategies for Teaching Body Parts to Toddlers and Preschoolers As mentioned earlier, toddlers and preschoolers would fare better with a play-based learning approach engaging their senses. Young children learn faster with a hands-on approach that directly shows them what they need to know. There are many songs pointing to body parts that are ideal for training toddlers and preschoolers. As they sing, their brain will create associations between the words and help them identify their location better. You may also adopt touch activities to reinforce the lesson. If you have a preschooler, it may be time to ditch those play-based lessons. Here, you can introduce structures learning. However, ensure that you still maintain a playful tone. It's a good idea to incorporate arts and crafts into their learning. For instance, they can draw and identify different body parts. Regardless of your preferred method, it's a good idea to maintain a positive and encouraging atmosphere. Creating a positive atmosphere will give your child more confidence in their communication and comprehension skills. What Are the Techniques to Teach School-Age Children with Speech Difficulties When children get older, they encounter new challenges in learning body parts. If the child is facing any speech difficulties, it may result in additional complexities. Parents and speech therapists would need to adjust their training techniques for reasonable progress. A good idea is to introduce these kids to advanced games and learning activities that boost cognitive development. There are several educational board games designed to boost body part identification for different age groups with speech impairments. For boosted results, you can add a competitive element where young children are engaged along with their peers. While it may seem like an ordinary competition, the social aspect of learning becomes activated. Through group activities, the child’s confidence is developed, and interactions are refined. Ultimately, it creates a sense of belonging. What Are the Unique Challenges and Opportunities in Each Age Group? Every age group has its challenges and unique opportunities when learning body parts. First, toddlers have a short attention span. Therefore, any of their learning activities must be short and highly engaging. However, preschoolers are quite curious. Their curiosity offers an opportunity to teach more complex concepts. Although you may find school-age children with communication challenges exhibit a higher level of cognitive ability to comprehend complex tasks. It's crucial to understand the challenges and opportunities for each age group. This insight gives speech therapists the upper hand in creating solutions. By recognizing the never-ending process of learning, therapists finetune techniques to suit the individual needs of young children. All identified challenges offer a chance to grow and show the importance of a personalized approach to teaching body parts. It's only by understanding the uniqueness of each age group you'll be able to effectively teach your child body parts. You'll have to learn to embrace the unique characteristics of young children as they grow, constantly adjusting your lessons to meet their demands. How to Measure Progress and Set Goals When teaching body parts with speech therapy, it's important to constantly track and measure progress. You may even set milestones for your child as they develop. These milestones inform you when your child is not performing up to their potential. There's a common mistake many parents make. They set their body part articulation goals based on their own expectations. More often than not, many children may underperform or fail to grasp much. The best approach to setting goals in this aspect of speech therapy is to focus on your child's needs and innate abilities. Don't set overwhelming goals. Instead, they should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). By doing this, you'll evaluate progress easily. For instance, a reasonable goal for a toddler would be to be able to identify three basic body parts within a month. For school-age children, they should be able to tell you the names and functions of at least three body parts within a month. Setting goals is important because it gives your child a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment. They'll be motivated to graduate to the next hurdle. How to Track Progress Through Assessment Tools and Observations To properly track your youngster's progress, you'll need a combination of assessment tools and a keen eye. Your assessment tools will formally observe the child while your eye will record any other information that is left out. By closely studying your child, you will notice their reactions and expressions of body part vocabulary. A good formal assessment would be a structured task where the child is asked to identify or label body parts. You can increase the complexity of the task by asking them to state the functions of these parts. Engaging your child in a conversation about body parts is also a good idea. During the conversation, notice how much they can provide useful information, their engagement, comfort levels, and any emerging skills. Don't ignore regular formal and informal check-ins on your child. These check-ins will support real-time changes to the child's learning program. Remember that children get bored easily. So, a dynamic approach will keep them engaged longer. How to Celebrate Milestones and Successes in the Language Development Journey Celebrating developmental milestones is just as important as tracking them in teaching body part articulation. When your child is able to identify different body parts correctly with increasing complexity, it makes sense to celebrate and reward them. This will give them a sense of progress. However, it's more than that. Celebrating your child’s milestones will create a positive, motivating, and supportive environment for optimal results. You will encourage the child for more tasks. Your rewards should vary. You could give verbal praise, small gifts, or a compilation of previous achievements. Constantly celebrate your child to create a confidence that will spread to other aspects of their life. However, ensure the creation of a reasonable balance. Avoid giving too many gifts quickly. It may make your milestones somewhat irrelevant. You risk ruining the essence of this celebration. Learning how to teach primary and secondary body parts in speech therapy is not easy. However, speech therapy has effective strategies to help you and your child. There's no perfect strategy. To make this work, create a special journey for each child. Learn to strike a balance between play-based and structured learning to teach your child all body parts at the right time. Another good idea is to use online apps and platforms to help children with speech difficulties. Conclusion This piece contains many important lessons with a major emphasis on adopting an individualized approach to teaching children body parts. Over the long run, these lessons offer more than body part awareness. They transform the child's life, boosting communication and interaction skills. Ensure to identify each age group's unique challenges and opportunities because each will respond to lessons differently. Finally, set achievable milestones and celebrate your child when they surpass them to motivate them.

The Pasadena Scottish Rite Childhood Language Center board members and members from the Valley of Pasadena totaling twelve (12), attended the annual American Heroes Airshow held at Hansen Dam Recreation & Sports Complex in Los Angeles on November 4, 2023. Our booth exhibited the RiteCare logo, where much to the delight of over two hundred (200) attendees, stopped by to get bags of popcorn and toys, consisting of paper airplanes, glow sticks and colored whistles as we shared details and answered questions about our services, including a few serious inquiries made on behalf of friends and family. The informative brochures we displayed allowed us to speak in depth about our services, and many expressed interest in donating to support our endeavor to help provide speech therapy to children. Thank you for your continued support as we look forward to more events where we can highlight our services.

Practicing articulation at home is a crucial aspect for speech therapy to work well. Repetition ensures that newly learned language skills or information are ingrained in their minds. Since kids spend most of their time at home, you must integrate articulation games or activities into their routines. This allows your child to reinforce the new things they have picked up in speech therapy sessions. Preparing for Articulation Practice A great way to structure articulation activities is to make it a mix of play and articulation practice. Enter articulation games. Your kid would be motivated, too, because they would enjoy every bit of it. Depending on the stage that your child is at, have them practice a minimum of three targets (word, phrase, sentence). If you - the parent(s), participate in the articulation games too, it could be more fun! Before taking your turn at the game, mention three targets too. You could make an error on purpose to see whether they are paying attention and pick up on it. If they do, you forfeit your turn to them! Now, here are some great articulation games or activities for articulation practice that you can do at home. Articulation Treasure Hunt This is an exciting game, especially since it involves ‘treasure.’ You could get miniature medals or trinkets that would be the reward for pronouncing words correctly. So, you could put these treasures under small cups or bowls. You then place an articulation card on top of the bowl or cup. Use words with different sounds, as this is good for language development. To get the treasure underneath, your child has to pronounce the target word correctly. When they do, they get to lift the cup and get the treasure. They don’t necessarily have to be keepsakes so that you can recycle them. However, if you want to use proper gift items or freebies, you could find fun stuff like stickers or, on occasion, candy! You could also transform this into a scavenger hunt. Hide the containers all around the house, and let the scavenger hunt begin. Egg Carton Toss Get an egg carton and number the spaces. Your child then tosses a coin into the carton. For each number the coin falls on, your child has to say their target word on your word lists or worksheets that number of times. The repetition is good for the correct production of the word and language development. This game is ideal for word level. Go Fish This game is excellent for sentence level and would typically require more than one player. You make the printable picture cards you got from your Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) into flashcards. You then request two copies, stick a colored piece of paper onto each back, and cut them out. Shuffle the whole deck and deal 3 cards to the players. The first player requests a card in this format (“Do you have a cat?”). If the other player does, they hand it over to player one and said player puts both pairs down. If player two doesn’t have a cat, he tells player one, “Go fish.” Player one then selects a card from the standing pile. Whoever has the most cards when the pile is exhausted wins. You can record points on a piece of paper. Mother May I This is another of the several articulation games that is great for sentence level language skills. Using printable picture cards from your ccc-slp speech therapists, you create a path that is long and winding. There should be some sort of treat or treasure at the path’s end, like candy. Whoever gets to the end of the path first is the winner. So, your child starts the name and could say something like “Mother, may I go horse?” If they pronounce “horse” correctly, you respond, “Yes, you may.” They then get to move their pawn to the horse. If they don’t say the target word properly, you respond, “No, you may not.” Your child remains in the same position and will try again during the next round. Now, it’s your turn, and you follow the same format, saying, “Mother, may I go horse.” To encourage your child and set them up to win, try to make errors intentionally. They may also pick up on these errors and correct you, facilitating learning and developing articulation skills. Beat the Clock This would require using printable pictures from your SLP who has a ccc-slp and a timepiece that has a second hand. The nature of the game makes it excellent for all speech therapy levels. You stack a pile of target words from your word lists or worksheets, and once the timer goes off, your child starts to say them one after the other as fast as they can. Once they’ve pronounced one correctly, flip over to the next, and so on. For sentence level, they would need to make it in sentence form, for instance, “I see a DOG.” Record the time it takes them to go through all these words. The goal is for them to beat their initial best, building articulation skills along the way. Board Games This is a 2-in-1 activity because they get to learn in a fun way. Sit down to play your child’s favorite board game. Before your child takes their turn, they must say their target word, phrase, or sentence from your word lists or worksheets. This is a pretty comprehensive exercise, which makes it ideal for several speech therapy levels. Narrating Favorite Stories This is a pretty comprehensive activity, too, because it allows your child to think for themselves. For this activity, you would need picture books your child has read several times and is familiar with. However, instead of reading the text in the book (if your child is reading already), have them narrate the story in their own words using just the pictures. Of course, you may have to cover the text. Listen carefully while they are narrating and correct any speech errors they make during the storytelling. I Spy Books It is a 2-in-1 activity, just like board games, and is excellent for all levels. Get out an “I Spy” book, and before beginning the race to find an object on the page, have them practice 3 target words. Have them practice these words at least 3 times before the next round of “I Spy.” What Is Needed to Develop Articulation? Most of the work that goes into articulation development is beyond the words or the images. These mainly serve as tools to develop the mechanisms and behaviors necessary for articulation. Here are some of the building blocks necessary to make this happen: Hearing Hearing has to be well-developed to pick up or detect speech sounds. The middle ear must function well for your child to identify and differentiate between target sound as well as process and assimilate speech sounds. Anything affecting the ears, such as ear infections or colds, which impact hearing, could cause fluctuations in hearing levels, impacting hearing and speech. Concentration and Attention Being present at every point and following through on activities is crucial for articulation development. Concentration is necessary to stick with what has to be done long enough for the effects to occur. Attention follows staying present even in the face of potential distractions. In this case, it could focus on speech and target sound for the duration needed to process and retain, sharpening articulation skills. Muscle Coordination Several muscles are typically involved in making the sounds that the mouth produces, such as the vocal cords, diaphragm, tongue, jaw, palate, and lips. Proper coordination and movement of these muscles is necessary for proper speech. Beyond this, it is crucial to make a meaningful sound. Articulation disorders like apraxia are caused by a form of disconnect between the brain signals and muscles needed for speech. How Do You Improve Articulation? Improving articulation is a gradual process that has to be deliberately carried out. You have to set up the playing field such that at any point in time, you are doing something that facilitates this development. Here are some things you can do to improve articulation: Word Play Set up a game such that you use a target sound or several while the game is ongoing, and you repetitively model them. For instance, “baa baa” goes the sheep, or “hee-haw hee-haw” goes the donkey. Ensure that even when you’re not actively playing any articulation games, you talk to them a lot. This way, they listen to the correct pronunciation of several words throughout the day, and it starts to get ingrained in them. Maintain Eye Contact When your child speaks, ensure you’re keeping eye contact with them or at least looking at them. Encourage them to also look at you closely so that they can copy how you make different sounds or carry out the correct production of words. Imitation is a crucial tool for speech development and articulation. Limit Background Noise At home, limit or eliminate background sounds like those from the television or music player. This reduces distractions and allows your child to engage properly in conversation. This is particularly important when dealing with articulation disorders like apraxia. Read to Them Often Reading is a great way to enhance the process. This activity is great because it is a comprehensive one, teaching how to pronounce words correctly and stirring your child’s creativity, too. Vocabulary development is not left out either. You could also use apps such as audiobook apps. These apps have some of the best readers and can significantly help with articulation disorders like apraxia. Audiobook apps are also very convenient and require no prep, unlike other activities for home practice. Sentence Repetition If their speech is unclear, repeat the correct version to them. For instance, if the child says, “dat ee my twoy,” you reply, “yes, that’s your toy.” Acknowledging and repeating shows you listen to the child while enforcing the proper language model. So, in essence, you respond to the message your child is passing across, not necessarily the specific word pronunciation. Showing If you’re having trouble understanding what your child is saying, ask them to show you. You shouldn’t worry about explaining that you don’t understand what they said. You could also request that they repeat themself, and you try to figure it out. If this doesn’t work, go with the showing. How to Make Practicing Articulation at Home Easier Initially, this could seem like quite a bit of work; however, over time, you would ease into the system you would have created. To make the process easier, here’s some tips that can help: Routine: speech therapy activities for articulation should be a part of the established daily routine. For instance, it could be the last activity of the night post-brushing. Or you could fix it for earlier in the day after school. Have them practice speech often, too. Short Intervals: articulation practice should be done in a few minutes so that it doesn’t become tedious. Ten minutes daily would work wonders. You could even do fewer speech therapy sessions. The main idea is to keep at it since progress is gradual. Repeat: frequency is what does the trick, which is why short durations are advised for home practice. For instance, 5-minute daily practice throughout the week beats a single 30-minute practice. This can help with articulation disorders like apraxia. Spice Things Up: learning should be done in a fun way, and this shouldn’t be any different. This is why engaging in fun activities your child loves for home practice is excellent. This way, they look forward to both the game and practice. During practice speech, be sure to shower praise and celebrate milestones. Provide treats and make it a wholesome time overall. Stay the Course: your speech therapists (with ccc-slp) will notify you of the position that your child is in with relation to the speech therapy steps. You should do easy articulation activities that are in line with this step. Your SLP could also provide specific articulation speech therapy activities for that particular step and notify you when it is time to move along. All you have to do is listen and follow the instructions provided to you. Conclusion Getting your child’s speech to improve is a gradual process and one that you have to commit to. Practicing articulation therapy activities at home gets easier and more natural with practice. In addition, since your child would be extra relaxed at home, they would find it even easier to practice these easy articulation activities. Be sure to interface with your SLP often. Finally, beyond seeing this process as work, enjoy the fun activities too.

Reading comprehension can make a massive difference between just reading and understanding what you read. This is why building and enhancing your reading comprehension skills is crucial. Said skills can be developed to various levels, so you should constantly, consciously develop these skills. Here’s everything you need to know about reading comprehension and how to develop yours. What Is Reading Comprehension? Reading comprehension is simply your ability to understand or comprehend the text you are reading. This step occurs while you’re reading; however, it also happens before and after you read a text. It is an active and deliberate aspect of reading. Comprehension allows you to draw meaning out of what you’re reading and fully see and understand what the author of the text is talking about. There are two aspects of reading comprehension: Vocabulary knowledge Text knowledge. Vocabulary Knowledge This is where reading comprehension commences. If you already have a pretty solid vocabulary base, it is easier to understand the meaning of words and generally have sufficient working knowledge for decoding what a text means. Context is also crucial here to help you accurately predict what an unfamiliar word means — context clues come into play here. If you don’t have a pretty strong background knowledge of vocabulary or learning new words is extra tough, then the comprehension process would be stalled significantly. Text Comprehension This reviews the text from a general perspective to understand the concept it tries to explain. Here, you engage with the English text to understand the message it is passing across and precisely what you need to glean from it. Excellent text comprehension skills imply you can answer questions about the author’s message. You can provide a decent summary of the passage, too. In addition, you can link what you have just read to other areas of the English text or even your previous or prior knowledge. So, this step elevates you beyond just understanding the message the author is passing, serving as a stepping stone to new levels of critical thinking. Why Is Building Reading Comprehension Skills So Important? Building comprehension skills is crucial because it impacts almost every area of life. If you can comprehend what you’re reading properly, there are several benefits to be gained. For starters, you would see significant improvements in your personal and work life. Also, rather than see reading books as a bothersome chore, you could begin to really enjoy it. Cracking the code to understand texts can do wonders for your knowledge bank and enhance your ability to learn new skills and assimilate information. Here are some other perks that good comprehension skills can provide: Massive boost in writing and communicating effectively and with clarity Improved understanding of new information, such as those in newspapers, and an ability to engage and analyze the events More significant motivation to read and a newfound enjoyment of books Understanding, analyzing and comprehensively responding to memos and information passed in the workplace Improved concentration, allowing you to read for longer. You could also have a fresh understanding of prior knowledge. Strategies for Building Reading Comprehension Skills Building comprehension skills is a conscious and deliberate process that requires a bit of effort to pull off. However, as with anything, it’s only really tough initially because it’s a new habit. Over time, it gets significantly easier, and you find yourself comprehending texts more and more. Here are the various reading comprehension strategies to build independent reading skills and enhance your comprehension skills. Improve Your Vocabulary Vocabulary implies knowing the meaning of words, which can massively boost your comprehension ability. English texts are made up of random words, and background knowledge of these words allows you to understand phrases, sentences, paragraphs, and pages and is pivotal to decoding the entire text. Here are some things you can do to improve your vocabulary: First, take a vocabulary quiz online to see where you’re at concerning your current vocabulary level Practice using new words or new vocabulary both in verbal and written forms as often as you can. Note the phonics, too Explore using flashcards to test yourself on new/ unknown words at least once a week Amp up your active reading; this effectively boosts and enhances your ability to make pretty accurate guesses about what an unfamiliar word means in various contexts. List out strange-looking new words you’ve picked up in books and look them up in the dictionary when you catch a break. Sometimes, an understanding of the vocabulary can provide a fresh perspective for you regarding what the author meant. In addition, since vocabulary is so broad, don’t restrict yourself to just books. You can go to places such as literary meetups, art events, lectures, or discussions. The broader, the better because you can learn new vocabulary from different industries to help your reading and comprehension. Read Out or Read Aloud Reading books aloud is a comprehensive act that engages your hearing or listening skills. It combines both auditory (which is concerned with hearing the words) and tactile-kinesthetic (which is concerned with saying words out) to develop reading comprehension effectively. Recalling what you have read is easier when you have more than one mechanism of recall to work with. So, beyond the visual aspect, there is the auditory aspect, too. If you’re an advanced reader, use the proper intonation, keep an eye on punctuation, and try to express yourself accurately. If you’re only just beginning, say, you’re presently at the high school level, take your time with this, and you will get better gradually. Soon enough, you would be doing higher-level reading. Identify the Text’s Central Idea Noting the central idea or the main message within a given reading material can enhance text comprehension significantly. Who or what does the text concern itself with? What is their importance in the text? Once you have identified the subject, you have a solid foundation to understand the key points of the passage. This is how to build up reading skills kids and adults. Identify the Supporting Details In addition to identifying the central idea, a solid understanding of supporting details serves as building blocks to overall comprehension. The supporting details can provide context or shed more light on the central theme or character. To do this, simply recall a few details about the text you read—a summary of the summary. This can significantly help to build your active reading skills. Recognize the Structure and Main Highlights The entire point of the structure is to follow along without getting lost on the way. Is the structure of your reading material apparent? Does it simply discuss one main topic/main points or feature a beginning, middle, and end? If it’s a story, there should be a theme, a setting, main character(s), and actions that they are carrying out. Is there a conflict — and what character (s) is the protagonist and which is the antagonist? Analyzing the various aspects of a text this way can aid your understanding and allow you to have a clear image in mind. To prepare yourself, you can read the back (that should typically have a summary of the main elements in the book), read the introduction, and scan through the book’s pages, noting header titles and reading random sentences. This pre-read is necessary to familiarize yourself with the text. Section the Text If you’re having difficulty understanding a pretty tough text, or if it’s too long, then sectioning in the text could be an excellent idea. There is no hard and fast way to section, so you should do what’s best for you. You could study two to three paragraphs and pause to reflect and summarize in your mind. Sectioning your read allows you to tackle bite-sized sections at a time and improves your chances of really understanding the information present in the text. Consider Using Organizers Since the brain processes images way faster than text, integrating graphic organizers into your reading can aid comprehension. Graphic organizers that allow note-taking provide an excellent way to make sense of the main idea and details visually. When you have determined the main highlights or structure of the text, you can use the corresponding header to detail happenings in the middle, end, or beginning. You can also use the informational organizer to detail points from what you have read. Writing, which is a form of tactile-kinesthetic learning, helps you to retain better the information that you’ve read. To facilitate this and take it further, read a section and then do your note-taking exhaustively. This would draw on information that may have been shoved in the back of your mind. You can color-code your notes with colored pencils. If you feel like taking this further, you can use a 5-W organizer — who, what, when, where, why, and how or a compare-contrast organizer. Go at Your Own Pace It is crucial to learn at a pace that works best for you to avoid feeling overwhelmed. You would also be able to achieve more milestones because the goals you set are realistic and workable. This strategy is particularly effective for literature that poses a level of difficulty. You can work with a small daily goal and an overall weekly goal. Instead of doing chunk-size, like trying to finish a book in three days, you can do bite-size, like reading two to three chapters daily. This reduces pressure, allows you to enjoy the read, and provides processing time in between to reflect on what you’ve read. Similarly, you could consider reading with small groups of other learners or struggling readers. You work together step-by-step to become good readers, and in small groups, you can discuss key points or main points that aid retention. Answer Questions A great way to confirm that you’re doing great with reading is to answer questions. This also helps you develop recall skills. According to research, answering a prompt trumps passive reading or listening in learning. You could look up questions drafted by others on the internet and answer them. In addition to the simple questions, consider those that require critical thinking, too. Make it a habit to answer questions about sections of texts you read days before. This is a compelling long-term memory development strategy. If you want to draft your questions, you could use different variations of the 5-Ws. For instance: Who is… to the main character? When did … happen? How did … go down? Why did …. do what they did? Where did … happen? What is the book or text’s theme? Who were the central and secondary characters? You can amp this up to rationalizing a philosophical element or justifying an act that a character carried out in your own words. You end up drawing your inferences and boosting retention. How Do You Practice Reading Comprehension Skills? Following the reading comprehension strategies above, you would likely need to set the right stage, especially in the early days of reading comprehension practice. Here are some tips that can help. Remove Distractions The presence of distractions implies that you would have to put in a lot more effort to understand what you’re reading. As such, it would be ideal to eliminate all distractions and make the text your only focus. This could involve silencing your gadgets, searching for quiet spaces to read, and even clearing your head. Doing these allows you to be engrossed in your reading and ensures comprehension proceeds quickly. Read Texts Multiple Times Read sentences and paragraphs as many times as you need to understand the message it is conveying. You can slow down to pick them out word by word or even use various tonations to get the real meaning. If any unknown words seem pivotal to the text, look them up alongside the phonics and return to the text. This would aid understanding. Start Below Your Reading Level Rather than begin with something that would pose an instant challenge, consider starting from a lower, more manageable reading level. Say high school level before moving on to higher-level reading. This practice lays a solid foundation for your reading comprehension. To determine your present reading level, you can take a standard online quiz. Conclusion Building reading comprehension is a process, so you must go easy on yourself. Start small, read texts that interest you, and answer questions about the text. If you cannot answer the questions, reread the English text until you can respond correctly before moving on to the next. This is how to build reading skills. Remember that it gets easier with practice, and in good time, you will be excellent at comprehension.