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As a parent, supporting your child in speech and language therapy can be challenging and stressful when you don’t have the know-how. However, you should start helping your baby through home-based speech therapy as soon as possible. Therefore, this calls for you to learn the best ways to support your child learn how to speak.
A child with speech difficulties can significantly benefit from your encouragement and support through simple home-based speech therapy sessions. So, are you searching for ways to improve your child’s speech? If so, there are fun and involving ways to support your little one learn how to speak.
Below are several ways to support your kid in speech therapy.
Capture Your Child’s Attention
According to ASHA, the most effective way to get your child’s attention is to get down to his/her thinking level and engage with him/her. By thinking, acting, and talking at the same level as your, you can attract their attention. You can also call your child by his/her name to capture attention before talking or asking a question. Eventually, an attentive child is likely to learn how to utter words, enhancing his/her speech capability.
Give Your Child Enough Time to Reply
As a grown-up, your thinking capacity is high, and you can process information fast. However, your child will need more time to process information before responding. Therefore, you must encourage your child by giving him/her enough time to respond. Avoid pressuring your child to respond as this can affect their thinking. Instead, ensure you maintain eye contact as you patiently wait for his/her response.
Encourage Your Child to Read
Reading is part and parcel of the therapies for children with speech problems. You can start by introducing your child to reading simple books with repetitive words and phrases. Also, encourage your kid to read the same book several times to help him/her exercise and develop self-confidence. As your child grows, provide him/her with slightly challenging books to advance speech and language skills. In the end, guiding and encouraging your child to read different books can significantly improve his/her speech.
Use a Wall Mirror
Modeling is used for in-home pediatric physical therapy in Orlando FL as an essential aspect in speech therapy programs. You can use a wall mirror to make speech learning fun for your child while helping him/her learn how to pronounce words. For instance, you can select challenging words and illustrate their pronunciation by moving your mouth slowly. Then, you can allow your child to repeat those words in front of the wall mirror. Eventually, this helps him/her to learn how to move the lips when uttering specific words.
Shorten Directions into Smaller Steps
A child with speech or language difficulties often has challenges understanding long directions. Therefore, the fewer words you use to give directives, the better for your child. In case you want your child to do a specific task, try as much as possible to shorten the directives you give him/her. Ultimately, breaking down the instructions can help him/her learn much and eventually improve his/her speech.
Encourage Your Child Rather Than Criticising
Always encourage your child’s effort towards speaking even when he/she isn’t getting the words right. If your child says a word wrongly, show him/her the right way instead of pointing out the mistake. For instance, if your child utters “I wanted to school,” you can reply, “wow you went to school.” By avoiding pointing out the mistake, you encouragingly correct your child, helping him/her learn speech quickly.
Tell Your Child Stories
Come up with exciting stories where you narrate fascinating animal characters to your child. Ensure the stories you narrate suit your child’s interests, have happy endings, and aren’t scary. You can also allow your child to tell a story if he/she can do so.
Conclusion
Learning how to speak can be challenging for children. Therefore, if your child has speech and language delays, things can only become more challenging. However, there are various ways you can support your child through home-based speech therapies. For instance, you can start by capturing your child’s attention, giving enough time to respond, encouraging reading, and using a wall mirror for pronunciation. You should also give short instructions, avoid criticizing and tell exciting stories. Ultimately, through these home speech therapies, you can enhance your child’s speech.
Author: Sheryl Wright