Speech and language therapy plays a pivotal role in supporting children with speech delays or disorders to improve their communication skills and reach their full potential. As a parent, understanding how to navigate the world of speech and language therapy can significantly impact your child’s progress and development. In this blog, we’ll explore key strategies and insights to help you maximize the benefits of speech therapy for your child.
Maintain open communication with your child’s SLP to understand their goals, progress, and recommended strategies. Regular discussions can help align efforts between therapy sessions and home practice.
2. Consistent Home Practice:
Implementing exercises and intervention strategies/activities recommended by the SLP into your daily routine can reinforce learning and promote skill retention. Consistency is key to making progress.
3. Encourage and Reinforce:
Offer positive reinforcement and encouragement to motivate your child during therapy exercises and at-home practice. Celebrate small victories and progress to boost confidence and engagement.
4. Create a Language-Rich Environment:
Foster a supportive environment at home that encourages communication and language development. Incorporate play, narrating daily routines, and conversations to enhance your child’s skills outside of therapy sessions.
5. Track Progress and Set Goals:
Work with your SLP to establish clear goals and milestones for your child’s speech therapy journey. Regularly track progress, celebrate achievements, and reassess goals to ensure continuous improvement.
Do you feel like your child is speech, language and/or motor skills are regressing?
You will find out if your child is on track or if you may need some support.
The Role of Parents in Speech Therapy
As a parent, your involvement in your child’s speech therapy journey is invaluable. By actively participating, advocating, and supporting your child both during therapy sessions and at home, you can make a profound difference in their progress. Remember, every child progresses at their own pace, and with dedication and support, your child can achieve meaningful improvements in their communication skills.
Navigating speech therapy can be a rewarding and empowering experience for both you and your child. By following these guidelines and working collaboratively with your child’s SLP, you can maximize the benefits of speech therapy and help your child thrive in their communication journey. Together, you can unlock your child’s full potential and lay the foundation for successful communication skills that will benefit them for years to come.
Sholeh Shahinfar is the Founder of Valued Voices, a licensed Speech Language Pathologist, Child Communication Specialist and Certified Oral Motor Therapist. She is passionate about uplifting children’s voices in the world and inspiring self-expression. In her free time, Sholeh embraces a vegan lifestyle, loves going to the ocean, exploring nature with her pup Kobe, practicing yoga, traveling, and spending time with her loved ones.
KAELYN GREEN
Kaelyn Green is a licensed occupational therapist at Valued Voices. She is certified by the University of Southern California in Sensory Integration and is an advocate for addressing underlying sensory functioning in order to improve occupational performance. She is passionate about meeting children and families where they are at and seeks to tailor interventions to the unique needs of her clients. When she is not working, you will find Kaelyn taking care of her two goldendoodles, working in her garden, or taking trips to the Central Coast.
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Positive reinforcement is a powerful tool in both neurotypical and neurodiverse child development, encouraging desired behaviors and promoting self-confidence.
Not all children respond to stimuli in the same way; recognizing and adapting to individual differences is crucial in nurturing a neurodiverse child.
Consistency in positive reinforcement helps in establishing routine and predictability, essential elements for children with neurodivergent conditions.
The use of specific praise, rather than generic, can effectively reinforce a child’s behavior; it makes them feel acknowledged and valued for their actions.
Incorporating positive reinforcement strategies in daily routines and activities creates an encouraging and supportive environment for neurodiverse children.
As parents, educators, or professionals, we all try to create a nurturing and caring environment for our children. However, we often forget that children have diverse learning needs that require additional attention and care. This is where neurodiversity-affirming practices come into play. These practices help children feel safe, accepted, and valued, enabling them to build self-esteem, cultivate positive relationships and succeed in their lives. In this blog post, we’ll discuss the importance of neuro-affirming practices with kids and how these practices can be implemented in our daily lives.
Creating a safe, accepting, and inclusive environment is the foundation of neurodiversity-affirming practices. It’s crucial to provide children with a nurturing space where they feel confident expressing themselves and their unique abilities. We need to ensure that the environment is flexible, adaptable, and accepting of children’s varying physical, sensory, cognitive, and emotional needs. For instance, if a child has a sensory processing disorder, creating a quiet area for them to take a break can help them regulate their sensory input and maintain focus.
At Valued Voices, we provide therapeutic programs such as speech therapy and occupational therapy that are respectful of neurodivergence, such as autistic differences and sensory processing differences. Learn more about how we support autistic children with neurodiversity-affirming care.
Encouraging Positive Reinforcement and Feedback
Positive reinforcement and feedback are key components of a neurodiversity-affirming practice. Instead of rewarding autistic children for achieving goals or getting things right, we must also focus on their efforts and progress. Praising children for their efforts and giving specific feedback can help them build self-esteem and a growth mindset. For example, praising a child for their efforts, such as “I’m proud of you for working really hard,” can help them feel appreciated and motivated to try harder.
By encouraging progress and effort, we can help neurodiverse children increase their confidence in their abilities. Research shows that positive reinforcement is an effective tool for helping autistic children learn new skills and behaviors. Positive reinforcement can also be beneficial in helping neurodiverse students engage in the classroom, as it provides them with a sense of purpose and belonging.
Nurturing Unique Skills and Talents
By adapting the classroom environment to accommodate individual learning styles, we can nurture the unique skills and talents of neurodiverse students. Allowing different approaches to learning can help foster creativity in autistic children, as they are more likely to think outside the box. We should also be aware of how different communication methods can support neurodiverse children. For example, visual aids such as schedules and pictures can help autistic children better understand information and support them in transitions and/or activities within the classroom.
By recognizing the diverse needs of neurodiverse students, we can create learning opportunities that are truly meaningful to them. Providing educational resources tailored to their strengths, interests, and goals can help children build confidence in their capabilities. At Valued Voices, we provide individualized assessment and therapy for children that are tailored to their specific needs and goals. Find out more about how our personalized approach can help your child succeed.
Understanding and Celebrating Diversity
Children come from varied backgrounds, cultures, and abilities. It’s crucial to celebrate this diversity and help children understand and appreciate their differences and those of others. Neurodiversity-affirming practices can help create a safe and understanding environment while promoting inclusion and respect. Making sure that different cultural events and holidays are acknowledged, as well as neurological differences, allows all children to feel seen, valued and appreciated.
It’s also important to consider the language we use when discussing neurodiversity. Using terms such as “neurotypical” instead of “disorder” can help promote acceptance and understanding of individuals with neurological differences. By having open conversations about neurodiversity, we can cultivate an environment that respects and celebrates all forms of difference.
At Valued Voices, we believe that neurodiversity should be celebrated and embraced! We provide assessments to help identify strengths and challenges in children with neurological differences, as well as therapy programs tailored to their specific needs. Get in touch to find out more about our speech therapy services for autism.
Providing Opportunities for Sensory Play
Sensory play is a crucial part of child development, allowing children to explore their surroundings using all their senses. It’s essential to provide opportunities for multi-sensory play, such as sand, water, or slime. Sensory play not only helps children strengthen their gross and fine motor skills, but it can also be used to cultivate social-emotional development, sensory regulation, and communication skills.
At Valued Voices, we understand the importance of sensory play for neurodiverse children. That’s why we offer a range of services designed to help autistic children develop their skills and abilities through fun, engaging activities. Find out more about howour services can benefit your child.
Creating Collaborative Learning Opportunities
Collaborative learning opportunities enable children to work together, share their strengths, and collaborate toward a shared goal. These opportunities can help children build relationships, learn from each other, and see the value in different perspectives. It’s essential to provide opportunities for collaborative learning as it promotes safe learning communities where children can support each other without fear.
By providing the right support and resources, neurodiverse children can reach their fullest potential.
Practicing Self-Advocacy
Teaching children to recognize and express their needs is essential to cultivating a sense of autonomy and independence. Self advocacy skills can also help them form meaningful relationships with their peers and adults as they learn how to effectively communicate in different contexts.
By helping neurodiverse children build the skills and confidence to advocate for themselves, we can equip them with the tools they need to navigate the world around them.
Celebrating Strengths & Letting Our Children Lead
Let’s shift our focus away from milestones, instead let’s ask questions about a child’s interests, strengths, play preferences and family goals. We owe it to our kiddos to learn about their unique learning styles and play preferences, and how we can support them by modifying environments to help them succeed. Let our kiddos guide the way, no matter the age, play paves the way for success. As play skills evolve, so do language skills. By providing support to our kiddos, we build trust and a relationship with them by acknowledging and celebrating their strengths and efforts, rather than putting the burden on them to change.
Conclusion: Embracing Neurodiversity in Every Child’s Journey
Neurodiversity-affirming practices are crucial for promoting children’s neurodiversity whilst fostering an inclusive, supportive, and nurturing environment. By creating a safe and accepting atmosphere, providing sensory play, opportunities for collaboration, understanding diversity, and offering positive reinforcement, and feedback, children can develop confidence, social skills, emotional regulation, and cognitive growth. Above all, sensitive listening to each child’s unique needs and taking individualized approaches to teaching and providing care for children can help foster inclusivity, empowerment, and success.
With the right support in place, neurodiverse children can thrive and reach their full potential. At Valued Voices, we provide assessments to identify strengths and challenges in neurodiverse children, as well as therapy programs tailored to their specific needs. Get in touch with us today to find out more about our services and how we can help your child.
Sholeh Shahinfar is the Founder of Valued Voices, a licensed Speech Language Pathologist, Child Communication Specialist and Certified Oral Motor Therapist. She is passionate about uplifting children’s voices in the world and inspiring self-expression. In her free time, Sholeh embraces a vegan lifestyle, loves going to the ocean, exploring nature with her pup Kobe, practicing yoga, traveling, and spending time with her loved ones.
GENNA HENDERSON
Genna has been with Valued Voices since 2019, she joined the family after graduating with her bachelor’s degree in sociology and a minor in communication sciences and disorders from Pacific University in Oregon. Genna has always been passionate about helping give opportunities to others and believes all children have a joyous light inside them that deserves to be shown to the world. She knows that giving people the chance to express themselves allows them to reach new heights internally and in their communities.
Understanding Neurodiversity: Gaining a comprehensive understanding of neurodiversity, its scope, and its implications for children’s learning and development.
Neurodiversity-Affirming Practices: Discovering evidence-based, neurodiversity-affirming practices that nurture the strengths of autistic children and support their unique learning needs.
Inclusion Strategies:Exploring various strategies to create an inclusive environment that celebrates neurodiversity and encourages participation from all children.
Parent-Teacher Collaboration: Emphasizing the importance of collaboration between parents and educators in supporting neurodiverse children.
Resources and Support: Learning about the resources and support systems available for neurodiverse children and their families.
Every human possesses a unique set of abilities, making us all vital and intricate threads in the tapestry of life’s beautiful journey. Many exhibit innate differences in their thought processes and behaviors, some falling within the realm of neurodiversity. However, our education and socialization systems predominantly cater to neurotypicality, adhering to a standard of thinking deemed “socially acceptable.” Consequently, countless children experience feelings of anxiety, isolation, and lack of support. To tackle these challenges head-on, we must embrace neurological differences and implement practices that affirm and uplift these children, ensuring they feel acknowledged, listened to, and valued.
Neurodiversity is the diversity of thought processes, behavior, and patterns that naturally occur in the human brain. ADHD, Autism, dyslexia, and Tourette’s syndrome are some examples of neurodivergent conditions. These conditions have been stigmatized in our society, leading to a lack of support for children who have them. However, it’s important to recognize that neurodiversity is a natural part of human variation and has its strengths and potential.
How Can We Promote Neurodiversity?
Understanding neurodiversity is the first step. The next critical step is promoting neurodiversity. This involves creating an inclusive environment that celebrates individual differences, implementing effective educational strategies designed for neurodiverse children, and continuously advocating for neurodiversity acceptance in all aspects of life.
The Importance of Neurodiversity-Affirming Practices
Neurodiversity-affirming practices are those that recognize neurodiversity and create a welcoming environment for children who have neurodivergent conditions. These practices aim to empower, value, and support the child’s unique strengths. By embracing these practices, we can create a society where neurodivergent children have equal opportunities and can reach their full potential. Some examples of neurodiversity-affirming practices include Universal Design for Learning (UDL), strength-based assessments, and sensory-friendly environments.
Three Types of Neurodiversity-Affirming Practices
Universal Design for Learning
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an educational framework that offers flexibility in how students learn, how they demonstrate their understanding, and how they are assessed. UDL considers individual differences in learners and provides options for engagement, representation, and expression. For instance, a neurodivergent child may benefit from visual aids, prefer verbal instructions, or require a slower pace of learning. By providing options in the learning process, UDL recognizes the uniqueness of each child.
Strength-Based Assessments
Traditional assessments focus on identifying weaknesses and deficiencies in children. However, a strength-based approach focuses on recognizing the child’s individual talents, interests, and abilities. This approach aims to help children build self-esteem and motivation by focusing on their strengths and potential. It also informs the development of educational and therapeutic plans that support the child’s interests and talents.
Sensory-Friendly Environments
Many neurodivergent children experience sensory processing issues, meaning they have different reactions to different sensory stimuli. A sensory-friendly environment takes into consideration these differences and accommodates the child’s sensory needs. For instance, a sensory-friendly environment may include an area where children can retreat if they feel overwhelmed, natural lighting, and materials that cater to different learning styles.
Conclusion: Embracing Neurodiversity in Our Society
Neurodiversity-affirming practices are essential for creating an inclusive and supportive society for all children. By understanding the unique strengths of neurodivergent children and adopting a strength-based approach, we can empower them to reach their full potential. By integrating neurodivergent and neurodiversity-affirming practices into our thought processes, behaviors and actions, we can create a world where every child has a voice; and where all children are celebrated, seen, and valued. By embracing neurodiversity, we can create a brighter future for all children.
Looking for support with implementing neurodiversity-affirming practices with your child?
If you’re the parent of a child on the autism spectrum disorder, we can help. Our neurodiversity affirming therapy is part of our full-service speech therapy services, which help children with autism develop self awareness, self advocacy, and self esteem.
Our treatment is designed to not only treat your little one’s Autism but to also support your whole family. If you’re the type of parent that wants to be involved in the creation of developmental opportunities at home, we’re here to provide you with the information, skills and tools to do so. Neurodiversity affirming care works best when you’re empowered to continue support at home long after your session is over.
Learn more and get started with speech therapy for autism, and explore our blog for more support on embracing the neurodiversity movement. Together we can create a more caring and inclusive world for autistic children to thrive.
Sholeh Shahinfar is the Founder of Valued Voices, a licensed Speech Language Pathologist, Child Communication Specialist and Certified Oral Motor Therapist. She is passionate about uplifting children’s voices in the world and inspiring self-expression. In her free time, Sholeh embraces a vegan lifestyle, loves going to the ocean, exploring nature with her pup Kobe, practicing yoga, traveling, and spending time with her loved ones.
GENNA HENDERSON
Genna has been with Valued Voices since 2019, she joined the family after graduating with her bachelor’s degree in sociology and a minor in communication sciences and disorders from Pacific University in Oregon. Genna has always been passionate about helping give opportunities to others and believes all children have a joyous light inside them that deserves to be shown to the world. She knows that giving people the chance to express themselves allows them to reach new heights internally and in their communities.
Have you ever wondered at what age your child should be making certain sounds? Or maybe you have wondered why your child is mispronouncing some sounds but not others. Maybe others are having a hard time understanding your little one, and you are left wondering what you can do to help improve your child’s speech. At Valued Voices, our self-created Articulation Screenerhelps answer these questions for you. Articulation screeners are a great tool used by Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs) to identify which sounds your child can or cannot say and to determine if your child’s errors are developmentally appropriate or if they can use some support in the area of speech sound production. It is important to note, that a screener is a not a standardized evaluation, if this is needed, your SLP will certainly guide and support you in this direction.
Before we get into the details of articulation, articulation therapy and tips to support your kiddo, please understand that there are several other factors that can impact speech intelligibility, including but not limited to, hearing loss, oral motor deficits, sensory issues, and apraxia of speech. We will not be addressing any of these in this article.
Does your child have difficulty saying certain sounds? Is your child’s speech difficult to understand?
Children who demonstrate difficulty producing particular sounds and have difficulty being understood by others would likely benefit from a type of speech therapy referred to as articulation therapy.
Articulation is part of the “speech” side of speech and language therapy that involves the movement of our articulators (i.e. lips, tongue, teeth, jaw) to form speech sounds. Articulation disorders are characterized by the inability to properly form speech sounds, and can include one or more of the following production errors:
Substitutions: “tat” for “cat”
Omissions: “uh” for “up”
Distortions: “thoap” for “soap”
Additions: “buhlack” for “black”
Different sounds are acquired at different ages of acquisition, meaning each sound is expected to emerge and be mastered by a certain age. For a free copy of our speech sound chart, sign up for our email list today!
What is a Phonological Process?
Phonological processes are patterns of sound errors that children use to simplify speech as they are learning to talk. Complex words are simplified in a predictable way until the coordination of the oral motor muscles (i.e. tongue, lips, jaw, teeth, palate) develops to articulate clearly. For example, your child may produce “banana” to “nana” or “bue” for “blue.”
Phonological processes are considered age appropriate, until they persist beyond a certain age. For example, if your 5 year old still uses the phonological process of “fronting” (saying “tootie” for “cookie”) that would be considered delayed since most children eliminate that process by the time they are 3.5 or 4 years of age Further, a phonological delay may be considered if your child is using patterns of speech that are not expected in speech development.
If your child is using multiple phonological processes together, this usually decreases your child’s intelligibility, making them difficult to understand. Depending on the severity of your child’s overall intelligibility, this can result in in frustration, decreased motivation to communicate, and low self-esteem. An SLP can guide you and your little one by giving you strategies and exercises to help and to empower your child’s voice, because every voice deserves to be acknowledged.
If you’re uncertain how intelligible your child should be based on their age, take a look at our chart below. As always, keep in mind, milestones are meant to be a guide to support you and your kiddo. Each child has their own set of unique strengths and ways of developing.
Articulation Delay or Phonological Disorder?
Sometimes, it can be tricky to know if a child presents with an articulation delay or a phonological disorder, both of which are considered speech sound disorders. To put it simply:
Articulation disorders manifest when a child has difficulty producing a certain sound (or sounds) and can be remediated by addressing the sounds in error.
Phonological disorders are more complex, they are patterns in a child’s speech used to simplify speech sound production. Many children with phonological disorders present with unintelligible/unclear speech as they often present with multiple speech sound errors and phonological processes.
So, to sum it up:
A speech sound disorder is considered an articulation disorder when:
Speech sound errors persist beyond the average age of mastery
Intelligibility is mild to moderately impacted
A speech sound disorder is considered a phonological disorder when:
Phonological processes persist beyond the average age of elimination
Phonological processes/patterns are used that are not usually seen
Intelligibility is highly impacted due to use of multiple phonological processes
Remediation or therapy for each speech sound disorder will vary depending on each child’s case. Typically, children with an articulation disorder respond well to articulation therapy where sounds in error are targeted one or two at a time. Now, let’s dive a bit deeper!
What Does Articulation Therapy Look Like?
The first thing we want to know is what sounds is your child having difficulty with, most parents usually can list this without a problem. Here comes an extra layer: do you know what position of the word (beginning, middle, or end) your child is having difficulty with and do you know what sound they are substituting in its place? With a screener and/or formal articulation evaluation, an SLP can help answer these questions for you. But what’s next? Here are a few things we need to know:
Stimulability: Is your child stimulable for the sound given a direct model, meaning if they say “tea” for “key” and you give them a model for /k/, can they produce the sound with direct imitation? If so: CELEBRATE! This is a huge first step. If your child cannot imitate the sound, no need to worry, that just means we will have to do a little extra work with the articulators (tongue, lips, jaw palate, teeth, etc.) to get them just in the right spot, this is referred to as elicitation.
After a sound is learned, meaning your kiddo can imitate the sound, then practice the sound in isolation. Practicing a sound in isolation means saying the sound without adding a vowel. So, in our example above, your child is no longer producing “kuh” but they are just producing /k/ in isolation. Once your child can successfully repeat the sound with 90% accuracy, over a few times of practicing, you can move on.
After the step of isolation, move the target sound to syllables. This means that you are putting vowel sounds before and/or after the target sound, make sure to use all the vowel sounds-long and short. I always start where my kiddo is most successful. Taking our example target sound /k/, here is what this may look like:
o Initial Syllable Production: kee, koo, kay, ki, etc.
o Medial Syllable Production: akee, okoo, eekay, ooki, etc.
o Final Syllable Production: eek, ook, ak, ik, etc.
Once your kiddo can say the sound in syllables, you can move onto sounds in words, again, we are targeting all positions that are in error.
From there, you can move onto sounds in phrases, sentences, stories, conversation and finally…GENERALIZATION! Generalization is when your child uses their target sound across all contexts of language and with various communication partners.
How do I Support My Kiddo’s Speech at Home?
Articulation practice is all about teaching new motor patterns of our mouth, and to establish a new motor pattern you need daily practice! Spending 5-10 minutes a day, every day to practice these new motor patterns can significantly increase your child’s progress with their articulation skills. Below are some fun and engaging ideas to work on your child’s speech skills at home or on the go when they are not in speech therapy:
I Spy: This is a fun way to work on a target sound or sounds, while keeping it engaging for your kiddo! This is a great game to play in the car, on a walk, or in the comfort of your home.
Charades: Take turns acting out target words and guessing what the word is, this is great articulation practice!
Crafts: Make a craft (painting, necklace, flower crown, superhero cape, etc) and for each piece of the craft, practice your target sound.
Flashlight Search: Tape target words to the wall, turn off the lights and use a flashlight to find the words.
Roll-A-Dice: Roll a dice and say your target word that many times (you can use include this trick for any of the activities suggested here).
Scavenger Hunt: Search your home, park, restaurant, store, or car for things that include your target sound! Take a picture or draw the item to create your own sound book or self created worksheets! Then, practice the entire list including all your speech sounds.
Stacking Cups: Tape target words into cups and build a tower, see how many words you can say and cups you can stack before it falls down!
Bowling: Tape target words to the bottom of bowling pins or plastic cups and say the words that you knock over!
Basketball: Write down targets on a piece of paper, say the word, crumple up the paper and toss it in the hoop. If you want to bump it up and have your kiddo work on the next level (word, phrase, sentence, conversation), you can make those worth more points!
Picture Collage: Cut out pictures from magazines of things that include your kiddo’s target sound.
Mystery Box: Place items or photos that include your child’s target sound in a box, shake it up, describe it and have your kiddo guess what the object is using correct articulation.
Categories: Pick a category and name as many items in that category as you can that contain your target sound.
Go Fish: Use target sounds, making two copies of each word and play Go-Fish while your kiddo practices their target sound (you can use the same cards to play Memory too!)
Board Games: You can use any board game and practice target sounds on each turn.
Books: Using books is not only a great way to work on target sounds, but it is great way to work on language skills too!
Equally, if not more important than the fun games, is making sure we understand a few key elements that are necessary in establishing articulation practice at home:
Make speech therapy practice as part of your daily routine
Keep it short, aiming for 5-10 minutes a day. If you get at least 3 good practice times in over the week, you are significantly boosting your child’s progress towards their goals.
Frequency over duration! Three times a week for 10 minutes is better than one time 30 minutes.
Make it fun! Get the entire family involved or make it a special time with you!
Meet your child where they are at. Articulation is a hierarchy and so it is important you be practicing at just the right step for your child. If your child is in speech therapy, be sure your SLP is guiding you on exactly what level you should be practicing at home.
I always explain to families that although articulation seems simple, it in fact includes many layers and nuances that can make it quite complex. As always, if your child is having difficulty in this area, consult with a professional for some added support and see if speech therapy is right for your child.. Every child’s voice deserves to be heard and acknowledged, and with your help and support I know they will!
Sholeh Shahinfar is the founder of Valued Voices, and a licensed Speech Language Pathologist, Child Communication Specialist and Certified Oral Motor Therapist. She is passionate about uplifting children’s voices in the world and inspiring self-expression. In her free time, she loves going to the ocean, exploring nature with her pup Kobe, and spending time with her family and friends!
