How can I tell if my child has language difficulties or if they are just not fluent in English yet? Often parents will bring in a child who has limited exposure to English for a language assessment. It can be difficult to determine whether the child has just had a limited exposure to English and therefore appears to be delayed, or if they truly have a language delay or disorder. The most important marker to note is whether the child has … [Read more...]
What is the Rapid Syllable Transition treatment (ReST)?
What is the Rapid Syllable Transition treatment (ReST)? ReST is an evidence-based treatment for treating individuals with Apraxia of Speech. Aparaxia of Speech is a motor speech disorder where individuals know what they want to say but have difficulty planning the movements required for speech. The ReST treatment uses non words to allow individuals to concentrate on their movements, and remove the impact of old words which already have … [Read more...]
What is involved in an initial speech pathology consult
Communication concerns If you are visiting a speech pathologist for the first time because you are concerned that your child is not talking as much as their peers. Then, the first thing that will usually happen is your speech pathologist will make a case history. This involves going through your Child’s health and developmental history which may include birthing history, developmental milestones including speech, feeding and motor milestones, … [Read more...]
If you are using these 4 strategies then you are modelling language well for your child
1. Repeat, repeat, repeat! Repetition is truly the key when it comes to picking up a language. Just as we need to hear a new word a few times before we truly understand what it means and how to use it, children require the same. Using the same word in a different context such as identifying a car outside and a picture of a car will help your child to solidify the concept of the word, especially with children who struggle with attention and may … [Read more...]
A new treatment for school aged children with stuttering – Lidcombe and Syllable timed speech hybrid
This treatment, although not in its final stages and with its limitations, shows promising results for a hybrid treatment to reduce stuttering severity and increase the quality of life of some school-aged children who stutter. In a recent blog, I spoke about promising research that is being conducted by Cheryl Andrews and her colleagues targeted at treating school-aged children with syllable-timed speech therapy. This phase 2 study included … [Read more...]
Toddlers and two word combinations
A child’s first word is one of the most exciting language milestones, and parents are often anticipating what their child’s first meaningful utterance will be. Another important language milestone that receives a lot less attention is a child’s first two-word combination. Parents can often misjudge what their child’s first two-word combination is. This is because they hear their child produce a certain expression that technically consists of two … [Read more...]
Brain Develops Abnormally over Lifespan of People Who Stutter
Broca´s area, the region of the brain responsible for speech production, develops abnormally in people who stutter. Researchers at the University of Alberta have found abnormal development in the parts of the brain known to control speech in children who stutter. This same pattern also seems to continue to be present during adulthood. MRI examinations were conducted on both children and adult stutterers by the Institute for Stuttering Treatment … [Read more...]
‘Wh’ Question Bingo
Like so many of the super duper resources, ‘Wh’ Bingo was specifically designed for children with communication difficulties and each resource targets a select area within the communication spectrum. ‘Wh’ Bingo as the name implies is a a bingo style game which consist of a deck of different ‘wh’ questions that has matching answers located throughout the bingo cards. The aim of the game is to answer all the questions in a row correctly first as … [Read more...]
Grammar Milestones
The grammatical markers we use in language, such as the past tense at the end of words, for example –ed, are called Morphemes. Morphology is the study of how morphemes are put together. The definition of a morpheme is the ‘smallest meaningful unit of language’. These grammatical morphemes apply inflections which signals meaning to nouns (person, place or thing), verbs (action words), and adjectives (descriptive words) within our … [Read more...]
Ultrasound Guides Tongue to Pronounce “R” Sounds
This article is fascinating as it discusses the use of Ultrasound technology to help people produce one of the hardest English sounds. Using ultrasound technology to visualize the tongue's shape and movement can help children with difficulty pronouncing "r" sounds, according to a small study by NYU's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development and Montclair State University. The ultrasound intervention was effective when … [Read more...]
