If your child is non-verbal or struggling with a speech delay you might be looking for some ways you can help support their language development. Here are Spokle speech therapy app’s top 5 tips for how parents can support their child’s speech therapy.
1. Understand when your child is showing interest
Always be on the lookout for when your child is showing signs of interest in communicating with you. These signs might be waving, pointing, babbling or even using words. Watch out for these signs and when you spot them, use them as an indication your child would like to engage with you on this topic.
2. Use responsive parenting techniques
Encourage your child’s attempts at communication by responding to them in a timely manner and in close proximity, even if they are not using words. For example, if your child is shaking his head, understand they are communicating “no” and respond appropriately. When your child starts using words, you can repeat and expand on what your child says. For example, if your child says "ball", you can respond with, "oh you want the red ball?"
When you respond appropriately to your child, it encourages them to communicate more often.
3. Stop, look, listen and acknowledge
When you finish talking with your child, given them time to respond to you. Use the stop, look, listen and acknowledge technique to encourage your child to build on their attempts at communication.
Stop what you are doing or saying. Get down to your child’s eye-level so that they can see your face.
Look at your child’s face and see what they are trying to express. Look at their hands and their body language – what is your child trying to tell you?
Listen to the words your child is saying or the sounds they are making. This might be a sound that means something.
Acknowledge your child’s attempt at communication by responding to them in a positive and timely manner.
Spokle speech therapy app uses Stop, Look, Listen and Acknowledge as a fundamental skill in all of our speech therapy activities to help parents support their child’s speech therapy at home.
4. Talk about daily events
Talking about daily events that happen is a great way to increase your child's exposure to more words. You can talk about things that make sense to your child or things that you're seeing or doing together - the key is to use lots of different words in different contexts. For example, you can talk about an apple tree and about cutting apples for a snack.
5. Read with your child
Read and share books with your child every chance you get. Reading allows your child to hear words in different context, which helps them learn the meaning and function of words. As your child grows introduce more complex books. Point to words in the book as your read out loud. This will help your child learn the link between written and spoken words. This is important for developing literacy.
For more tips on how parents can support their child’s speech therapy as well as ideas for speech therapy activities you can do with your child at home, follow Spokle on Facebook.
