Speech Therapy Blogs

Communication Techniques for the Non-Verbal Child

Everyone needs to communicate. The ability to communicate our needs and wants is essential to living a fulfilled life. It’s estimated that nearly 25% of people on the autism spectrum are non-verbal. Despite all the advances there have been in treating people on the autism spectrum, there is still much to be learned, especially with children. An important thing to remember that not all communication is verbal, even when that’s what our area of focus generally is. Read More

How to Handle Behavior Issues

Children with speech and language delays can mirror the same kinds of behavior issues that children without disabilities may struggle with; maintain focus, motivation, and acting appropriately in the classroom. Though children without speech and language issues can usually work out their emotions through communication, their speech challenged classmates may not be able to do the same. This may create frustrating therapy sessions or a lack of cooperation between you and your clients.

Keeping in mind that children with speech and language issues who lash out likely do so because they are unable to communicate effectively with you and/or their classmates. Read More

Technology Overuse and its Effect on Communication in Kids

Technology has become a significant part of our day to day routine. We wake up, check our phones, ask Alexa to put milk on the grocery list, search recipes on Pinterest, and lose time playing games or binging movies and television. It’s no wonder that we have turned into a society addicted to our phones and tablets.

But it’s not just adults who are joined at the hip to technology. Kids of all ages are spending more time hooked up to tablets and smartphones than they are interacting with others; a habit that’s beginning to hurt them socially and cognitively. Read More

Using Craft Activities in Speech Therapy

Craft and art making is a form of expressive language. Children who have speech and language difficulties may find it easier to express themselves through creating things. Communication has a lot in common with arts and crafts. Both are forms of expression and offers people a way to think and express ideas they may not have considered before. Just like language, there are many kinds of art or craft activities you can incorporate into therapy. Craft activities in speech therapy can support many types of speech-language difficulties, especially receptive and expressive speech problems. Read More

Engaging Adolescent Students in Speech Therapy

Working with teens and tweens can be extremely rewarding. But teens and tweens face challenges that younger students don’t. Adolescent students may be resistant to therapy after many attempts to help them when they were younger. Other students may have slipped through the cracks in their younger years and are now facing their language difficulties. Read More

Helping Your Students Stay Motivated to Practice

Consistent home practice is crucial to student success, and while some students are more than willing to continue practicing their speech-language skills at home, some may be more reluctant. Other students may have barriers that can keep them from being as successful as they want to be.

Your role as a school-based SLP entails more than therapy sessions. It includes helping your students become and stay motivated even when they’re not with you. Read More

Consider a Career in the Exploding Field of Speech-Language Pathology

Speech-language pathologists, commonly called speech-language therapists, or SLPs, are one of the top jobs in the health-care industry in 2018. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projected an 18% growth through the year 2026. According to the BLS speech-language pathologists that are willing to relocate have the best job opportunities. Read More

Using Rhythm and Rhyme to Build Listening Skills

We might think of rhythm and rhyme as a great way to get the body active and moving. Catchy words and a beat that creates a moving cadence can be hard to ignore. The body begins to move and before you know it, you’re swaying to the rhythm and chanting in unison with the words. Read More

Uncovering the Long-Term Emotional Effects of Pronunciation Problems

Often the way a child speaks has little to no effect on them. Such is the case for a child who has a mild lisp. They may not even be aware of it or have grown so accustomed to it that they don’t believe anything to be unusual about the way they speak.

That’s not the case with every speech disorder. A pronunciation problem, just one form of speech sound disorder, may have a long-lasting negative impact on children; especially as they grow older and become more aware of their speech problems. Read More

Recognizing Auditory Processing Disorder

Language is both receptive and expressive. Receptive language pertains to how well we comprehend language. A child with auditory processing disorder (APD) or central auditory processing disorder will have difficulty recognizing small differences in words and causes a difficulty processing what is being said to them. Read More