Vogue, Strike a Pose: The Importance of Modeling (Language!)
This week we are doing something different; we have a guest writer - Laura Klein, who will give us insight on Speech Therapy! For those of you who are unfamiliar, Speech Language Pathologists (SLP) work to prevent, assess, diagnose, and treat speech, language, social communication, cognitive-communication, and swallowing disorders in children and adults (ASHA).
Laura has been working as a Speech Therapist for more than 4 years with various populations, ranging from pediatrics to adult. Most recently, she has experience working in a specialized school for children with special needs, targeting language development. When working with young children, either typically developing or language delayed, specific strategies can be used to facilitate language development. Here are some tips from my friend and colleague, Laura, to use with your little ones!
Language is broken into two parts - receptive language (understanding information) and expressive language (communicating your wants & needs). Below are some tips for modeling language in order to help your child improve both these areas, and become a better communicator.
It’s all about balance: The donut to my salad, the spin class to my afternoon nap... our days are a constant balancing act. Conversations are no different. In a typical conversation, about 50% of the time we are speaking, while the other half is spent listening. Just as we have this balance as adults, we should encourage the same with our little ones. Constantly asking questions can actually raise your child’s anxiety, and cause a decrease in talking. We want to encourage natural back-and-forth communication even at an early age by adding in comments between our questions. That way, the child will be exposed to more vocabulary and improve their receptive language skills instead of being “quizzed” throughout the day.
Be a broken record: Say it again! And again, and again. The “repeat” button is your best friend. The more you hear a song on replay, the more likely you are to understand the lyrics and eventually sing along. *Cue the soundtrack to Hamilton.* The same is true for speech development. The more often a child hears the word, the more likely they are to say it! Make it functional by targeting words that relate to things you know your child likes, and will come up multiple times during the day, like a favorite toy or snack.
You are what you read: Read, sleep, repeat. Reading books to your little ones, especially repetitive books, is one activity likely to get them talking. Using a highly repetitive story, like Eric Carle’s “Brown Bear” can encourage your child to “fill-in-the-blank” for a familiar phrase. To do this, read the book several times, then pause where the repetitive word would go. If the child doesn’t say the word on their own, repeat the book again and again until they are able to fill in the word themselves. The more models, the more likely they will come up with the word!
Give me, give me more: Extra for guac? Yes please. Sometimes it’s all about the add ons. That’s why, while we want to praise a child for using a gesture or word to communicate, it’s always a good idea to add more. For example, if the child says “dog” you can expand on that by saying “BIG dog” or “dog please.” If the child signs “eat”, you can provide a verbal model “eat” or, “eat cookie.” A good rule of thumb - add 1 to 2 words on to the child’s utterance in order to encourage more language.
Incorporating these tips and “model behavior” into your daily routine will strengthen your child’s receptive and expressive language skills, and help them communicate with more ease.
To learn more, you can always reach out to schedule time with SmplyTherapy
Laura Klein
M.A. CCC-SLP TSSLD