If you had a child in speech therapy

[kristac]

What method or tool seemed to help them most?

DS is 19 month and has been in speech therapy for 6 months. So far the most helpful thing for him has been talking into objects (like cups, etc.) He likes the echo.

[SnuggleBuggles]

My ds2 started 2 months ago and he is 3.5yo. I haven't been too impressed with anything they have done so far, to be honest. She is stuck on one particular thing and I wish she'd try some other ideas. We don't have much success with it at home (visual cues for enunciation) and she knows this. Sorry, a bit jaded at the moment with the experience and regretting not asking for a dif't therapist or therapy methods sooner.

Beth

[AngelaS]

My dd had speech from about age 4 to almost 6.5. At first her progress seemed insanely slow! She was trying to learn what sounds letters make and learn to say then right and it was SOOOO slow! We played a lot of games-- either with the pictures that her speech pathologist gave her or we played go fish. I found a set when she was learning fffff that had a puffer fish and other ffff and ssss sounds and playing that over and over and over really helped.

[sste]

Where are your child's delays? Is it receptive language or expressive speech? Is your child communicative in non-verbal ways? I am assuming at that age articulation is not at issue.

We had a terrific speech therapist - - EI was happy to see the back of me I think. I insisted on personally interviewing people, checking references, etc.

Anyway our sessions were all the same: some exercises to stimulate DS's mouth and "get him going" (e.g., I recall a lollipop) and then playing with different toys and eventually making him say or sign something (first sounds, then phonemes, then simplified words such oo-oo for choo-choo) to get the toy or get to zoom the car down a special ramp, then a section of receptive language work where she pointed at things and identified them and eventually DS identified them, then homework for all of us. The homework was the most helpful part.

[Elilly]

Phones, microphones, whispering then saying it loudly, changing the location of the therapy (we often set up a special tent in the living room that he could only go and playin when we practiced speech) etc to change things up. We also used games a lot too.

[karstmama]

so far the best tool for ds has been looking at pictures of him & his family & asking him questions. he's a scripted speaker, so that makes him have to use his own words.

[kristac]

Where are your child's delays? Is it receptive language or expressive speech? Is your child communicative in non-verbal ways? I am assuming at that age articulation is not at issue.

We had a terrific speech therapist - - EI was happy to see the back of me I think. I insisted on personally interviewing people, checking references, etc.

Anyway our sessions were all the same: some exercises to stimulate DS's mouth and "get him going" (e.g., I recall a lollipop) and then playing with different toys and eventually making him say or sign something (first sounds, then phonemes, then simplified words such oo-oo for choo-choo) to get the toy or get to zoom the car down a special ramp, then a section of receptive language work where she pointed at things and identified them and eventually DS identified them, then homework for all of us. The homework was the most helpful part.

What kind of "homework" did they assign?

DS is delayed in both receptive and expressive (more delayed in expressive). He currently has 1 "word"... mmmmmmmmmaal for milk. He does a few (~6) signs as well.

[sste]

We usually had a sound each week. So, once our child could sign more and could make an "m" sound we had to make him say "m-or" or "m'uh" - - just some approximation of more before we would give him more of something. I recall that "oo" has an early one too as alot of kids are highly motivated to say "oo-oo" for choo-choo. The therapist built each week on the sounds gradually increasing his repetoire and building them into words.

I also developed a habit of pointing to everything in sight and ID'ing it in that speech therapist sing-song voice. So, at the farm I would be pointing away, "Ba-rn" or "Co-ow."

Ask your therapist for homework and perhaps more generally what her plan is.

[megs4413]

i would have to say the homework! doing the drills at home like a game every day was more valuable than the couple hours a week he was in speech therapy. i'm so glad our SLP devised an extensive at-home program for us to supplement the EI services he was getting...

[AnnieW625]

DD1 was in speech therapy from 2/1/2 until 3 and she was in group therapy. It was set up more like a mini preschool where they played, then it was circle time where they'd work on name recognition, then they each pick an activity to do, then it was snack time, and then it was craft time. I was in a small observation room during the class behind a mirror so they couldn't see us. I think that the classes worked well for DD1. By the time she was 3 she no longer needed classes through our school district. So I think it was a success.

Wow, I am surprised that you got an EI for speech for a less than 2 yr. old. I don't have much input for that age because I didn't worry about DD1's speech until she was 2 yrs. old.

[Swimfreak78]

DS started EI just around 18 months. It was primarily play based early on - his was a expressive rather than a receptive delay. He's aged out of EI now and is in "regular" speech therapy - and talking in 5 - 7 word sentences. He does still have trouble with articulation. In terms of things that worked well - I labeled everything! When we were out, I'd ask him what he saw (i.e. green grass, cars, houses). We typically got homework as well and still do.

[mom2binsd]

When I worked with the little one's like yours I brought a variety of toys with me, not too many, but one's that were helpful in eliciting sounds. We'd use bubbles, noise makers, balloons, puppets, so many different kinds of toys to model and shape sounds.

Do you feel like the therapist has a plan when she is providing therapy, can you ask her for ideas on how you can work on speech with your DC.

Much of the therapy with really little one's is parent training, as the parent is the one who has the most impact on their development. You can have the most creative SLP but if they aren't demonstrating/educating the parents what to do, the child won't benefit from just the 1-3 hours a week of therapy.

Sound like you might need to ask your therapist for a little more information.

Hopefully what she says will make sense and you'll see progress soon.