Epitome: Shutterstock

  • What is speech therapy?
  • How to know if your kid needs speech communication therapy?
  • Tips for parents on speech therapy at dwelling house
  • Spoken language therapy activities and exercises
  • Age-wise activities for spoken language development

Speech therapy for children has numerous benefits. Children with speech delays may have bug with the smoothen flow of words. They may not be able to speak complete sentences as the words or syllables intermission when they convey their thoughts. They may falter and may not be able to speak with clarity. Such bug could become a barrier to a child's advice and may lead to bug with self-confidence and self-esteem. Read this mail service as we talk about the indications of speech communication therapy in children and more.

What Is Speech Therapy?

Speech therapy is a linguistic communication intervention method that focuses on improving a kid'due south speech, their ability to discern oral communication and overcome problems similar poor articulation, disfluency (repetition of a sound, word, or phrase), and phonological and voice disorders.

It helps a child express themselves better through verbal and non-verbal language. It focuses on:

  • Articulation and fluency to form sounds, words, and sentences. Children affected with speech problems are not good at articulating words and speaking fluently. Spoken language therapy aims to work on this difficulty to help articulate words ameliorate.
  • Regulation of the volume of spoken language. Often kids with speech problems speak in either low volume or high. Speech therapy focuses on helping kids clear words conspicuously and regulate pitch and volume.
  • Expressive language through pictorials, signs, and written forms. Children who suffer from speech disorders discover it difficult to convey a message to others using words, sentences, and writing. They also struggle to use grammar correctly and frame words in a sentence and describe incidents. Speech therapy aims to piece of work on these areas.

In full general, children are reluctant to talk or talk with breaks. Information technology is hard to sympathize what they want to say. But information technology doesn't mean the child needs a therapy.

[ Read: Language Development In Children ]

How To Know If Your Kid Needs Voice communication Therapy?

You need to understand the levels of the problem when speech therapy becomes necessary. Here are some criteria (1):

1. Your child needs speech therapy if:

  • People find information technology hard to understand what your child says as the speech is non articulate.
  • Your child struggles in uttering words or translating their thoughts into words.
  • The kid'south speech is disturbed with stuttering, repetition, prolongation, and blocks.
  • The child utters only one or two words similar mama, papa rather than two-to- three-word sentences.
  • Your child has non developed on social skills like making friends, having directly contact, learning play skills, and engaging with others.

ii. Your child may have perfect pronunciation and may besides exist an early reader. But they may still need voice communication therapy to hone their businesslike language skills or the procedure of using language aptly in social scenarios to have a chat, make new friends or simple requests to someone.

iii. A kid may also need speech communication therapy due to disabilities, or medical weather condition similar autism or hearing impairment as they touch on the power to communicate.

Consult a speech-language pathologist (SLP) in the above cases. The SLPs often brainstorm services for these kids at a young age and continue through the schoolhouse years.

Even if your child is enrolled in a oral communication therapy service, you may however exercise speech therapy exercises at abode to support the handling.

If the speech, is delayed then the offset thing to consider is if the hearing of the child is fine. This can be assessed at home to meet if the child responds to loud sounds or turns towards the music or sound from the television.

Tips For Parents On Speech Therapy At Home

One of the most of import things to do is to avoid any negative comments about your kid'southward speech. If your kid is stuttering, don't pressurize them. Instead, follow the beneath tips:

  1. Encourage conversation: Ask your child thought-provoking things similar, "What would you practice if you have a bird for a friend?" By asking questions that extort detailed response, yous are encouraging your child to express their ideas.
  1. Mind carefully. Listen to your child with attention even if they are taking time to consummate their sentences. When you are listening, your child gets the confidence to speak. They endeavor their best to talk fluently.
  1. Y'all can endeavor this exercise: Get your kid and their friends or siblings together and brand a circumvolve. Whisper a sentence to i child, and they volition laissez passer information technology on to the other and so on. Ultimately, the sentence announced by the last child should exist the same that yous told the starting time kid.
  1. Make your child read: Buy some interesting story books or pick up a news piece that is of interest to your child and enquire them to read information technology aloud. Tell them to repeat information technology twice or thrice. Such activities foster speaking besides equally language skills.
  1. Do an assessment: Evaluate your child and see in which areas your child is delayed. This volition aid yous know if speech issues are standalone or are connected with other developmental problems. You can clarify by comparison your child's performance with the normal milestones in children of that age.
  1. Target areas: Choose specific problem areas that you want to accost and resolve. Continue the goals achievable both for you and your child. Focus on age-specific goals that the children of that age commonly reach.
  1. Address ane audio at a fourth dimension: Begin with breaking downwards a trouble into simpler and smaller versions and and so teaching them specifically.

If y'all desire to teach your kid how to use the f sound correctly, start by showing them how to utter the sound outset (fff), then teach syllables (fuh/ oof), and so move on to words (f for fish) and finally use those words in sentences and conversation.

Y'all can endeavour several activities to improve your child's speech. But remember that your child should relish them. They may non cooperate if they feel bored.

[ Read: Communication Disorders In Children ]

Voice communication Therapy Activities And Exercises

Each of the exercises we share below engages the child and stimulates speech production.

i. Flashcards and question cards

Flashcards and question cards as speech therapy for kids

Paradigm: Shutterstock

Place a few flashcards with pictures in forepart of your child and enquire them to say what they see on the card. Start with a few cards and increase the pictures as you progress. If your kid struggles with sure words, you volition understand where you need to invest more fourth dimension.

Question cards have unproblematic questions for children. Cull ane card at a time and dull down to have a conversation. This can be a one thousand strategy to pull your kid into a conversation.
The questions tin can be like, "If y'all were to receive ane present correct now, what would it be?"/ "If you could modify one thing about school, what would that be?"

ii. Mirror practice

Mirror exercise as speech therapy for kids

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Mirrors provide visual feedback. Nearly children with articulation problem exercise not know how to move their oral cavity to form sounds accurately. Speaking in front of a mirror helps a child sentinel how they move their mouth when making that particular sound.

Stand in front of the mirror and produce each sound for your child. Then, help them discern the differences through the mirror.

three. Hop and speak

Hop and speak as speech therapy for kids

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This game makes your child repeat the word nine times. Start with the words you want your child to do.

Draw hopscotch with 1-9 numbers and enquire the kid to utter the discussion each fourth dimension they hop on a number. Once they consummate hopping upwards to 9, modify the discussion and let them hop again, this time with the new give-and-take.

Yous can brainstorm with fewer words and increase them gradually.

Once they complete the game by proverb the words correctly, reward them with a gift. This increases the child's confidence.

[ Read: Dyslexia In Children ]

4. Play catch

Play catch as speech therapy for kids Play catch as speech therapy for kids

Prototype: Shutterstock

Take a ball and throw information technology back and forth. Play take hold of with your kid as they exercise their words. This mode they are doing 2 exercises at a fourth dimension.

5. Go for a walk

Go for a walk as speech therapy for kids Go for a walk as speech therapy for kids

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If you are walking somewhere with your child, have them take i step ahead for every correct repetition. You may try this when you are in a park or entering your firm.

In addition to playing such games with your child, you lot need to brand them do their oral muscles.

Oral Motor Exercises

Oral motor refers to the utilize of muscles inside the rima oris, including the lips, cheeks, jaw, and tongue. All these parts are tied to muscles, which can be stiff or weak, coordinated or uncoordinated.

We need stiff oral motor skills to be able to talk, eat, swallow or drink. Here are different oral motor exercises for your kids to practice in the condolement of habitation.

1. Lip movements

Lip movements as speech therapy for kids

Image: Shutterstock

These lip movements make for an splendid oral do for kids.

  • Say ooo, then eee. Combine "oo-ee." All these utterances have different motility patterns.
  • Enquire the kid to grin big, relax and repeat.
  • The child tin can puff out their cheeks while non opening the lips. Alternatively, they may puff one cheek and rest the other.
  • Ask the child to accident a balloon or whistle.
  • The same can be washed with lips. Puff the upper lip followed by the lower lip. Relax. Echo.
  • Make the child potable from a straw instead of a cup.

2. Tongue movements

Tongue movements as speech therapy for kids

Image: iStock

Try these 'natural language twisters'.

  • Make your kid practice tongue tip sounds similar "t-t-t-t," "d-d-d-d" "p-p-p-p."
  • Say "go" with exaggeration
  • Have your child concord their tongue and not rest it on the lips or teeth. They accept to tighten the natural language and then relax.
  • Enquire the child to beetle the natural language and make circular movements.

[ Read: Tips To Improve Concentration In Kids ]

iii. Cheek movements

Cheek movements as speech therapy for kids

Image: iStock

Y'all can strengthen the child's cheek muscles with these movements:

  • Inquire your child to keep their lips sealed and contract the cheeks.
  • Make an "o" with the lips and movement them in a round motion. Relax and echo.
  • Use a straw to drink water.

A few other exercises for oral motor skills:

4. Blow bubbles

Blow bubbles as speech therapy for kids

Image: iStock

Permit your child blow bubbles for breath-command as well as for the lips. It makes children purse their lips, which is an oral motor exercise.

5. Tune the harmonica

Tuning harmonica as speech therapy for kids

Paradigm: Shutterstock

Blowing the harmonica helps in breath-control and lip-pursing. If your kid's breath-control is weak, have them make louder sounds from the harmonica, and if their lip forcefulness is weak, focus on playing one notation at a time.

half-dozen. Peanut butter

Licking peanut butter as speech therapy for kids

Epitome: iStock

Who doesn't love peanut butter? Rub some on the child'south lips and accept them lick information technology. Employ the butter from 1 corner to the other so that the tongue reaches from one side to another.

Besides these activities, y'all can encourage your kid to talk and develop their speech with simple activities right from their infancy.

[ Read: ADD In Children ]

Age-wise Activities For Oral communication Development

Here are some activities you can try at home.

Remember that children learn to speak naturally and hence you should not put any pressure level on them. These activities may be taken up only if the kid is liking them. Do non strength the child to do these activities.

Birth to two years

At this historic period, the baby cannot speak only make some sounds. Hence you lot cannot know if they need whatsoever oral communication therapies. Yous tin have up the beneath exercises if you lot want to encourage your infant to brand sounds/ utter syllables.

  • Make sounds like "ma," "ba," "da". Eventually, your baby might repeat them.
  • Pretend to have a conversation with your babe whenever they brand sounds. Talkback and repeat whatever they say. This encourages them to 'talk' more.
  • Teach your infant to clap hands.
  • Talk to your infant while bathing, walking or feeding them. You may talk about annihilation.
  • Use gestures similar waving and pointing.
  • Talk to your infant nearly animal sounds, like, "The domestic dog says bow-wow".
  • Use vowels in the words.

2 to 4 years

  • Speak with clarity and so that the child learns that from you.
  • Echo what your kid speaks to tell them that yous understand.
  • Add on to what they say. Example: "Mango juice? I have juice. I have mango juice. Do you desire mango juice?"
  • Assistance your child sympathise and ask questions. Play the aye/no game. You lot may have them come up with sentences similar, "I can fly," "A tree tin walk", and so yous answer in yep or no.
  • Put familiar objects in a box. Have your kid take ane out at a time and tell you what its name is and how to apply it. "This is a pencil. I utilize a pencil to depict sketches. I likewise write using this pencil."
  • Ask the child to read aloud slowly pronouncing each word seperately.

You may also use spoken communication development toys and oral communication therapy books.

Exercise not exist in a bustle to start speech therapy for your child. Requite them time to ameliorate their speaking skills. You lot demand to be patient and positive while helping your kid learn to speak. Children benefit the almost when their parents sympathize with them.

Have you tried speech therapy for your children? Let us know in the comment section below.

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Dr. Mubina Agboatwalla is a well-known pediatrician, practicing paediatrics since the last 20 years in Karachi Islamic republic of pakistan. She is the head of the department of Pediatrics in Karachi Liaquat Hospital, as well as her private practise in three specialist clinics in Pediatrics. She is as well a Public Wellness Specialist specializing in preventive health including diet, breastfeeding and infectious diseases especially... more

Dr. Ritika Shah is a dental surgeon with more than 7 years of clinical experience across various cities in Republic of india. During her clinical practice, pediatric dentistry was her item expanse of interest, and she constantly thrived to inculcate the latest advancements in the field of dentistry into her exercise. Dr. Shah's deep interest in the well-being of babies and children... more than