Welcome Fall!
I am a speech-language pathologist at ECLC. I am responsible for evaluating and treating speech and language disorders for our preschool students. A speech disorder is when a child is unable to produce speech sounds correctly or fluently. When a child has difficulty understanding others, or sharing thoughts, ideas and feelings completely, then he or she has a language disorder.
Parents often ask me how they can facilitate their child’s speech and language development. It is important to remember, every child is unique and will reach their milestones in different ways and times. The language spoken at home and cultural norms can influence the way that we communicate.
The general goal for all adults interacting with preschool children is to cue, guide, and prompt them in what they say, when, and to whom, so that the child can experience how language works, and how it can be useful to them in social interactions.
Become a “positive cue” for the child. Give a lot of positive feedback. When you see your child doing the right things, openly approve.
Remember to:
- Try to establish eye contact
- Place yourself at child’s level
- Speak naturally but slowly
- Use firm but gentle tone of voice
- Use simple, short sentences
If your child is talking (to self or others):
- Go to the child and listen. Model good listening.
- Stay on the child’s topic of conversation.
- If possible, bring another child into the conversation and encourage the children to talk to each other.
If your child is not talking:
- Talk about what the child is doing, just did, or will do next.
- Comment on the toys and materials the child is using.
If your child talks, but his utterances are unclear, imprecise, or incomplete:
- Try to elicit a more effective form without “correcting” the child.
- Pause, ask the child for clarification- “What was that you said?”
- Repeat the corrected phrase and pause, allowing the child the opportunity to repeat as well .
PRO-ED 1990