Help from a speech therapist for a non-speaking child
From the experience of organizing work with parents of non-speaking children.
The need for speech therapy sessions with non-speaking children
early age
Today, speech therapists and parents are faced with the problem of delayed speech development in children. Instead of the expected simple or complicated phrase at 2 years old, we have mooing, babbling, and, at best, babbling words and individual incomprehensible words. The question arises: should we start special speech therapy classes immediately or should we wait?
Parents usually compare their child's speech abilities with the level of speech development of his peers. And of course, adults begin to worry about the fact that their child is falling behind. However, at the everyday level, there are ideas that “boys generally start talking later” or “it happens that he is silent, silent, and then speaks,” etc.
Why are we silent? The difficult environmental situation, low health indicators of parents, and frequent social neglect of children lead to general regression. And this is clearly reflected in the development of children’s speech. Let's pay attention to the parents. They are often amicable, lethargic, tired, indifferent. The lips of some mothers hardly move, their voices are monophonic, weakly modulated. Such parents do not want or do not know how to play with their children from the moment they are born.
As soon as the child comes to the adaptation group, we conduct an examination and monitor the state of speech. We try to be proactive, namely, pay great attention to preventive work. We focus on the fact that all children will come to us, which means we need to start working with them and their parents as early as possible. In private conversations, we recommend that parents consult with specialists - otolaryngologist, neurologist, psychologist. Sometimes autism spectrum disorders, emotional and neurological problems, and hearing impairment may be detected. At meetings, conversations, consultations, and seminars, we try to convey to parents the most important thing: they are obliged to work with their child. Play, laugh, smile, sing songs and follow the recommendations of the speech therapist and specialists to start the mechanism of speech development.
Classes with children 2-3 years old require a special approach. Not every specialist has the necessary knowledge, experience, or desire to work with young children. It is much easier to conduct classes with a child 4.5 - 5 years old, whose behavior is already quite arbitrary. This article describes the initial stage of speech therapy work - a system of classes aimed at developing a non-speaking child’s understanding of the speech addressed to him. The games described below should be played individually or in small groups. Taking into account the psychological characteristics of an early age - involuntary behavior, instability of attention, unformed communication with peers - we recommend introducing children to new material during individual work. And in group classes it is useful to consolidate the material already known to children, using the knowledge gained during general games.
In the process of classes to develop speech understanding, the main task of speech therapy is the accumulation of children’s passive vocabulary. For memorization, children are offered only those words that denote familiar objects, actions, phenomena and conditions that they constantly encounter in everyday life, what they can observe, what they can act with, what they feel. When working with non-speaking children, it is not recommended to overload their passive vocabulary with words with an abstract meaning or generalizing words.
Working with parents
A speech therapist not only works with the child, but also advises parents. The main task is to explain how to create a rich speech environment for the child. Parents must realize that if a child is lagging behind in speech development, it is necessary to change the system of his home education.
1. Creation of a speech environment. With a child it is necessary to constantly talk, repeatedly pronouncing all routine moments (dressing and undressing, washing, bathing, feeding, walking, getting ready for bed) and various everyday situations (putting toys in places, preparing food, clearing the table, washing dishes, etc.) The same work should be done during playing with toys, while reading books. At the same time, the adult speaks in simple short sentences of 2-4 words, pauses, repeating the same phrases several times, changing intonation and strength of voice. Words are pronounced clearly, with emphasis on the stressed syllable, for which the stressed syllable is slightly stretched. An adult often turns to the child and asks questions. But you should not demand an immediate answer from the baby. Thus, the adult asks a question, pauses, then answers the question himself. After the child has heard the name of an object many times, taken it, felt and examined it, and acted with it, you can ask the child to bring (show, find, give) a familiar object or perform some action with it. Let us give examples of various situations.
Washing. Let's go wash up. Let's open the tap. No, not in that direction, in the other direction. Like this. Where's the soap? Here's the soap. Take soap and wash your hands. Put the soap in the soap dish. Let me help you. Three hands good. Now let's wash off the soap. Place your hands under the water - like this. Now let's wash our face - like this. Close the tap. Now let's shake the water off the handles. Where's the towel? Take a towel and dry your face and hands. Well done! Look how clean it has become.
Packing for a walk. (All necessary things are laid out on the high chair) Now you and I will go for a walk. Find where our panties are. Here they are. Let's put the pants on first on one leg, then on the other. Now fasten the button. Show me where the button is. Bring a blouse. Oh, what a beautiful, warm blouse! What's this on the blouse? Pocket. Find where the bear is hidden on the blouse. That's right, here it is. Where's the flower? Here. Let's put on a blouse.
On a walk. Look what the weather is like today. It's raining. Put on your hood, and I'll open the umbrella. Now you can walk. What's that on the path? This is a puddle. There is water in the puddle. The rain dripped and dripped and it became a puddle. Here's a tree. Look what's under the tree? The leaves have fallen. Here is a yellow leaf. What color is this one? Red leaf. Many leaves. Show me how many leaves there are.
Cooking lunch. I'm making soup. Here's a saucepan. Pour some water into the pan and put it on the stove. Here is a potato, and this is a knife. It's sharp, you can't touch it. I cut the potatoes, look, they turned out to be pieces. Be careful, the stove is hot! What is this? Carrots and onions. Now let's stir things up. How are we going to stir the soup? Now we need to add salt.(etc.)
Let's build a house. Look what cubes we have. Show me where the red cube is. That's right, here it is. Where's the yellow one? Where is the blue cube? Right here. Let's build a house out of cubes. Will the house be big or small? Show me. Big? I placed the dice, now you place them.(etc.)
2. Keeping a diary. In addition to creating a speech environment for the child, parents are recommended to keep a diary of monitoring the development of the child’s active vocabulary (write down all the words that the child uses as he pronounces them, as well as a “decoding” of the meaning). Passive vocabulary - those words whose meaning the child understands. Dates should be written next to the words. If parents are attentive enough, keeping a diary will help them see the dynamics of the child’s speech development. It’s good when different family members work with the child.
3. Carrying out tasks of a speech therapist. In addition to the above, the child’s relatives must follow the following recommendations of the speech therapist: purchase the necessary educational toys, manuals, and books. Prepare photographs from the life of the child and family that will be used in classes, regularly reinforce the material covered, etc.
Working with a child
The work of a speech therapist with a child includes a system of special classes. Parents develop an understanding of speech addressed to the baby during routine moments and everyday situations, the speech therapist expands the child’s passive vocabulary during special games, using various materials and toys, as well as special techniques.
1. Hide and seek
Target. Clarification and expansion of passive subject vocabulary on the topic “Toys”
Materials. Toys - bear, bunny, car, ball, doll, bucket, etc.
Progress of the game. Before the game starts, the toys are laid out in different places in the room - on a chair, under the table, on a shelf, on the floor and in other places. Toys must be clearly visible.
- The doll Masha came to us. She's crying. Why is the Masha doll crying? Because all the toys were hidden from her! Let's help Masha find toys. Vanya, find the bear. Well done, Vanechka, you found the bear. Look how happy Masha is. And you, Olya, please find the ball. Can't find it? Look down on the floor. (etc.)
In this game you can use not only various toys, but also pictures depicting toys. The number of toys and pictures is gradually increasing. In the future, you can give your child the task of finding and bringing various objects.
2. Who has the picture?
Target. Refinement and expansion of the passive thematic subject dictionary
Materials. Subject pictures on different topics (according to the number of children)
Progress of the game. Before starting the game, choose a topic, then give the children one subject picture each.
- Look how beautiful your pictures are. They are all different. Let's play an interesting game. I’ll name the word, and you listen carefully: flower. Whoever has such a picture, let him raise his hand. Masha raised her hand. That's right, Masha, you have a flower in the picture. The next word is bird. Who has the bird?(etc.)
You can change themes in this game. Pictures should be specific, easily recognizable, and depict objects familiar to the child. Over time, you can increase the number of pictures used in the game (for example, distribute two pictures).
3. Show me the picture!
Target. Clarification and expansion of the passive thematic subject dictionary.
Materials. Subject pictures on different topics (according to the number of children).
Progress of the game. The game is played on the carpet. Place the children in a circle on the floor. Place object pictures face up in front of them. Ask the children to take turns finding and showing the correct picture.
- Look how many beautiful pictures we have. All pictures are different. Vanya, show me the cube. Right. Lena, find and show the pyramid. Well done! Sasha, show me the plane.(etc.)
In this game you can select pictures by topic, or you can mix pictures from different topics. Over time, you can increase the number of images used.
4. Guess the riddle - show the answer!
Target. Clarification and expansion of the passive thematic subject dictionary; teach children to recognize objects by their purpose; develop thinking.
Materials. Thematic subject pictures.
Progress of the game. The game is played on the carpet. Place object pictures face up in front of the children. You can give general instructions for everyone or individual ones for each child.
- Now we will solve riddles. Let's see which of you is the most attentive. Show us how to eat soup(the picture is “spoon”). Show me what's rolling(the picture is “ball”). Show me what you put on your head(picture – “hat”). Find and show what you can eat(pictures – “apple”, “candy”, “cheese”).
If children find it difficult to find the desired picture, you can give a more detailed description of the item you are looking for. If they couldn’t find the right picture, you should show them a real object, describe its properties, and play with it.
5. Fun riddles.
Target. Clarification and expansion of the passive thematic subject dictionary; teach to recognize toys and objects by description.
Materials. Various toys and objects.
Progress of the game. Place the children in a circle. Place several different toys or objects in front of them. First, general instructions for everyone or individually for each child.
- I know a lot of interesting riddles. I will talk about some toy (object), and you guess what I’m talking about and show it. Let's see which of you is the most attentive. It is round, blue, and rolls (the ball). He is white, fluffy, with long ears and a small tail (bunny). It is long, wooden, and used for drawing (pencil).
6. Execute commands.
Target. Clarification and expansion of the passive verb dictionary.
Progress of the game. The game is played on the carpet. Place children at a sufficient distance so that they do not interfere with each other's movements. Stand opposite.
- Let's play: I will give commands, and you follow the commands. Go! Stop! Raise your hands! Put your hands down! Sit down! Get up! Jump! Run! Clap! Stomp! Place your hands on your belt!(etc.)
In this game you need to use simple movements familiar to children, which were practiced in an imitative game, when the teacher named and performed the movement, and the children repeated after him. The teacher monitors the movements and corrects mistakes.
7. What is the little man doing?
Target. clarification and expansion of the passive verbal dictionary.
Materials. A set of pictures depicting various actions.
Progress of the game. Before starting the game, hand out pictures to the children.
- Look, in your pictures there are boys and girls doing something. I will make actions, listen carefully to see who has the right picture and raises their hand. Who's sitting? Who's standing? Who is lying? Who's riding? Who's eating? Who's jumping?(etc.)
If kids find it difficult to answer, you can give a hint by expanding the instructions. To do this, add a description of the items that are in the picture. Who eats an apple? Who swings on the swing? Who is sitting on the chair? (etc.)
8. Much or little?
Target. Teach children to correlate the words “one”, “many”, “few” with the corresponding number of objects.
Materials. In this game you can use small toys - cubes, sticks, balls, etc.
Progress of the game. When forming the concepts of “one”, “many”, “few”, it is useful to teach children to use the appropriate gestures: “one” - show the index finger; “a lot” - a wide, circling hand gesture; “little” - a narrow hand gesture or fold your palms into a handful. To do this, the speech therapist himself constantly uses these gestures and encourages children to use them. The names of concepts should be highlighted in speech.
The game is played on the carpet. Lay out the cubes in front of the children: one pile has a lot of cubes, and the other has few.
- Look, there are a lot of cubes here(the speech therapist shows with his hand), and there are few cubes here(corresponding gesture). Show where there are few cubes. How do you show that there are not enough cubes?(the speech therapist encourages the children to make a gesture). Where are there a lot of cubes? How do you show that there are a lot of cubes? Here's one cube(the speech therapist shows a gesture). Take one cube at a time. Show that there is only one cube.
It is useful to repeat this game using different subject material.
9. Where is there a lot and where is there little?
Target. teach children to distinguish between the grammatical forms of singular and plural nouns.
Materials. Object pictures that depict various objects in the amount of “one” and “many”.
Progress of the game. Place pictures in front of the children. Then give the task.
- Show me where the butterfly is. Where are the butterflies? Where's the ball? Where are the balls? Where is the flower? Where are the flowers?(etc.)
10. Big or small.
Target. Teach to correlate the words “big” and “small” with the size of objects.
Materials. In this game you can compare any toys and objects; in the future, use pictures.
Progress of the game. When forming the concepts of “big” and “small”, it is useful to teach children to use expressive gestures: “big” - spread your arms to the sides (or simultaneously up and to the sides), “small” - bring your palms closer to each other (or bring your index finger closer to each other). and thumb). The speech therapist himself uses sign language and teaches this to children. The names of concepts should be especially emphasized in speech.
Show the children the big and small balls.
- Look, here are the balls, are they the same? No, the balls are different. This ball is big(corresponding gesture), and this ball is small(corresponding gesture). What kind of ball is this - show me. That's right, little one. What is this ball? Show.(children show with gestures).
It is useful to repeat this game using a variety of subject material.
11. Where is what?
Target. Teach children to understand the spatial relationships of two objects expressed by prepositions on, under, in, about.
Materials. A box, several small toys.
Progress of the game. Place a box with a lid on the table and several small toys nearby. Place one toy in the box, another under the box, a third on the box, a fourth near the box. Accompany your actions with appropriate words. The names of prepositions should be especially emphasized in the sentence.
- Here's a pencil. I put the pencil in the box. Where is the pencil now? In the box. Here's a picture. I put the picture under the box. Where is the picture now? Under the box.(etc.)
After explaining and demonstrating actions with objects, invite the children to follow the instructions.
- Lena, put the pencil under the box. Sasha put the cube on the box.(etc.)
This game can be played in another way. Before the game starts, children are given toys. Then they give tasks.
- Vitya, here’s a bear for you. Place the bear on a chair. Lena, here's a ball for you - hide the ball under the table. Katya, put the book in the closet.(etc.)
Literature
Zhukova N.S., Mastyukova E.M., Filicheva T.B. Overcoming general speech underdevelopment in preschool children. – M.: Education, 1990.
Kataeva A.A., Strebeleva E.A. Didactic games and exercises in teaching mentally retarded preschoolers. – M.: Book-master, 1993.
Kozak O.N. Games and activities for children from birth to three years old. – St. Petersburg: Union, 1998.
Recently, more and more children need the help of a speech therapist. The sooner parents pay attention to certain violations, the easier it will be to correct them. Many experts advise starting this before the age of three. After five, some speech defects are much less amenable to correction.
Does my child need a speech therapist?
Parents can determine whether a child needs a speech therapist based on the following criteria:- at 1 year: the child has a small vocabulary, he understands simple phrases addressed to him;
- at 2 years: the baby can already form phrases of several words, knows about 50 words;
- at 3 years old: the child speaks in sentences, perhaps not always correct;
- at 4 years old: can communicate with strangers, begins to pronounce hissing sounds, knows about 1,700 words, uses conjunctions in speech;
- at 5 years old: the baby can already pronounce all the sounds, knows about 2500 words, parts of speech, and masters the sounds “r” and “l”.
For minor speech impairments, parents may be advised to study on their own. But as my practice has shown, this is not always possible. For example, in the process of completing tasks, I often had difficulty that I could not correctly explain and show something. The speech therapist repeated some exercises not only with the child, but also with me several times.
Of course, there are a number of deviations when you simply cannot do without the help of a professional. As a rule, the parents of such children themselves know that this is necessary. However, doctors are different, so if the baby has problems and you have turned, for example, to a neurologist, it would not hurt to find out whether the intervention of a speech therapist will be required.
I say this because I myself made a mistake at one time. After the first visit to a neurologist, my son was diagnosed with a slight delay in speech development and was prescribed medications. There was no talk of a speech therapist, and for some reason I decided that medication would help. So we lost some time.
Some parents believe that the help of a speech therapist is needed when the baby is already talking. This is wrong. It is important for the specialist that the child at least understands the speech addressed to him. The sooner correction work begins, the better.
How to choose a good speech therapist
Can't do without a specialist? Then you need to find a good speech therapist. There are many advertisements in newspapers, but no one guarantees that anyone offering their services in this area is a professional.A good speech therapist can advertise for free on the Internet or be found in a specialized center. The price of classes also does not always indicate professionalism.
Often other doctors who refer a child for speech therapy can recommend one or more specialists. It might be worth asking their advice. A speech therapist at a clinic or specialists from a psychological and pedagogical center can recommend a colleague.
It’s good when the responsible doctor was recommended to you by someone you know based on their own experience. But even in this case, it is not necessarily suitable for working with your baby. It is important for a speech therapist not only to be able to correctly explain and show the child how to pronounce sounds, but also to establish contact with the child. Therefore, it is good if you immediately find several options.
What to look for when choosing a speech therapist
In order not to get confused during the first conversation with your child’s future mentor and to choose a good speech therapist, pay attention to the criteria by which you can first determine whether the person in front of you is a professional.1. Higher education.
A speech therapist, in my opinion, should be a specialist with a higher education, preferably full-time. In addition to their main specialization, university graduates also have an additional specialization, which is also worth paying attention to in case of serious violations.So, a speech pathologist-defectologist is suitable for a child who needs to develop intellectual functions and help adapt to the group. If a child has a hearing impairment, it is good if a speech therapist-audiologist works with him. It is advisable to clarify with the help of reference literature whether a certain additional specialization is required in your case.
2. Experience as a speech therapist.
It is worth paying attention to the experience of the specialist. Of course, you can be a very gifted young man, but experience comes with time. This does not mean at all that a novice speech therapist will be worse, but if a child does not communicate well or has serious problems, it will be easier for a person with experience to find an approach to him.3. Corrective work time.
A good specialist will never tell you exactly how much time it will take to correct a speech defect, but he will tell you the approximate time required for correction work. This may not happen immediately after diagnosis, but during the first few sessions. Working with each child is individual, but a professional will not get away with vague phrases: “we’ll see how it goes.”Parents should hear something like this: “I will work with the child for 3-5 lessons and will tell you more precisely how long it will take to correct” or after several visits: “it will take a week or two to establish the sound, then we will move on to consolidation and the next sound.”
Even if the child has serious speech impairments, during the first few lessons a competent specialist will be able to outline intermediate stages and inform parents about them, and tell the approximate time for completing the first of them.
4. Conclusion of a speech therapist.
In the presence of significant speech disorders, a good speech therapist will never make a final diagnosis solely on the basis of his own diagnosis. He will need the opinion of other specialists. The list may vary depending on the nature of the disorder, but, as a rule, everyone needs to visit a neurologist and ENT specialist.5. Experience with a specific problem.
If your child has a specific problem, such as stuttering, it is worth finding out in advance whether the speech therapist has experience working with it. A specialist recommended by friends may be very knowledgeable in one area, but may not be suitable for your child. So, in the case of stuttering, the speech therapist should have experience in conducting speech therapy massage.It may happen that the speech therapist simply refuses to work with the child. This does not mean that the problem is unsolvable, just that the person honestly admits that he has no experience in helping children with a certain disability. Don’t despair - this is a chance to find exactly “your” specialist.
In the process of searching for a speech therapist for our son, two of us refused after they saw the diagnosis of “motor alalia.” Honestly, I am more grateful to them for this than to those who took away my time on useless activities. To all parents who are also faced with a difficult diagnosis, I want to say - we found a speech therapist and the problem was solved, do not give up.
6. Methods that the speech therapist intends to use.
Do not hesitate to ask the specialist how he intends to work with the child, what techniques he will use, how the classes will be structured. The speech therapist should explain what he is going to do and in what order, in a language you can understand.If parents are bombarded with just a list of names without an explanation of the essence of the technique, most likely they are confusing you or trying to justify “their high price.” Of course, several unfamiliar names may appear in the dialogue, but the speech therapist will explain everything that is unclear.
A little trick. Parents cannot understand everything, but if during the conversation a specialist names some specific methods and names, it is better to write them down. Currently, a large amount of literature is available, both printed and on the Internet, and you can look in more detail if necessary. This will be useful in case of consultation with another speech therapist.
How to evaluate the work of a speech therapist
Unfortunately, not all specialists approach their work equally conscientiously. Some are just wasting time and money. Of course, it’s good if a child makes noticeable progress immediately after several lessons, but this does not always happen. Then by what criteria can you evaluate the work of a speech therapist?1. A competent specialist understands that joint work with parents is necessary.
Such a person will never explain to you in a hurry what he is doing with the child, what difficulties arise, and will allocate additional time for conversation outside of classes. If the speech therapist is not against the presence of parents in classes, that’s very good. Most likely, he has nothing to hide, and for you this is an opportunity to master the methodology of working with a child.2. You will likely be required to perform certain tasks.
Corrective work cannot take 2 lessons a week for 30 minutes, it must be constant. If a speech therapist does not recommend exercises or gives additional tasks, this is a reason to be wary and not rejoice. It’s good if the activities you do at home fully correspond to what the baby did together with a specialist.What should not be surprising is the nature of the tasks. In addition to the actual exercises, the speech therapist may ask you to color or fold something.
3. The child must make contact with a speech therapist.
Ask your child, if you were not present at the lesson, what he did and whether he liked it. Perhaps the child will not like the first lessons of a speech therapist - you should also be prepared for this.At first, the son was capricious and flatly refused to go, but by the third visit to the speech therapist he waited and walked with a smile. However, if after several lessons the child does not want to study at all, this is a reason to find another specialist.
Everything depends on whether the young patient will “cooperate” or not. Therefore, he has the final say in choosing a speech therapist.
In what cases does a child need help from a speech therapist? What age is optimal for contacting a specialist and making complex sounds? How can parents help with speech development? Deniza Raisovna, speech therapist at the Mom’s Club medical and health center, answers these and other questions from U-Mama readers.
—How do you know if a particular child needs the help of a speech therapist? List the main situations that are a reason to contact a specialist.
— As a rule, attentive mothers themselves notice if something is wrong with the child. Age standards are relative, so you should not compare your baby with other children. But you need to be observant. I will name some points that should definitely alert parents and force them to contact a speech therapist as early as possible.
* It is imperative to see a specialist at the age of two years if there were any deviations during pregnancy and childbirth. When the brain of a fetus or infant experiences hypoxia, speech centers may also be affected.
* An equally important indication is deviations in the structure of the speech apparatus. For example, a short frenulum, weakness of the tongue muscles, salivation (excessive drooling), a fixed or poorly mobile tongue root, malocclusion, etc.
* There are almost certainly problems with speech if the child does not gurgle in infancy, if by the age of one year he does not utter even primitive words: “mom”, “dad”, if in his attempts to address you you do not feel different intonations.
* If a child at the age of two or three does not speak and uses only onomatopoeia, this is definitely a speech delay, you need to contact a specialist. Also, if by the age of 3-3.5 years sentences and an active vocabulary have not been formed, the child only answers adults’ questions in monosyllables.
— What to do if a child lags behind age norms?How should parents react to diagnoses?
— First of all, don’t panic. Each child is individual, some begin to speak a little earlier, others a little later. For example, there are children who understand everything, but remain silent until they are two years old, accumulate a vocabulary, and then begin to speak fully and coherently, sometimes even better than their peers.
But you shouldn’t think that everything will come on its own with time, and you shouldn’t sit idly by waiting for such a successful outcome. If it later turns out that the child does have some problems, then the best time to eliminate and shape them will have already been missed.
— Still, at what age does it make sense to work with a speech therapist, in particular, to introduce complex sounds? Many people say that there is no point in this until the age of five.
— Indeed, if a child generally develops normally, then until the age of five, some small deviations do not frighten parents. They expect that the child will eventually begin to pronounce sonorous sounds, hissing and whistling. It also happens. But sometimes a child comes to school with delayed speech development and undeveloped phonemic hearing. Feeling that he is speaking incorrectly, he may begin to feel shy and withdrawn, especially if his peers do not understand him or tease him.
Moreover, until the age of five, a child absorbs everything like a sponge; it is much easier for him to learn new things. It is important not to miss this golden time.
Therefore, to the question at what age to contact a speech therapist, I will answer: at any age! My youngest clients are only one year and three months old. It is especially important to start correction early if there are serious violations, which we discussed above.
— Our reader asks a question. The child is four and a half years old. When he speaks slowly and tries, his speech is intelligible. But if he is in a hurry, he swallows many sounds or replaces them with others. During classes, it is difficult for the child to sit still; he constantly runs and jumps. Is there any point in continuing to work with a speech therapist at this age or is it better to postpone it?
“If it’s difficult for a child at four and a half years old, then it can become even more difficult, so there’s no time to waste. Obviously, children under five years of age are less assiduous. But this is a sensitive period when you can achieve the best results. Of course, classes should be adapted to the child’s age and consist of a variety of play and physical activities. The game can include a lot for correct pronunciation and perception.
I have come across parents complaining: “My child is not diligent, he will never last forty minutes in class.” And then they are surprised when their beloved child does not want to leave even after an hour spent with a speech therapist.
- How do you do this?
— Interesting selected didactic material, change of activities, friendly atmosphere.
— Tell us in more detail how the speech therapist’s classes are held at the “Mom’s Club”?
— First of all, we focus on an integrated approach to child development. A speech therapist is by no means a highly specialized specialist who specializes in producing sounds. The basis of my classes is general massage and massage of the speech apparatus, finger, breathing, facial and articulatory gymnastics, as well as the development of phonemic hearing.
I select gaming material taking into account the individual and age characteristics of the child.
Children, especially small or hyperactive ones, need a constant change of activities. For example, first massage the speech area, then mold it from plasticine to get, albeit small, results. Then jump and do breathing exercises. Then read and retell the story. Throughout the lesson, a certain sound is automated. After each action, I try to praise the child: “Well done, you did it!” Experiencing a situation of success motivates him to work further.
In general, the most important thing, it seems to me, is to love the child, accept him completely, and sincerely want to help him. When a child comes to me, it is no longer only the child of mom and dad, but also a little bit my child.
— You mentioned massage. What connection does it have with speech therapy problems?
- The most direct one! Massage is a great way to awaken the entire body and get it into good physical shape. Moreover, not only children, but also schoolchildren with speech problems need massage. Any water procedures are also useful - douches, exercises in the pool. Thanks to them, children become calmer, increased muscle tone is relieved, and the results of speech therapy work noticeably improve.
The Mom's Club has an excellent massage therapist and a swimming pool for children from birth to five years old. We recommend that you combine speech development classes with these general strengthening procedures.
Directly in my classes, I also provide massage of speech zones. It allows you to perfectly prepare your lips, cheeks and tongue to pronounce sounds correctly.
— How can parents, for their part, help a child with speech disorders? Does the result of a specialist’s work depend on the participation of mothers and fathers in the process?
— Parents' help is very important. Often parents bring their child to classes at the center only two or three times a week, but ideally they need to study every day, so we give the children homework. If parents conscientiously and regularly perform all the exercises with their child, then the result is guaranteed.
It is important to create comfortable conditions for the child and a favorable mood for a successful lesson. He should enjoy his victories, his results. Parents need to encourage, encourage curiosity and diligence, because children happily try to repeat situations of success.
To create a calm atmosphere, it is important that the parents themselves are patient and interested.
— Have any new methods of solving speech therapy problems appeared in recent years?
- Everything new is well forgotten old. It would seem that new directions exist. For example, fairy tale therapy, sand therapy. But in fact, such techniques have been used since time immemorial, there just weren’t such beautiful terms. At all times, children were told fairy tales and developed fine motor skills in various ways.
Some parents tend to trust alternative medicine methods. For example, su-jok acupuncture. Of course, you can try something non-standard, but you need to understand that there are no miracle cures. Therefore, you cannot rely solely on one technique. A set of diverse measures is always necessary. In case of severe violations, it will inevitably have to be supplemented with medications.
— Let's return to the questions of our readers. Can we expect that the throaty “r” will gradually change to the correct sound?
- This doesn’t happen. If a child replaces “r” with “l”, spontaneous correction can still occur. But if the “r” is glottal, the back of the tongue works. This cannot be corrected without the help of a speech therapist.
— What mistakes in writing indicate the need to show your student to a speech therapist?
— Written speech, like oral speech, belongs to the sphere of activity of a speech therapist. Most likely, the problems that arose at school were preceded by disturbances in the pronunciation of sounds; parents simply may not have attached any importance to this. When a child made sounds with replacements, adults thought it was cute and funny. It was only when they encountered problems in their studies that they began to sound the alarm.
Speech therapy difficulties are evidenced by specific, ubiquitously repeated errors: mixing of letters denoting sounds similar in style (“b” and “d”, “l” and “m”), or similar in sound (letters denoting whistling, hissing voiced sounds are more often mixed , deaf), omissions of letters, their rearrangements, addition of extra letters and syllables.
Every year there are more and more children who have similar problems in writing. Unfortunately, schools often evaluate all students on the same scale and do not take into account that children with speech problems need special treatment. Ideally, a school speech therapist is needed.
— Can a speech therapist help if a child has serious neurological diseases and at the age of three years he practically does not make any sounds?
- You definitely need to see a speech therapist. But a child with complex diagnoses must be seen by several specialists: a speech pathologist, a psychologist and a neurologist, who will prescribe medication.
— Does it make sense to work with a speech therapist if a child has to undergo surgery affecting the speech apparatus?
— In this case, classes are needed both before and after surgery. Before surgery, a speech therapist will help form phonemic hearing, which will become the basis for further speech development.
— Should we rely on the fact that a child’s speech problems will be solved in kindergarten?
— There are good specialists working in preschool institutions, but they are very limited in time. As a rule, children are taken to classes only twice a week, one lesson is a group lesson, the other is an individual lesson lasting 15-20 minutes. What can you accomplish during this time? For example, it takes me 10-15 minutes just to massage the speech apparatus.
Therefore, if a child has difficulties, you should not expect that they will be completely overcome in kindergarten. Either the parents themselves will have to actively get involved in the work, or contact specialized centers where a speech therapist can provide individual assistance.
— How to choose a good speech therapist?
— It’s difficult for me to identify specific criteria. I think the best thing is to rely on reviews from other mothers. Observe the results. And, of course, take into account how your child feels about the specialist, how comfortable he is with him. Children do not accept falsehood and, on the contrary, feel if someone wants to help them.
— Modern children spend a lot of time in front of the TV and actively use gadgets. How does this affect speech development?
— An overabundance of cartoons and other television programs leads to the fact that children no longer understand what they are watching. I believe that you need to choose only good, kind cartoons, while limiting the time you watch them. And the most important thing is to discuss with the child what he saw: how he understood the plot, which of the characters he liked, etc.
The same goes for gadgets. Yes, it is difficult to completely do without them in our century. Yes, there are a lot of interesting development programs now. But the use of electronic devices can only be allowed within very, very reasonable limits! Otherwise, the child loses his sense of reality, and vision, speech, and memory suffer.
— As I already said, it is important to engage in general physical development from infancy: massage, swimming pool, gymnastics, hardening, etc. Give your growing child plenty of opportunities to move. Be sure to do finger exercises and develop fine motor skills - after all, hands are the second organ of speech. It is very useful to play ball, color with pencils, do breathing exercises and eye exercises.
Now both on the Internet and in the literature there is a lot of information on how to do articulatory gymnastics. Just remember that it is very important to perform the exercises correctly and clearly; be sure to do it in front of the mirror. Certain types of massage of speech areas can be performed at home using a toothbrush.
For speech development, it is very important how parents communicate with their child. Do they talk to him from birth or silently feed him and put him in his crib? Do they read books to him? Do they sing songs? How correctly do you pronounce complex sounds?
Don't be afraid to use full adult speech when communicating with your baby. Believe me, it is impossible to form a “rich” vocabulary if you hear only “usi-pusi” all your life. Explain what complex words mean, help decorate the speech with interesting phrases. In a word, don’t simplify everything, don’t be afraid to move forward. And soon your child will begin to independently construct beautiful, correct sentences.
When to contact a speech therapist: 14 reasons to contact a speech therapist with your child
When to contact a speech therapist: 14 reasons to consult with a speech therapist on child development issues. At what age should you go to a speech therapist with your child? What to look for in a child’s speech?
When to contact a speech therapist: 14 reasons to consult with a speech therapist on child development issues.
Many parents realize that in preschool age they should take their child to a speech therapist to find out whether his speech is appropriate for his age. But they often postpone this visit, believing that over time the child’s speech will become clearer and better.
What is the reason to take your child to a speech therapist? At what age should you see a speech therapist?
Reason 1. If the child is very early age (up to one year) there is no humming or babbling (sounds like “khkhkh”, “gygy”, “agu”, “agy”, then repeated syllables “didi”, “gigi”, “bubu”, “tata”).
In this case, it is worth contacting a speech therapist as early as one year and receiving individual recommendations. It is imperative to consult a neurologist or neonatologist.
Reason 2. If the child at the age of 2 years too few words, no phrases yet, or the child does not speak at all.
Reason 3. If the child does not say simple sounds or replaces them with others (For example, “K” is replaced by “T”).
Reason 4. If child under 3 years old speaks “his” language, a lot and actively, but there are almost no understandable and simple words.
Reason 5. If a child understands everything but doesn’t want to talk, he is “very stubborn.”
Reason 6. If at the age of 3 years There is at least something alarming you about your child’s speech. You compare it with the speech of your peers and hear the difference.
I don’t want to scare you, but stubbornness or laziness visible to parents may turn out to be motor or sensory disorders. If identified, it is necessary to begin correctional classes as early as possible in order to help the child speak or engage in conversation.
Reason 7. If at the age of 4 and 5 years Your child’s speech is unclear, blurred, he speaks slurred, and, in your opinion, does not pronounce many sounds.
Reason 8. If your child after 4-5 years He speaks many sounds softly: “Kisya”, “shchapka”, “cache”, “lampotka”
There may be 2 reasons for this. In one case, the speech therapist will identify dysarthria for the child, in another case, these may be psychological problems - this is how the child attracts your attention.
Reason 9. Child over 6 years old does not pronounce some sounds correctly.
By this age, the child’s phonetic system is fully formed, so there should be no problems.
Reason 10. The child began to speak with hesitation, repeats the first sounds, syllables, words, stutters.
Reason 11. Child over 6 years old cannot answer a question, has difficulty learning poems, cannot remember and retell a story, rearranges or skips syllables in long words.
Reason 12. If at a child's school problems with writing. Most often, teachers notice this in grades 2-3.
If you noticed earlier, urgently see a speech therapist! Perhaps the child has dysgraphia or attention deficit; in the latter case, a psychologist will help.
Reason 13. Even if the child after a minor injury If you have problems with writing, take immediate action and consult a neurologist and speech therapist.
I don’t want to scare you, but it could be a traumatic brain injury and other related diagnoses and symptoms.
Reason 14. If on the eve of school you notice any difficulties and are not sure whether your child is ready for school or not.
Do not allow school problems to pile on existing ones. There is still time to consult with a speech therapist and correct the situation.
Today it is no longer necessary to go to a speech therapist’s home or to a children’s office; you can get advice from a competent specialist without leaving your home online.
- Specialist - speech therapist, child psychologist.
- Graduated from the Russian State Pedagogical University named after A. I. Herzen (specialty - speech therapy, additional specialization - practical psychology)
- More than 10 years of practical experience working with children
- She has practical experience in helping children as a speech therapist and psychologist in a medical center, a children's center under the guidance of a famous neuropsychologist, Doctor of Psychology, Candidate of Medical Sciences A. N. Kornev, in developmental centers for children in St. Petersburg.
We are waiting for your questions to the speech therapist. Next year you will be able to hear video answers from a speech therapist to your most interesting and important questions.
Tatyana Andreevna Komarova began answering your questions on the “Native Path” website: see.
Thanks everyone for the interesting questions. Tatyana Komarova will definitely answer many of them in the video.
Get a NEW FREE AUDIO COURSE WITH GAME APPLICATION
"Speech development from 0 to 7 years: what is important to know and what to do. Cheat sheet for parents"
Click on or on the course cover below to free subscription
