Charlotte Speech therapist

Summer is fast approaching and families are always asking for ways to carryover language skills  into the home. Summer is a perfect opportunity to get more language through everyday tasks. These tasks can be used for children with expressive and receptive language skills delays or deficits.  Here are some quick ideas that you can use to carryover your child's speech therapy goals:

-Cook! Cooking with your child offers numerous vocabulary, sequencing and communication opportunities! Talk about words like ingredients, supplies, steps for the recipe.

-Go to the park! Great opportunities to elicit prepositions and where questions! Going up and down on the slide and asking where to go next!

-Go on a nature scavenger hunt! Either at the park or in your back yard, have your child collect different items and then talk about then when they find them. Have them describe colors, shapes, textures and the location where they found them!

-Attend community activities! Many times in the summer, activities within the community are free. Having the child recall events from the activity and answer wh-questions about what they saw is a perfect way to elicit language.

-Plan a trip! Planning a trip could be as simple as going to the grocery store or a sleepover at a friends house. Have your child talk about items that are needed, sequence events, and ask questions about activities.

-Read! Make sure to read plenty of books with your child throughout the summer! Talk about characters, what happens next and think of different endings to the story!

-Play! Simply sitting down with your child, playing with their toys is a great time to access langauge! Toy houses, farm animals, tea sets, play dough, blocks are all great toys. Spend the time eliciting imagination in your child.

-Make something! Spend a day doing arts and crafts. Kids learn through doing!

Summer is about having fun and language activities can be easily added into your daily lives!

If you have any questions or would like to learn more about speech therapy at Child and Family Development, please contact me, Jayne Walton, M.A., CCC-SLP, by phone (704-541-9080 ext. 213) or email (jwalton@childandfamilydevelopment.com).

As a pediatric speech therapist, parents are always asking about ways to help carryover speech and language activities into the home. Families want specific ideas of how to play with their child, what to play with and how to mimic a speech therapy session. One of my suggestions is to play with your child!

Play is a great way to elicit speech sound production, receptive language and expressive language. Mr. Potato Head is one of my favorite toys to use during play time. I have used it in pediatric speech therapy with kids as young 2 years old and as old as 8 years. Mr. Potato Head can be used in the following ways:

requesting

labeling

making choices

color identifcation

body part identification

vocabulary building

understanding opposites  ie. top/bottom, big/little

receptive identification ie. find the eyes

function of body parts

imaginative play

Keep these in mind when you play Mr. Potato Head. It's just not a toy, it can be a therapeutic tool as well!

If you have any questions or concerns about your child's speech and language development or if you would like more information about speech therapy, please contact me at Child and Family Development in Charlotte at jwalton@childandfamilydevelopment.com.

As a pediatric Speech Therapist working at Child and Family Development, I am always looking for new ways to motivate children to learn and have fun at the same time. The application that I use almost everyday while in my therapy sessions, is SoundTouch. SoundTouch can ben used for Ipad, Iphone and Itouch.

It has wonderful real life pictures of animals, household items, musical instruments and transportation. SoundTouch can be used in a variety of ways. In speech therapy, I use SoundTouch for labeling, identification, wh-questions (who, what, where, when) as well as following directions. In the home, families can expand SoundTouch's use by indentifying function of objects or describing. It works on both receptive and expressive language skills. 

SoundTouch can be used for all ages. A 12 month old can use it for cause and effect and a 10 year old can use it to create sentences. SoundTouch is perfect for any child, including a child with Autism, Developmental Delays,  Learning disabilities or typically developing. 

The best thing about SoundTouch is that it is user friendly and families can try it out for FREE. If families decide that it a good fit for their child than you can download the full version for $4.99.

Summer time in Charlotte is filled with new experiences, relaxation time and sunny weather. There's one more thing to enjoy in 2012:  a new social skills group for children called Hangin' With Heroes.  

The curriculum is loosely based on Superflex®, created by Stephanie Madrigal and Michelle Garcia Winner.

The group is for children 7 and older.  

There will be opportunities to gain social awareness of self, as well as engage in rewarding interactions with other.  We will have lessons that are centered around the individual and group needs.Children will ADHD, Asperger Syndrome, Autism, Developmental Delays, Learning Disabilities, Non-verbal Learning Disabilities and Social Anxiety may fit in nicely. 

For more information and details, please contact me:

Jayne Walton

jwalton@childandfamilydevelopment.com

704-541-9080 ext. 213

Looking back on my days in elementary school, I remember the banging of erasers and washing the board as a special job. The cringing of someone scratching a chalkboard is long over.  These days, students may ask "What's a chalkboard?". Classrooms now are filled with an amazing amount of technology, from computers, laptops and smart boards. Schools are constantly trying to keep up with the endless amount of technology available to them.

As a Pediatric Speech Language Pathologist, I have had to put away some of my dittos and articulation cards and move forward with the technology. When working on expressive and receptive language skills, Powerpoints and SmartBoard Activities have become the norm. Flip Videos are now used for teaching social skill lessons to children with Autism. 

I purchased an Ipad a few months ago and have found that children with disabilities can do things on an Ipad that most adults cannot. I have seen a child who is non-verbal increase expressive language skills by using the Ipad to communicate. A 2 year old with a developmental delay was able to navigate through an activity, gaining a sense of independence while increasing receptive language skills.

We have to face it. Our world is more technologically based than it has ever been. Children with Autism, Attention Deficit Disorder, Learning Disabilities or Developmental Delays will benefit from early use and exposure to computers and other forms of technology.

If you are interested in learning more about how technology can help your child, please contact me at jwalton@childandfamilydevelopment.com.