Some of the best advice that I can give to parents is to practice articulation skills that are introduced during their child's therapy sessions. Practicing articulation skills at home will quicken the remediation process. Remember that it takes time to learn a new skill, particularly one that will eventually become natural. Here are some suggestions for working with your child in the home environment:
- Designate a time each day to review production of target sounds.
- Avoid "over-correcting" a child. It is acceptable to remind your child to use his/her "new sound" without correcting each mispronunciation.
- Slow your rate of speech to model production of target sounds.
- Use language at an age-appropriate level.
- Avoid interrupting the child's speech to correct production when he/she is in mid-sentence.
- Find time to do quiet things, such as reading a book or going for a walk, and talking about the activity without correcting each sound.
- Find ways to build your child's confidence. Praise is very important!
- Always listen to what your child says, not how your child talks.
- Be patient and use good eye contact. Give your child a chance to express himself/herself.
- Talk about your child's speech in a matter-of-fact, reassuring way.
- Make homework time fun. Play games which require turn-taking. Before each turn, your child could label a picture or produce a word with the targeted speech sound.
- Use a variety of resources. Here is a link to a website which offers speech articulation games: http://www.quia.com/pages/havemorefun.html
It may take time and practice, but your child will acquire production of speech sounds given appropriate intervention with a speech-language pathologist and home carryover. Call a speech-language pathologist at Child & Family Development (704-541-9080) if you have questions about home carryover exercises to improve your child's speech.
-Lisa Peterson, M.S., CCC-SLP
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