Speech Works Utah
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Customized, pediatric speech therapy services for ages birth to 21. We offer on location and in home
05/12/2021
Another graduate! Miles wanted to be out of speech before Junior High. He came in, told me he didn’t want to play any games, and got to work.
Miles had struggled with his /r/ sound for nearly a year. It was tough. It took us several weeks to establish the sound- something that usually takes a session or two. We celebrated hard when he got it!
He earned that 9x9 Rubik’s cube for mastering the /r/ sound this week!
If your child isn’t making progress with school therapy alone, I’d love to help! I have freedom to really incentivize, the right tools to teach, and the support of parents to help!
School speech therapists are feeling hopeful this time of year!! Whether you send home a summer packet or let the kids have a break, you are a FANTASTIC therapist ❤️😁
04/24/2021
Two graduations in one week has me 😭😭
Rose was part of my very first, in person course for late talkers (the online version is launching again soon!). She made amazing progress thanks to her parents dedication and trust in the process. She came back to see me recently to work on her speech sounds, too!
Working on sounds with really young kids can be tricky. It’s generally a very drill based process, which isn’t usually conducive to 2 and 3 year olds. We went for play based, semi structured therapy where we followed Rose’s lead and modeled speech sounds while drawing attention to our mouth. Then worked on those sounds in short phrases.
We also worked on functional phrases, like “I don’t want it” or “I do it” to reduce frustration in interactions where she needed a strong voice and to be clearly understood.
It’s never too early to make sure your child’s speech development is on track! Click the link in my bio and let’s set a date to get the ball rolling ⚽️
👀 peek in on this /s/ session! 👀
This was her first session working on /s/ and she got it right away in isolation and words. I knew we needed to practice in phrases for a little while because she was making errors on her own but could do it with just a little bit of help. (See my ZPD post a little ways back!)
I try to be mindful of how I praise and correct in my sessions. If I say “good job” over and over, it loses its value. When I show excitement and give specific, varied praise kids stay motivated.
It’s the same with corrections. If they hear “no” or “wrong” over and over, they will get discouraged and not want to try. If I vary the words I use to correct, and give specific ways they can change the sound they will be more willing to give it a try. If they don’t get it after three tries, I’ll say “let’s try another one” to prevent frustration.
Does your child get frustrated when practicing? Let me know in the comments!
My April Fools prank! Got this idea from 😁
This is actually one of the ways I teach parents to encourage speech in their kids! Changing the routine. Doing something so outside of the normal that they can’t help but comment on it!
When I worked in a preschool, the most talkative day of the year was when the teachers set up a leprechaun trap and footprints/pranks all around the classroom. I came in that day and EVERY CHILD was telling me alllll about it.
What’s a routine you could shake up today? Buckle a stuffed animal in their car seat? Put a toy car in their shoes? Freeze their juice in a cup for lunch so they can’t drink it? Doorbell ditch them?
Tell me about your best prank in the comments!
03/30/2021
Struggling with speech sounds? I got you 😘
Show kids your mouth as you speak. You can use your hand to point to your mouth, a hand gesture near your mouth, or hold an item near your mouth as you label it. Some kids need that motor info to imitate.
We’re building muscle memory when we work on speech sounds. I try to get kids to day a sound correctly as many times as possible in a session. For young kids, I try to plan several activities where I can use that sound. If the target word is “pop,” I can pop bubbles, say “pop” as we push a ball through a hole (like in the picture), and pop some popcorn. They will hear me say that word/sound so. Many. Times. Then I wait and give them a chance to try it.
We naturally want to break words up into simpler parts for kids to manage their sound. “Say ‘pop-sic-le’...popsicle”. The child has no problem saying the segments, but can’t put them together for the whole word. Try saying “let’s say it slow together. Mmmmmmoooooooommmmmmmyyyyyyy.” Hold those sounds till the child is imitating them with you!
Ps, popsicle is one of my favorite words that kids get wrong 😁 do you have a favorite word your child mispronounces? Tell me in the comments!
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Address
Layton, UT
84041
Opening Hours
| Tuesday | 12am - 11:59pm |
| Wednesday | 12am - 11:59pm |
