Waiting for a Speech-Language Evaluation
Waiting for your child’s speech-language evaluation can be anxiety provoking. The good news is, you can start helping your child today by modeling. Children learn speech sounds and language by listening to their caregivers talk. To help your child with speech and language development, while waiting for services to start, model speech and language by using the strategies below.
Establish joint attention : Joint attention describes a situation in which you and your child are paying attention to the same object.
Label the object(s) : Name the object(s) using very clear speech. If your child is having trouble saying specific sounds, draw attention to your mouth. Over articulate when producing the sounds that are difficult for your little one.
Talk, Talk, Talk : Produce short and simple sentences throughout the day. Speak slowly and over articulate to ensure that your child can see how you are making the speech sounds. Talk about things that you can see or objects you want. For example: “I see cat.”; “I want apple.”; “I want Dada.”
The above strategies are a great start. However, they do not replace speech-language therapy provided by a qualified speech-language pathologist. While waiting for your child’s state mandated services to begin, you can also seek the help of a private speech therapist.
Green Light sees children while they sit in line for state provided speech-language therapy. Green Light also provides supplemental therapy to children currently receiving state funded services. Contact Green Light today to see how we can help.
