Speech Therapy

When I signed the boys up for pre school today they said they will be doing an evaluation to if they are in need of a Speech class. If they did it today both boys would surly be in need of this. Their hearing is great they just have a hard time getting some of the sounds out.

I was wondering if anyone with children involved in this type of therapy might be able to give me some ideas on how to get the boys to speak clearly. If they need this therapy they will for sure be getting it but If I can help them now so they dont that would be great!

Thanks for any info.

 

I've been doing a little research online and it appears they have a functional speech disorder. of course Im only guessing bc Im not a dr. but this seems to fit them both.

 

I am not sure what preschool you are in (we are in Great Start Readiness Program- PreK), but in ours the Speech teacher (SLP) pulls kids out for 20-30 min 1-2 times a week. They also have a Fri 'speech-only' preK program that a few kids in their class attend (9-11). Sometimes I think the SLP may go into the class to do a 'group' activity. Most of the kids that go to speech in their PreK are barely understandable or dont speak in complete sentences.

For my DD's IEP they included a speech eval. She had a few 'areas' of weakness but not enough to qualify her for speech services. At the girls age (4), the Spec.Ed department said many 'irregular' speech sounds are normal, many kids at age 4 cant do th , r, y, and some others. I am sure a SLP will chime in here with what is 'normal' for this age or activities to do at home.

If they do qualify for speech- it is a good way to get 'help' now to help alleviate behavior or self-esteem problems! It is one of those ' I wish we did not qualify, but are glad that since we do - we can get services to help' situations.

Preschoolers often enjoy therapy and it doesnt have the 'stigma' it can have in older elem. kids. One of my DDs gets Occupational and Physical Therapy at PreK. Her sister is SO jealous and wants to go too! We simply explain it that she works with Mrs________ and Mrs_______ to help make her body stronger and learn to (toss a ball, hop, ride a bike) better. She is so happy to be able to do some 'new' skills she likes going.

Three Cheers for your Preschool to do screening!!! Not all do. I know our PreK does a Developmental screening, and refers to Speech/PT/OT if needed for more evaluations, but many dont get screened until Kindergarten (most areas do speech/language in K) or later (when a parent or teacher request it).

:hug:

 

I sighed the boys up for Michigan Readiness School program. I think its the same thing as the GSRP. They said they will do an evaluation in August so they know what classes to put the boys in when they start school in September. The boys talkin complete sentences but not everyone can understand them all the time. I can always and my mom usually can. Most others understand some but not all. Its a matter of them not saying a complete word. Or saying it wrong for example Fish = sish. Or cup= cu. Im just hoping I can learn a few things to get them up tp speed before the evaluation. Its a long 7 months before the evaluation so I would really love to help them now.

 

Here's a site that gives some good info. for different ages.

http://www.horizonspeechcenter.com/milestones.html


Here's another great link.

http://www.speechdelay.com/milestones

4 yr. olds can still be difficult to understand at times. If you want to work on their speech sounds make sure it's not done like like a drill where they have to just repeat the sound. Make it fun right from the get go and they'll probably have no idea you're "working" on it with them". I used to do a lot of pictures and play games like memory or treasure hunts, coloring pages, etc. Pick a sound you want to work on first and stick with it for that "teaching time". If you work on too many sounds at once it's harder to make it "click". I've used mirrors a lot to have them put their teeth/tongue/lips in the right places. They'll need you to model the right place/shape. Bring attention to the last sound of the word by asking if they can hear it or tell you what sound you're making. Then have them try it. Lots of modeling, imitation and fun! In general, I tend to do a hierarchy for speech and start of making sure they can produce just the sound, then the sound in a syllable, then a word, then a phrase, sentence, conversation. There are many speech sounds that aren't considered mastered until much later and SLP's won't work on those for the most part. The link I gave you gives you the sounds they should have for their age and those should be produce pretty consistently and understood by others in conversation. But, those sounds can be influenced by other sounds in the word so it's not super cut and dry. I think it's great that their preschool takes an active roll in screening and evaluating them if necessary. Good luck. PM me if you have any other questions I might be able to help with.