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Language
Nancy Barcal uses interesting pictures to encourage vocabulary and memory skills with Faith.
Referral Guidelines for children with speech, language and hearing problems

 

  • Child is not saying three words by 12 months, 20 words by 20 months, two-word combinations and a minimum of 25 words by 26 months.
  • Child has had three episodes of otitis media (inflammation of the middle ear) within a 12-month period up to 18 months of age.
  • Parents of child are concerned about communication skills at any age.
  • Speech is difficult to understand after age 2½.
  • Three-word sentences are not being used by age 3.
  • Child uses mostly vowel sounds in his speech.
  • Sentence structure is noticeably faulty at age 5.
  • Child is embarrassed and disturbed by his speech at any age.
  • Child is distorting, omitting or substituting any sound after age 6.
  • Voice is monotone, extremely loud, largely inaudible or of poor quality.
  • Pitch is not appropriate to the child's age and sex.
  • Child often sounds as if he is talking through his nose or sounds as if he always has a cold.
  • Childs voice is chronically hoarse or sounds rough.
  • Childs speech is abnormal, non-fluent or is characterized by excessive hesitations and/or repetition of words.
  • Child uses head jerks, eye blinks, body or facial movements to help get the word out.
  • Child has difficulty following directions.
  • Child does not respond to loud and soft sounds appropriately.
  • Child has difficulty describing his ideas or finding the right words.

    •  

    Advice for parents of children
    with delayed language

  • Imitate your child's babbling to develop verbal imitation and turn-taking behaviors.
  • Limit the length of your utterances to match the average length of your child's utterances plus one word.
  • Use consistent vocabulary that has concrete reality to the child (names of people, objects, actions, locations).
  • Limit the use of pronouns.
  • Use your child's name as an attention-getter before delivering the message.
  • Improve your child's comprehension and attention by varying your pitch and loudness to emphasize specific words and sounds.
  • Frequently repeat messages.
  • Accompany messages with gestures, facial expression and body language.
  • Provide the words to code what you think your child is trying to say.
  • Encourage all of your child's attempts at communication, no matter how primitive. Say good talking rather than ignoring your child's attempts.
  • Read to your child, include nursery rhymes.

    •

     

    AAC

    Augmentative and Alternative Communication strategies may start as early as 3 months old. A caregiver of an infant with special needs may need to learn strategies to build interaction and attachment skills. A toddler with limited vocabulary may need to use sign language or pictures to help facilitate words. A school-age student with Autism may need a communication aid to assist with language comprehension and expression. Augmentative and alternative communication is a way to “add to” or augment a child’s natural communication behaviors. These strategies help reduce frustration and build language skills.

    “It is the position of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) that communication is the essence of human life and that all people have the right to communicate to the fullest extent possible. No individuals should be denied this right, irrespective of the type and/or severity of communication, linguistic, social, cognitive, motor, sensory, perceptual, and/or other disability(ies) they may present.

    AAC is best thought of as a system, as opposed to a single entity (Calculator, 2000). An AAC program neither begins nor terminates with the prescription of a communication aid. Instead it involves an ongoing program of decision-making that considers individuals, their methods of communicating, and the effectiveness of that communication with a variety of listeners, as well as environmental variables that foster or impede communication. The specific unaided and aided methods of communication that are associated with this area of practice constitute one small part of the AAC domain, which is composed of four primary components: symbols, aids, strategies, and techniques.

    Symbols. A variety of symbol types are available: graphic, auditory, gestural, and textured or tactile.

    Aids. The term “aid” refers to a device, whether electronic or nonelectronic, that is used to transmit or receive messages.

    Strategies. This term refers to the ways symbols can be conveyed most effectively and efficiently.

    Techniques. This fourth component of an AAC system consists of the various ways in which messages can be transmitted.”

     

    American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2004). Roles and Responsibilities of Speech-Language Pathologists With Respect to Augmentative and Alternative Communication: Technical Report.  Available from www.asha.org/policy.