I have been working with families as an educator for over 25 years. It is very rewarding but sometimes I can’t but feel helpless. Mostly because my scope of work and expertise revolves around general knowledge and I am not really an occupational therapist, nor a speech development specialist that can address certain issues. Speech development is one of them. There are general guidelines in how we can assist children who are reaching milestones. But there is a number of children who have real speech delays for one or another reasons, and there are also nonverbal children (a child who avoids eye contact, doesn’t pick up on other people’s facial expressions, tone of voice, and gestures; makes very few gestures).

There are few things I am still able to do to encourage speech development in latter children and I also advise parents to try them at home. Hence the topic for today – Speech Development: How I Can Help.
  1. Fine motor and gross motor skills development should be aligned. Your child should be able to coordinate her body and also be good at working with small objects. Allow as much movement as possible: running, climbing, walking, jumping. You can also offer various fine motor skills activities, such as picking small objects (grains, lentils, small balls and pieces), cutting, pasting, drawing etc.
  2. Sensory experiences. Allow your child to feel various kinds of surfaces with hands, fingers and feet. Such as, walking on smooth, cool, warm, touching rough, hard and soft surfaces). Expose your child to different smells and tastes.
  3. Repetition. Repeating words and phrases to model speech for children is important and beneficial. You can use objects, flashcards and things you see and hear to do that.
  4. Naming emotions. Nonverbal children especially struggle with expressing their feelings. Some are prone to emotional outbursts since they are not able to communicate. Naming the feeling, using gestures to accompany them. Giving examples on “how to use words” when they feel a certain thing – all of that prompts them to channel their emotions into communication.
  5. Simple puzzles. The puzzles could be made of 2-4-6-8-10 pieces. You can start by matching two pieces and then moving to move complicated break downs. There could be faces, animals, objects and actions that you name at the end of the making a puzzle.
  6. Listening and doing. TPR – total physical response – is a brilliant term that can also help here. You can name and do an action, and then ask a child to repeat with you.  The next step would be a child doing an action without you. It can be a great game as well as you can request a child to do simple tasks.
  7. Self-care and self-discipline. It is important to nurture them from early age. Setting a table together, cleaning up, washing bowls, wiping, carrying a bag of tomatoes. All of these and more help a child be included and feel the independence. Plus, prompts them to communicate certain things.
These are just few of many many ways to help your child. If you feel that your child has a true speech delay (didn’t stay talking by 4 years old, doesn’t make anything by sounds, doesn’t respond to your questions, doesn’t know her name), it is best to find a speech development specialist, assess your child and choose a path to help her.

I would love to hear more stories and sharing from parents and educators! Comments under this post or send me a message!