Speech/Language Therapy is provided for preschool children ages 3 - 5 at Wyman Elementary School.  Your child is able to receive services any time after his/her 3rd birthday.  If a delay or disorder is suspected, Mrs. Harris will schedule a speech/language evaluation for your child.  If tests results indicate a significant delay, weekly speech therapy sessions are scheduled. 

Speech/Language Therapy addresses the following disorders/delays:

Articulation of speech
Language delays
Fluency disorders
Voice disorders
Developmental delays
Hearing Impairment
Autism spectrum disorders

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SPEECH:  the sound system of a language.  It is a motor act that includes respiration, phonation, articulation and resonance.

 

LANGUAGE:  the system of rules for combining sounds into words, and words into sequences that express thought, intentions, experiences, and feelings

 

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Mrs. Harris conducts standardized Speech and Language Evaluations with children suspected of having delays.  The evaluations consist of the following:

Goldman Fristoe Test of Articulation:  This test examines the specific speech sounds that your child uses in single words and in sentences.  These sounds are then analyzed to determine the presence of a speech delay.  Many sound errors are considered "developmental" at a young child's age and are not of concern.  Your child will be naming pictures in a picture book.

Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test:  This test examines the working vocabulary of single words that your child uses.  Your child will be naming pictures in a picture book.

Preschool Language Scale - 4:  This test examines your child's level of language comprehension and the ways in which your child communicates verbally.  In the Auditory Comprehension section, your child responds to questions and directions by pointing to pictures and manipulating toys.  In the Expressive Communication section, your child will be answering questions, describing pictures, and asked to respond verbally to various language tasks.

Receptive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test:  This test examines your child's comprehension of single words.  Your child will point to a requested picture out of a group of four pictures.  This test is usually selected for children with very limited verbal language.

Informal speech and language sample:  During informal activities, your child's speech and language will be noted by the speech pathologist in order to analyze your child's spontaneous use of verbal and non-verbal language.

 

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Speech Therapy:  Your child's sound substitutions, sound omissions, and sound distortions will be charted and analyzed using age norms.  These sound errors are compared with what sounds MOST children of the same age of your child usually are able pronounce.  If your child is demonstrating a significant delay compared to their age peers, he/she will qualify for services.

Language Therapy:  Your child's language will be measured by the use of 1 - 2 standardized tests.  If your child's performance in auditory comprehension and expressive language is significantly below average compared to other children of the same age, he/she will qualify for services.  Delays in language may be in vocabulary, sentence grammar, and/or comprehension of questions and directions.

 

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If your child qualifies for Speech/Language Therapy, an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) will be written and reviewed with his/her parent.  This document outlines:
(1) your child's current level of functioning,
(2) the goals for therapy and how progress will be measured,
(3) how progress will be reported to his/her parent,
(4) the number of minutes of therapy provided per week or per month,
(5) the options for services, 
(5) the setting in which the therapy will take place.

The Individualized Educational Plan will be reviewed and renewed on an annual basis if it is determined that your child is still in need of services.  This review/renewal will take place during a face-to-face meeting with all teachers who work with your child and a school district representative.

 

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Length of treatment will depend on the nature and severity of your child's delays.  Some children will be in therapy less than one year.  Others with more significant delays will continue in treatment into their school age years.  Most children will be scheduled for one 30-minute session per week as a start.  If sufficient progress is not made, additional therapy sessions will be scheduled. 

 

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Language: 
Give your child plenty of one-on-one time, with the TV and the computer off!

Follow your child's lead -- talk about what they are interested in or focused on.

Expose them to new experiences, such as trips to a farm, swimming pool, parks and playgrounds, church and school activities.  Talk about each experience before, during, and after.

Talk to your child throughout your daily routine:  cleaning up the kitchen, doing the laundry, going to the post office or grocery store,  or picking up toys can all be language-rich experiences.

Give your child choices or ask open-ended questions for which their is no right or wrong answer.

Instead of asking "what's that?" "what's this?", make comments during shared experiences such as "this apple is red," "look at how hungry the dog is" "That snake is really long."

Expand on what they say and model language at a level just above theirs. If they say "big dog," you can expand that to "yes, the big dog is running!"

READ - READ - READ to your child! 

Limit "screen" time (TV, computers, and video games).  Young children learn best from naturalistic experiences.

Articulation of Speech:
If your child cannot say a certain sound in words, model the word correctly.  For instance, if your child says "tun" instead of "sun," model the word back to him in an exaggerated way, such as "yes, that IS the SSSSun!"

Do not require your child to say it correctly.  They would if they were able to!

"Bombard" your child with words containing the sound in error.  For instance, you could say, "Hey, let's say other words with that snake sound in them: SSSun, SSSock, SSSand, SSSoda," etc.  This will steer your child's attention to those sounds pronounced correctly.

Promote Literacy Skills at Home:

Point out letters in books, in the mail, on signs, on menus, anywhere!  Let your finger follow the written word in books as you are reading.

Sing the ABC song with your child.

Encourage your child to learn the letters in his/her name.

Read rhyming books and nursery rhymes.  Have your child fill in the blanks to familiar rhymes such as "Jack and Jill went up the _____."

Begin to teach the sound associated with each letter.  "The /b/ makes a "buh" sound; the /s/ makes a SSSSS sound."

Play sound games such as "look for something that begins with the MMMMMM sound."