Rapport Building with Children & Families, Family Education & Coaching
Clinicians who establish authentic connections with children and families most likely will have greater opportunities to maximize client success with speech/language goals. Building trust is the leading foundation for a healthy therapeutic relationship with families and their children. Without trust, the families may become reluctant to take their children to speech therapy, and they may not practice therapy strategies at home. If a child does not trust the clinician, children may not participate in speech therapy activities. It is crucial to build trust with children and families from the very beginning, so that they know that they are in a safe environment.
When parents and speech language pathologists have better relationships, children feel more supported because they know their parents and speech language pathologist are communicating. As a result, children are more motivated in their therapy sessions. Building trust also helps parents feel involved in their child’s therapy process.
As clinicians, it is our responsibility to communicate clearly and effectively in a professional manner with all families about their children. Always start with the goals. Communicate the child’s goals for the parents to understand and implement. If a child is not making progress, the speech language pathologist must indicate what the parents must work on with their children to ease the process of communication for the child. Determine whether you should share data or percentages with parents; this may intimidate the parent. However, it is also important to highlight the strengths of the child from a professional standpoint. For example, a child may be struggling with expressive language, but the child has effective or higher language comprehension skills. It is important to explain information clearly to the family. Additionally, it is important for clinicians to incorporate the family’s cultural background in therapy sessions with children’s literature, games, toys, and learning activities.
In addition to communication, speech language pathologists are there to listen to the family’s concerns or worries about their child. Always take the parent’s suggestions and concerns into consideration. As speech language pathologists, we can carry their suggestions into therapy practice for their child. For example, if the parent reveals that an autistic child is getting bullied, take that into consideration. Develop a new goal with social problem scenarios related to the child to address functional pragmatic skills for the child. This will help the child to process his or her own feelings while allowing the child to express himself or herself in these scenarios.
Speech language pathologists must connect with children and families to maximize client success. Children who receive speech/language therapy are diverse learners, and intervention must be tailored to their needs. It is noticeable if one does not clearly acknowledge or care about the concerns of children or families. As clinicians, empathy is another responsibility that we must practice. Without empathy or an authentic connection, a child may not feel motivated to continue putting forth effort in speech language therapy. In addition, empathy and a professional relationship will help build trust with families and the children whom you work with.
The following elements were found to be necessary to ensure effective outcomes in parent coaching:
- Sharing information/ knowledge
- Observing the parent-child interaction
- Demonstrating a speech/language building strategy
- Encouraging and supporting the parent to practice with feedback
- Encouraging parent reflection, evaluation, and active problem solving
- Joint planning with the parent
(Dunst & Trivette, 2009; Friedman, Woods & Salisbury, 2012)
Source: Dunst, C.J. & Trivette, C.M. (2009). Let’s be PALS: An evidence-based approach to professional development. Infants & Young Children, 22(3), 161-176. (https://depts.washington.edu/isei/iyc/22.3_Dunst.pdf)
Five Ways to Practice Speech-Language Skills Over Winter Break
Hey there everyone! Today is the last day of school for 2015 in my district and I am beyond excited about being on winter break for 2 weeks! I am sure that all the students are as well. Although the students will be on break from school, there are so many ways that they can practice their communication skills in their daily routines. I know that some of you will have private practice clients or a few days of work next week as school-based speech language pathologists. Make sure that you share these tips with parents.
5 Ways to Practice Speech-Language Skills Over Winter Break:
1) Retell events and experiences
*Children should practice describing specific family outings, activities, and experiences with as much detail as possible. They should try their best to recall and retell information in the correct sequence of events whether it is going to the ice skating rink or to grandma’s house.
2) Answer questions after listening to fiction or non-fiction story read by parents
*Children and families can visit the public library and check out books appropriate for their age. Parents should read aloud to their kids and ask them who, what, where, when, and why questions about the text.
3) Play speech-language games on interactive websites
*There are many websites that children can enjoy practicing their speech-language skills. Some of my top recommendations are
spellingcity.com, jacobslessons.com, do2learn.com, learninggamesforkids.com, and pbskids.org
You can access a more comprehensive list in Parent Handouts for Communication Disorders in my TPT store.
4) Play speech-language games on iPad
*Many children have either an iPad or android tablet. They can practice a variety of skills such as speech articulation, following directions, vocabulary, grammar, sequencing, and overall comprehension on apps. Parents can search for related apps in the app store by companies such as Speech with Milo, Super Duper, PocketSLP, Hamaguchi, I Can Do Apps, Smarty Ears and so many more! Many companies have free trial versions that enable kids to practice many skills while others will need to be purchased.
5) Use speech articulation and fluency strategies
*At home and in the community, children should practice using their best pronunciation of the sounds they are working on in speech-language therapy. Parents can remind their children to use the correct placement of speech muscles when asking questions, answering questions, and speaking to family and friends.
Overall, children can practice their speech-language skills in everyday routines! I hope you found these 5 tips beneficial. Have a great rest of 2015!
Tamara Anderson
Parent Information for Communication Disorders {Free Resource Guide}
There are many times when parents ask me about communication disorders. They want to know if their child’s speech-language skills are where they should be developmentally. Recently, a friend of mind told me that her daughter received a speech language screening at her preschool. The results indicated that she needed further evaluation. I was concerned when she shared with me that the therapist expressed concern that a 3 year old was not pronouncing sounds such as /l/ and /r/. I immediately saw red flags because it is developmentally appropriate that not all kids will correctly pronounce these sounds at age 3. In fact, there are research based age ranges of typical speech sound development. Yes, some children may correctly pronounce sounds earlier and that’s great. However, the following are developmentally acceptable ages of sound acquisition.
Age 3- w, b, p, h, m, n
Age 4- k, g, t, d, y, f
Age 5- all 3 & 4 year old sounds
Age 7- l
Age 8- j, ch, sh, r, th, s, z, v
Please note that different school districts also implement different eligibility criteria for providing speech therapy for speech sounds in error. If you have questions about if your child needs an evaluation, I suggest that you consult directly with a licensed speech-language pathologist in your area.
I also often get questions about what language skills are expected of children at certain ages. You can access more information about my recommendations from a previous blog post about developmental milestones. Click here
I created a few complimentary parent handouts that explain the difference between speech sound disorders and language disorders. In this resource you will also receive helpful hints for improving receptive and expressive language disorders. These tips are geared towards children in kindergarten-5th grade. This packet also has a list of interactive websites that kids can use to practice improving their language skills.
I strongly encourage parents to give their children opportunities to practice their communication and language skills at home. I may add to this resource in the future so make sure that you subscribe to my blog by entering your email address in the right hand column of this page. You can access this FREE digital download in my TPT curriculum store.
Have a great week! I hope you have an excellent Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends this Thursday!
Tamara Anderson
Building Successful Lives
Communication Success Tips
Hey everyone! I hope you all are having a wonderful July so far! I am truly enjoying my summer. I try to do something productive and fun each day. That’s why I have 2 new resources to tell you about in my Building Successful Lives curriculum store.
I created Communication Success Tips (for children ages 12-36 month) so that speech-language pathologists, educators, and parents can use this guide to foster communication development in children’s everyday routines. I thought of this idea last Sunday afternoon as I was reflecting about the fact that my sweet little niece would be 18 months the next day. I couldn’t believe it! I am blessed that I am able to visit her regularly. It is such a joy to watch her as she grows and learns! As an SLP, I of course am all about those developmental milestones and thinking about all the things she can do now and what she needs to learn next.
Here’s a picture of her last Monday when she turned 18 months old!
Isn’t she adorable?! 🙂
You can access this COMPLIMENTARY digital download here.
My next resource guide in this series that I specially designed is Communication Success Tips for Colleagues.
My idea behind creating this was to remind SLPs and educators including myself of tips needed to build and maintain healthy relationships at work. I believe that effective communication skills are the foundation for healthy relationships. Colleagues are more productive when communication is clear and they feel valued by others.
I hope that you love this new resource guide as much as I do! You can access this COMPLIMENTARY digital download here.
Have an excellent week!
Tamara Anderson
Speech-Language Success Stories # 6
I am currently in the last 9 weeks of the school year in my district and spring break is 3 days away!! Speech-language therapy progress notes and report cards went home with kids last Friday. Naturally, SLPs review our students’ data and document speech-language objectives that they have mastered, made progress, and areas that they may be struggling with learning a skill.
My success story today is about having students celebrate their victories in the speech language therapy room. I have a poster that says “Super Speech Students- We Are Meeting Goals!!!” Students put a star sticker on the chart for each objective that they meet based on their Individualized Education Plan (IEP) mastery criteria. They really seem to enjoy looking at the incentive poster and counting their stars.
I also have many of them graph their progress and take home their graph when they meet a goal! I can not count the times that I hear “What’s my score?” or “Did I do good today?” They know that I take data regularly and that I desire for them to LEARN and improve their scores or percentages of accuracy. Many of them can’t wait to get their hands on my handy Super Duper clipboard that has a calculator at the top. Occasionally, I let a few of them enter the fraction to figure out their percentage of accuracy. I teach them how to convert the decimal to a percentage too! Math in the speech-language room! Say What?!
At the end of the 9 weeks, which usually coincides with a holiday too, I bring edible treats to reward their hard work towards meeting goals. Here are some goodies that I handed out today.
I also gave out new stickers! Remember to celebrate students’ successes in your speech-language therapy sessions or classroom too!
Tamara Anderson
SLP on Spring Break Soon
Speech-Language Success Stories # 5
It is important to remember to be patient and optimistic when providing pediatric speech-language therapy services. Often times, children will not immediately learn speech language strategies. It takes repetitive verbal modeling, visual cues, and tactile cues for kids to acquire new skills.
Speech-Language Success Stories # 4
We had recently talked about the meaning of the idiom “You dodged that bullet.” One of my students took his turn and rolled a six. The Daddy hadn’t “woken” in awhile, so we all assumed the student was going to get it! When he didn’t wake Daddy, another one of my students said, “Wow, you missed that bullet!” SUCCESS!!! Now, he didn’t get the idiom exactly correct, but we had been working on understanding idioms more than using them, and he had spontaneously used the idiom in correct context. I was ecstatic! It’s that kind of moment that makes it all worth it, don’t you think?
Speech-Language Success Stories- # 3
Welcome Carly Fowler!
Today, I will share successful tips for providing speech-language services for adolescents.
Why Following a Child’s Lead Isn’t Just for Early Intervention
is not that easy with high school students, trust me sometimes I feel like I am pulling teeth in order to get any kind of data.
Speech Language Success Stories- # 2
Welcome Susan Berkowitz from Kidz Learn Language!
I have been a speech-language pathologist for 35 years, before which I taught kids with autism. I have been in the classroom, therapy room, and worked as an administrator. I have worked in public and nonpublic schools. I currently specialize in alternative-augmentative communication for nonverbal students and in training staff to implement aac in their classrooms. I provide local and national workshops on augmentative communication and on teaching literacy skills to students with complex communication needs.
This is an article that I wrote on my blog in November of 2014. I am happy to be BSL Speech Language’s guest blogger this week. Check out this aac success story!
One of my favorite student success stories is one I tell over and over again. While you may have noticed I am a big fan of using and teaching core vocabulary, I am also a huge user of PODD communication books. That is Pragmatic Organized Dynamic Display books, designed by Gayle Porter, a speech pathologist in Australia. She has been using this system very successfully with children for decades.
I have been to trainings with Gayle, and with Linda Burkhart, when they have presented them here in the States. A week with Gayle is mind-numbing – in a good way. The first workshop I took with her was a week of 9 hour days and we learned so much it was amazing! I don’t honestly think I could have absorbed one more idea by the end of Friday. She is one of those rare people who are both a wealth of information and a master at transmitting it to others. (Of course, you have to work your way around her accent).
I have been using PODD books with my nonverbal students with autism for the past several years, and with great results. Teachers usually get that ‘deer in the headlights’ look in their eyes when I walk in with a 125 page communication book. I’m very careful to talk about taking it slowly as they get familiar with it and begin using it with their student(s).
I’ve taken to using this story. The story of Aaron. Aaron was a 16 (then) year old student with autism in a classroom for students with severe disabilities. When I first met him, Aaron had a single page PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) “system” by which he could request his favorite reinforcers. He had no other appropriate mode of communication. What Aaron did have was a history of self-injurious behaviors. He has done permanent neurological damage to himself.
On the day I arrived in the classroom with his new, >100 page PODD communication book, both his teacher and aide regarded me with looks of …. outrage? amazement? overwhelming dismay? I spent some time going over how the book was constructed and how it worked. I reviewed the navigation conventions and where and how vocabulary was stored. I gave them examples and phrases to try. We talked about Aided Language Stimulation and how it worked. And I carefully explained how to begin with a single activity, gradually increasing use of the system as their comfort level increased.
Aaron was lucky. His aide was extraordinary. She did a wonderful job of learning and doing and being consistent. TWO weeks later the teacher called me. I could hear her jumping up and down. The excitement was palpable. The day before, Aaron had been upset because A.P.E. had been cancelled and he needed some time to run off some of his energy. He had started out, she told me, by starting to engage in his SIB. But he stopped himself. He looked at the communication system. He pointed to “More to say,” and then proceeded to move from the feelings page (“angry”) to the people page (“no APE teacher”) to the activity page (“run” and “outside”) to the places page (“baseball field”). With a string of single word responses he told a perfect narrative, expressed his feelings, and told what he wanted – needed – to do. The aide, of course, took him straight outside to the baseball field to run around. I’m pretty sure she was crying most of the way. I know I was when I heard the story.
Now of course, most students need more than 2 weeks of consistent teaching to learn to communicate so effectively. But this certainly speaks to the power of appropriate aac intervention.
How are your students learning to use their aac systems?
Here is the direct link to my original post on my blog: http://kidzlearnlanguage.blogspot.com/2014/11/more-from-aac-case-files-how-much-can.html
