Speech Therapy At Home: 15 Useful Tips For Parents
Speech and language development is crucial to a child's overall development. It is the foundation for a child's ability to communicate effectively with others and to understand and process language. A child may struggle academically, socially, and emotionally without strong language skills. Speech therapy can help your child overcome communication challenges.
As a parent, you play a vital role in helping your child develop strong language skills. If your child is enrolled in speech therapy, there are many steps you can take at home to supplement treatment and help your child improve their speech skills at home.
Practicing speech therapy exercises at home with your child can effectively support their language development and improve their speech and communication skills. Here are 15 tips for practicing speech therapy exercises at home with your child:
Use Clear, Simple Language
Give Your Child Choices
Make It Fun
Use Everyday Opportunities
Make It A Family Activity
Be Consistent
Encourage Your Child To Imitate You
Use Visual Aides
Be Patient
Be Encouraging And Supportive
Use Repetition
Incorporate Storytelling
Incorporate Listening Exercises
Create A Speech Therapy “Toolbox”
Talk To Your Child’s Speech Therapist
1. Use Clear, Simple Language
When you speak to your child at home, use clear and straightforward language and an age-appropriate vocabulary.
Encourage your child to respond to you, and praise them for their efforts.
Talk to your child often to help them develop their language skills and improve their ability to communicate effectively.
Expose your child to new words and ideas and allow them to practice their language skills. Engaging in conversation with your child helps them to build their vocabulary, improve their listening skills, and develop their ability to express themselves.
2. Give Your Child Choices
When you give your child choices, you are helping them to develop their problem-solving and decision-making skills. It also helps them to learn how to express themselves and communicate their preferences and desires. Giving choices also encourages children to take ownership of their learning, which can lead to greater self-confidence and better communication skills.
Additionally, giving choices empowers children and helps them feel in control of their own lives and decisions, an important aspect of child development.
3. Make It Fun
Children with speech delays are more likely to engage in activities that they find interesting and enjoyable. Incorporate games and activities your child enjoys, such as puzzles or drawing, into speech therapy exercises.
Encourage your child to role-play different scenarios and situations, such as going to the doctor or ordering food at a restaurant. Playing with your child will help them to practice their communication skills in a fun and interactive way.
Encourage your child to express themselves through creative outlets such as drawing, painting, or writing to help them develop their language skills while also allowing them to express themselves creatively.
Reward your child for their participation and progress in speech therapy exercises. The reward can be a small treat or an activity they enjoy.
4. Use Everyday Opportunities
Incorporating everyday activities into speech therapy at home is important in helping children develop their speech and language skills.
Speech therapists often recommend that parents focus on helping their children learn to communicate using everyday activities such as mealtime, bathtime, or when playing with toys.
Using everyday activities provides children opportunities to practice in real-life situations, making the exercises more meaningful and interesting.
5. Make It A Family Activity
Involve the whole family in speech therapy exercises. Speech therapists often recommend involving siblings, grandparents, or other family members in speech therapy activities, as it helps to create a supportive environment.
When the whole family is involved in speech therapy, everyone can be on the same page regarding the child's therapy goals and how to support them. Including the entire family helps to ensure consistency in the child's therapy, which is crucial for making progress.
Family involvement allows the child to practice their skills in various settings and with different people, which can help increase their fluency and confidence when using the skills in real-life situations. Collaboration between family members can support the child's progress, which can be especially helpful if the child has siblings, as they can also be involved in therapy exercises.
6. Be Consistent
Practice speech therapy exercises regularly, ideally daily or a few times weekly.
Being consistent in speech therapy for children in the home is essential because it helps them develop a sense of predictability and routine, making them feel more comfortable and secure.
Consistency also allows the therapist to track the child's progress more effectively, allowing them to see how the child responds to different techniques and interventions over time.
7. Encourage Your Child To Imitate You
Encouraging your child to imitate you can help develop their speech and language skills and vocabulary.
Imitation allows children to learn new words, phrases, and sounds by hearing them modeled by an adult or older child. It also helps them practice their speech and language skills as they try to replicate what they hear. You can have your child imitate you as you produce their target speech sounds to help improve their intelligibility and articulation skills.
Additionally, imitation can help develop social skills, as children learn how to communicate and interact with others through observing and mimicking the behavior of those around them.
8. Use Visual Aids
Use visual aids, such as flashcards or pictures, to help your child understand the exercises and make the connection between the visual aids and the sounds and words they are learning.
Visual aids can be used to reinforce the meaning of spoken words, which can be particularly helpful for children who are learning to speak or those who have difficulty with language comprehension. They can help children with attentional deficits or who have difficulty focusing on staying engaged.
They can also be used to create social stories, which can help children understand and navigate social situations, the sequence of events, and the order of actions.
Visual aids can also be used to support children with autism, who may benefit from visual structure and predictability.
9. Be Patient
Speech and language development can be slow, and progress may take time and effort.
Being patient allows the child to progress at their own pace without feeling rushed or pressured. Additionally, children may struggle with specific tasks or exercises and may need extra time and encouragement to master them.
Being patient also helps to create a positive and supportive environment for the child, which can be important for motivation and engagement in therapy. Children who feel pressured or frustrated may be less likely to participate in treatment or to make progress. By being patient, the parent shows the child that they are valued and respected and that their progress is important.
Moreover, having patience when working with your child also allows the parent to be flexible and adapt the therapy to the child's individual needs, which can be especially important when working with children with special needs, as they may require different approaches or modifications to therapy.
10. Be Encouraging And Supportive
Children may make mistakes or struggle to express themselves clearly. Being encouraging and supportive when children make mistakes helps them to feel comfortable trying again and encourages them to build their confidence and motivation to continue learning.
Children are more likely to respond positively and be more engaged in learning when they feel that their efforts are appreciated. Encouraging words and positive reinforcement can help children to feel valued and motivated to continue to work on their communication skills.
11. Use Repetition
Repeating phrases or sentences that a child has said can help boost their communication skills in a few ways.
It can help them to develop their vocabulary by hearing the exact words used in different contexts.
Repeating what the child has said can encourage children to express themselves more clearly and confidently.
It can also help children to learn the appropriate way to initiate and respond to conversations. Additionally, repeating words and phrases that a child uses incorrectly can help them to learn the correct usage and grammar.
12. Incorporate Storytelling
Incorporating storytelling into speech therapy at home is vital for several reasons.
Storytelling can help children develop language skills by exposing them to a wide range of vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structures. It also allows them to practice listening and comprehension skills.
Storytelling can also help children learn how to organize their thoughts, use descriptive language and express their ideas effectively.
It can also foster imagination and creativity, benefiting overall cognitive development.
It can also help children understand and express emotions and teach social skills, such as interacting with others, solving problems, and understanding different perspectives.
It can be used to help children with special needs, such as autism, to better understand the world around them and to develop social skills.
Additionally, storytelling is a fun and engaging activity that can help build a strong bond between parent and child and make therapy sessions more enjoyable.
13. Incorporate Listening Exercises
Listening is a critical component of effective communication. Children need to learn not only how to express themselves but also how to listen to others actively. By practicing listening exercises, children can learn to pay attention to the words and nonverbal cues of the speakers and develop the ability to understand and respond to the messages they are receiving.
Listening exercises can help children to improve their attention span and concentration. Children who struggle with listening can struggle to follow instructions, participate in class, and understand complex information. By practicing listening exercises, children can learn to focus their attention and improve their ability to process and retain information.
Listening can help children to develop empathy and social awareness. Children who practice listening can learn to understand the perspectives and feelings of others, which is an essential aspect of social and emotional development. Strong listening skills can help them build stronger relationships and effectively navigate social interactions.
14. Create A Speech Therapy "Toolbox."
Creating a speech therapy "toolbox" is a great way to give your child access to speech therapy resources from home. This "toolbox" can include speech therapy apps, games, books, and other materials your child can use to practice their learning skills.
These readily available tools make it easier for your child to work on their speech therapy goals and give them something to look forward to.
15. Talk To Your Child's Speech Therapist
Suppose your child is not already enrolled in speech therapy, and you have concerns about their language development. In that case, the first step is to consult with your pediatrician or a speech-language therapist.
If you are already enrolled in speech therapy, your speech-language pathologist can develop a customized speech therapy plan tailored to your child's specific needs.
Speech therapists often recommend writing goals for each speech therapy session and will provide you with long-term speech therapy goals to practice at home.
While speech therapy at home is an excellent option for some families, it's important to remember that speech therapy should always be overseen by a speech-language pathologist (SLP).
If you have concerns about your child's progress, speak to an SLP who can provide professional advice and guidance.
Speech therapists can advise and guide on best incorporating speech therapy into your child's day-to-day activities. They can also give tips on making speech therapy at home more productive and enjoyable. Speech therapists can also provide resources to help you better understand speech disorders and therapy strategies.
How Can Connected Speech Pathology Help?
At Connected Speech Pathology, we feel speech therapy should be a positive and enjoyable experience for everyone involved. Our experienced team of speech-language pathologists is dedicated to helping families realize their child's full potential.
We provide personalized instruction, resources, and support to ensure you receive the guidance and support you need to work effectively with your child at home to help them improve their speech and language skills.
Contact us today to see how our services can help you and your family succeed in speech therapy!
About the Author
Allison Geller is a speech-language pathologist (SLP) and the owner of Connected Speech Pathology. She obtained her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Florida in Speech-Language Pathology. Allison has practiced speech therapy in a number of settings including telepractice, acute care, outpatient rehabilitation, and private practice. She has worked extensively with individuals across the lifespan including toddlers, preschoolers, school-aged children, and adults. She specializes in the evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of a variety of communication disorders including receptive/expressive language disorders, articulation disorders, voice disorders, fluency disorders, brain injury, and swallowing disorders.
Allison served as the clinical coordinator of research in aphasia in the Neurological Institute at Columbia University Medical Center in New York. She is on the Board of Directors for the Corporate Speech Pathology Network (CORSPAN), a Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT) certified clinician, and a proud Family Empowerment Scholarship/Step-Up For Students provider. Allison is passionate about delivering high quality-effective treatment remotely because it’s convenient and easy to access. What sets us apart from other online speech therapy options is—Allison takes great care to hire the very best SLPs from all over the country.
