Speech Therapy for Children
SpeechTherapyFun.com is designed for parents and adults who have a child in their life with a speech delay or disorder. My inspiration and motivation for creating this Speech Therapy site is to supply information to you about speech therapy for children while they have fun!
I have been working in the Speech Therapy field for over 30 years and of course, I have learned many things, but one of the most prevalent things I learned is this:
“A child having fun is an engaged child open to learning and communicating. A child's first words, gestures or sign language are initially used to get their needs met or to continue an engaging activity. By helping a child learn to communicate during daily routines you enhance their development and reduce the child's frustrations and behaviors that may result from not being able to communicate. “
The information provided is to be used to encourage young children to communicate and is not intended to take the place of the services of a trained and licensed speech-language pathologist. It is designed to give you additional information, activities and resources to supplement your child's therapies. Your child's Speech Therapist will be able to give you activities, goals and exercises specifically prescribed for your child's unique special needs and developmental level.
- Do you have a child in speech therapy & want to help at home?
- Are you a student or professional in speech and language pathology or any of the related fields of occupational therapy, preschool teachers or an assistant working with young children?
- Would you like to communicate with your baby or a child with autism or developmental delays before they learn to speak?
- Are you looking for ideas, activities and toys for any child to promote learning, communication and social-emotional skills?
If you answered Yes to any of the above questions you may want to explore this site further. I offer a free online Speech Therapy Fun Course that will give you Speech Therapy information, plus tips and tricks the pros use sent directly to your inbox every 2-4 days. I also supply helpful information, resources, links, activities, e-books, recommended toys, CD's software and DVD's that promote communication and language development all while having fun!
Did you know?
0-3 months: Infants startle to sounds and cry differently for different needs.
4-6 months: Infants look toward a sound and make babbling sounds including m, p and b.
7 months to 1 yr: Infants like games such as peek-a-boo and patty cake. Babbling in long strings and often one or two words may be heard.
1-2 years: Toddlers point to pictures or body parts named and begin learning new words each month. Two word phrases will begin to emerge.
2-3 years: Children often begin to listen to stories, follow 2 part directions. The speech at this age should be understood by familiar listeners.
3-4 years: At this age children can answer simple questions, use many 4 word sentences. People outside the family can understand them and they can talk without repeating words or syllables.
If a child you know has not achieved these levels of listening and speaking at the ages listed it is an indicator that a speech language patholgist should be consulted.
Speech Therapy is fun, interactive and rewarding.