Child Speech Pathology: Helping Your Kid Develop Good Speech Habits

According to child speech pathology experts, children with speech and/or language difficulties should be immersed in a language-rich environment. One way to do that is for parents to develop correct speech habits at home. Not only can it be helpful for children with particular needs, it can also be quite useful even for kids with no speech or language problems. Here are some simple activities you can add to your daily routine so you can develop good speech habits at home and help encourage your child's speech and language development.

 

If your child is two years old or younger, you can help him learn gestures so by letting him imitate your actions. Speech language pathology practitioners recommend clapping your hands, blowing kisses, and playing peek-a-book with your hands. At this age, it is also a must to introduce your child to spoken language. You can do this by demonstrating to your child the sounds that animals make. For example, when you see a dog, point to the animal and make a "woof" sound so your kid can associate the two things together.

You can also talk about how your day went and the activities you did, like taking a bath, making dinner, or talking a walk. Don't feel silly or embarrassed about having a one-sided conversation with your child because according to child speech pathology experts, this helps expose your child to spoken language.

Meanwhile, when talking to their small children, some parents often use baby talk because they think it is cute. However, experts believe that this can have an adverse effect on the youngsters. So instead of using baby talk, speech language pathology experts insist on using real language when talking to your baby. According to them, the earlier your child hears words spoken and pronounced properly, the earlier he will begin to use them.

In case your child is a toddler, you can teach him simple nursery rhymes or songs that demonstrates patterns of speech. You can also read books with him and encourage him to describe things by pointing out to the pictures on the books you're reading or even at photographs of family members and friends. Child speech pathology practitioners also recommend asking your kid with open-ended questions or those that cannot be answered with a simple yes or no so your child can get to practise putting words together and having a simple conversation with you.

Developing good speech habits at home is one of the best ways to get your child to learn communication skills, according to child speech pathology experts. For this reason, it is very important to create a language-rich environment for your child so you can supplement the therapy he is receiving from a speech pathology Brisbane practice.