Explore the world of speech sound therapy for young children

ByLondon Speech and Feeding
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Many parents who come to the clinic voice with the concerns about their child’s “speech”. On assessment we discover that actually besides the words not being clear what we most often don’t see is “language” (putting words together to request something for example). And we don’t see “social communication” (waving bye with a smile for example). So what is perceived as “speech” is much more than just not saying the speech sounds correctly. It might be that we need to increase the child’s vocabulary and language so that we can target specific speech sound patterns.

We’ll guide you through some of the most frequently asked questions.

What is the difference between speech and language?

Language is how we put words together (e.g., the cat ran up a tree). For non-verbal children this might be how gestures and symbols are put together. Both will put these into a meaningful context. Language needs to use either speech and/or gestures or signs or pointing to symbols in order to come into being. It needs words, either spoken or written, put into grammatical order so that thoughts can be expressed adequately: about the here and now, about what he had for breakfast this morning or what we are going to do this coming weekend. We put words together to express our feelings and thoughts. Speech is one aspect of this very complex process.

Speech is the specific sounds that make up a word (e.g., the sounds in fish are /f-i-sh/).

Some children are delayed in their speech but will catch up with their peers’ development with time. Others may be using disordered speech sound patterns. If you’re unsure, contact your Speech and Language Therapist as early intervention is vital. It might be that you’re given activities to carry out at home. Or a direct therapeutic intervention may be required, along with regular practice at home. The approach depends on your child and how they learn best.

When might your Speech and Language Therapist recommend direct Speech and Language Therapy?

There are several reasons why your child may need intervention to support their communication. Some of these include:

  • When they produce vowels incorrectly
  • When a child has significantly fewer consonants than they should have by their age
  • Error patterns that are not following a typical process
  • Fewer word approximations
  • When a child is ready for speech therapy. That is to say, when we can target speech production through interactive play but most often speech is targeted through repeated activities which focus on a few sounds or words at a time. For this to work ideally a child does need to be able to sit at a table and take part in the activities and games.

How can I work on speech and language targets at the same time?

You’ll want your child to be engaged in activities. It’ll need to be in short bursts to keep their attention. Let’s say you’re focusing on the /p/ sound. You may get a bag with objects and items with /p/ in them. Speak to your child’s Speech and Language Therapist about what position in the word they are targeting now.

Sing the ‘what’s in the bag’ song. Pull out each item in turn and emphasise the sound that you are working on such as “it’s a fox, ffffox”. You can then comment on what the fox is doing, or what they look like (e.g., look at this fffurry fffox. It’s very fffriendly. Oh, the fffox is running).

This activity gives you the opportunity not only to build vocabulary but also to expose your little one to a good model of speech sounds.

“I’m concerned my child won’t sit through the assessment”

This is a common concern. Don’t worry. If your child is not able to sit through an assessment then we usually offer play-based assessment. This means it is activity focused and can be wherever your child feels most comfortable; this is usually on the floor. It is often best to see children in their own homes or even nursery places where they can roam more freely and where they feel most comfortable. On reading the filled-out parent questionnaire we can decide whether a home visit/nursery visit or a clinic visit might work best for your child.

You will be guided all the way through from assessment to intervention and beyond. So, you’ll leave feeling empowered and confident to get started!

Contact Sonja for support with your child’s speech.

Find a speech and language therapist for your child in London. Are you concerned about your child’s speech, feeding or communication skills and don’t know where to turn? Please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you or visit my services page.

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What Is Echolalia And Does It Have A Function? How Can Speech Therapy Help With Echolalia?

Echolalia is a term used when assessing or treating children with Autism. The term refers to the repetition or echoing of utterances, either our own or others’. It can also be echoing phrases heard on television, advertising jingles or catchy repeat phrases used in tv programmes or nursery rhymes and songs. Whilst we all use echolalia occasionally and it can be observed in typically developing children, we tend not to see/hear it beyond the age of 2.5 years old. Children with ASD, however, do use echolalia often into late childhood.

There are generally two types of Echolalia:

Immediate echolalia

Here the repeated phrases or words are produced immediately after someone has spoken the original words or within two conversational turns of the original utterance.

Delayed echolalia

The repeat echoing of the original utterance occurs sometime later, more than two conversational turns or with a much longer time delay. Due to the delay it can be hard to interpret the meaning of the echolalic utterance as it may refer to something that happened long ago and in a different context to the originally utterance.

(Stiegler, 2015, Fay 1967, Blanc 2014)

There are other unconventional speech behaviours which include:

  • Perseveration of Speech – persistent repetition of speech
  • Repetitive questioning – persisting even though answers were given
  • Vocalisations such as: humming, whistling, clicking, squealing etc.

Much research has gone into the meaning and treatment of Echolalia and the following list consists of possible functions that have been identified:

  • Information sharing
  • Responding to answers
  • Labelling
  • Drawing attention to self
  • Protesting
  • Requesting
  • Giving instructions
  • Self-regulation, calming

(Stiegler 2015, Prizant 1983)

Echolalia does have a function and is part of the Gestalt Learning Process (where longer units of speech are memorised and then used as a whole without the individual words being meaningful).

As a Speech and Language Therapist I promote sound and proven Intervention based on the Hanen Programme which helps provide a highly facilitative Interaction Style and I will tell you a bit more in my next blog how the “More Than Words” approach can help children with echolalia move through their Gestalt Learning into more analytic processing of language, grammar and meaning.

Find a speech and language therapist for your child in London. Are you concerned about your child’s speech, feeding or communication skills and don’t know where to turn? Please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you or visit my services page.

Explore four truths or myths about speech, language, and communication
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Explore four truths or myths about speech, language, and communication

ByLondon Speech and Feeding

There are many truths and myths out there that I’d like to explain to prevent misunderstanding. This will enable you to support your child by seeking the correct information.

Why not have a look at the following statements and decide if you think they are true or false?

  1. Flashcards will fix my child’s speech, language, and communication needs.
  2. Singing to my child will not help their language development.
  3. My child communicates in a variety of ways not just through speech.
  4. Learning another language is good for my child.
Speech Therpaist in London

Now let’s explore these statements in more detail.

1. Flashcards will fix my child’s speech, language and communication needs – False

To develop your child’s communication skills, you’ll want your child to generalise their skills across multiple areas. I would highly recommend staying away from flashcards if they are only teaching ‘rote learning’. Children need to explore the world through play. However if you’re looking at cards, talking about them and having meaningful conversations, and your child is enjoying it, then there potentially is a use for flashcards. But at London Speech and Feeding, we love innovative activities that your child is fully immersed in.

2. Singing to my child will not help their language development – False

Singing introduces your child to rhyme, and repetition amongst many other benefits. It allows them to attend and listen to you as their caregiver and develop the vital stages of early communication. Singing slows down language so your child becomes more aware of the relationship between letters and sounds. You’re also supporting your child’s oral fluency as well as their memory. Furthermore, you’ll often be face to face with your child singing which allows them to see your facial expressions, lip patterns and eye contact (to name a few).

3. My child communicates in a variety of ways not just through speech – True

Communication is much more than just talking. So, it’s true that communication happens in a variety of ways. Think about it. If you didn’t talk and you wanted to convey a message of frustration, you may show different facial expressions, body language; you may point at something which has caused your frustration. We can communicate through a variety of means (some of which include symbols, gestures, hand signals, and pictures). Can you think of any other ways in which you communicate to others?

4. Learning another language is good for my child – True

Current evidence suggests that speaking another language to your child is a positive. It allows your child to interact with different members of the family or with their friends. ASHA suggests that children who speak two languages fluently often learn new vocabulary easier and find categorisation simpler. Bilingual children have been shown to understand the needs of their communication partner. In addition, increased vocabulary may support better understanding. There are no negative factors about learning more than one language. We would recommend that, whatever language(s) your child is learning, they have a good model of that language, so they learn best practice.

Always seek the advice from a qualified Speech and Language Therapist if you’re unsure of how your child’s speech, language and communication is developing, as there are lots of information online that aren’t always accurate.

I’m always happy to support your family to increase your knowledge and understanding.

You can find support by contacting Specialist Speech and Language Therapist Sonja here.


Find a speech and language therapist for your child in London. Are you concerned about your child’s speech, feeding or communication skills and don’t know where to turn? Please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you or visit my services page.

My child is very hard to understand! How can Speech Therapy help?

My child is very hard to understand! How can Speech Therapy help?

ByLondon Speech and Feeding

Kids Speech Therapist London

There are many reasons for speech sound delay or disorders and the first step is a thorough assessment.

What does a Speech Assessment look like?

With younger children, around 2 – 2.5 years we often start by collecting a good speech sample during play or general chatting. Sometimes we do this with an audiotape so that we are able to listen to your child’s speech sounds repeatedly in order to determine any speech error patterns. A good way to get a speech sample is looking at a favourite book together and trying to get your child to name as many items, animals or characters as possible in the book. For older children, 4.5 years plus we do more formal speech sound assessments where we show your child a series of pictures which focus on varying sounds or sound patterns, for example:

  • Are the end sounds present or left off, does your child say BE_ instead of BED for example?
  • Are the back sounds produced at the front of the mouth, is a digger a DIDDER or a pig a PID?
  • Are sound blends reduced, for instances a snake becomes a NAKE ?
  • Or do many phonemes (single speech sounds) collapse all into one error sound? Like all F , R or L become a B?

Once we have discovered the error pattern we can then unravel the problem and work on solutions. We make a plan and prioritise which of the patterns we can target first, second and next. There are several approaches that can be used to tackle speech sound errors and most therapist have two or three favourite approaches as their go-to. I will fill you in on my favourite ones in future blogs.

What does a Speech Therapy session look like?

These days we have two options: on-line via zoom and face to face in the clinic setting.

Both are great options!

For all clients who live far away a zoom session will be the option to go for. But zoom sessions also work really well for the older child as, let’s face it, are there any kids out there who do not like a bit of screen time?

I find that children around 5 years old really love the on-line games and sessions are fun and very effective. We usually start off with a quick game to warm up and then we go into the speech sound patterns we need to improve and work on. There are 100s of tried and tested on-line games and game decks which can be hugely entertaining and really nice to work with.

In clinic, we also often start with a short game to settle in and then we target the various sound patterns we are working on within table top games, or arts and crafts activities. We aim to get up to 100 speech sound trials per session, using a variety of motivating games to keep our little ones going and focused.

Both, face to face and on-line sessions are between 40-45 minutes long – time usually flies by! – and then parents get to practise home exercises to make sure that the new speech sounds are being practised every day.

Over the coming weeks I shall do blogs on great games and home exercises that I give the parents and I will talk about games we do in the session that are fun and can be copied for home use. Watch this space!

Find a speech and language therapist for your child in London. Are you concerned about your child’s speech, feeding or communication skills and don’t know where to turn? Please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you or visit my services page.

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Four struggles parents face when out and about with children with speech, language, and communication difficulties

ByLondon Speech and Feeding
A man and a woman hug a young girl at a table
Hug

You (as parents) often describe yourselves as being under constant pressure and stress when looking after your children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). You may find going out to do the simplest of tasks a challenge. And you will try to avoid social situations out of fear and anxiety. One of the most important factors to you is having like-minded people who understand your position as a parent with a young person with additional needs. Let’s look at some of the challenges you face and how I can support you and your family.

1. Challenging behaviour and going out to the shops

When your child displays challenging behaviour and won’t go into a shop without buying a toy that they insist on having, it can be tough on your family. You see people around you staring as you try to manage the situation. They do not understand the pressures you face, or that the simplest of tasks are a huge challenge.

I can support you by giving strategies to use when out and about. I know that using visuals is important for your child. They may not understand or take in language when they are in a heightened state of anxiety or feeling overwhelmed. You could print pictures of the places you’re going to and put them on an easily accessible chain. Then you could use that chain when out and about at the shops. You may want to introduce a visual timetable at home. That way your child or young person understands where they are going. This may lessen their anxiety and subsequent behaviour.

2. Your child is not able to communicate their needs to an unfamiliar communication partner

When your child has difficulty communicating to an unfamiliar person it can be hard to manage. You feel yourself explaining your situation repeatedly. I can provide your child with individualised strategies or communication aids which support your child to communicate with both familiar and unfamiliar communication partners. We’ll work together to find which communication methods work in different situations and how your child will use these to help their independence.

3. Being overwhelmed

Your child or young person may easily be overwhelmed which may contribute to behaviour changes. I’ll work with your family to understand what the behaviour means, looking at what happened before and what happened afterwards. We’ll not only look at the behaviour but at the environment as well. This can inform how you can support your child or young person in the future, to reduce sensory stimuli (if needed) and for them to feel emotionally regulated.

4. People avoid engaging with you

One of the hardest things as a parent is for others to avoid you. You see them crossing the street because they don’t know what to say to you. All you want is them to accept you, to maintain your identity as a person and not as a SEND parent. I can support you emotionally. I can give you advice on local support networks where you can find other parents in a similar situation.

We know the stresses that being a parent with a child with SEND comes with. Please know I am always here to support you, to find solutions so that when you’re next out and about. Your experience will be a little easier and you’ll feel less isolated.

Improve your child’s communication, confidence, reduce overwhelm and feel supported here.

Find a speech and language therapist for your child in London. Are you concerned about your child’s speech, feeding or communication skills and don’t know where to turn? Please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you or visit my services page.

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Five ways to use books to encourage speech, language and communication for reluctant readers
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Five ways to use books to encourage speech, language and communication for reluctant readers

ByLondon Speech and Feeding

Reading can be a tricky skill to master for young people with speech, language, and communication difficulties, which may lead to reluctance in picking up a book. But that doesn’t mean you can’t use books to inspire and encourage them. It’s important to think outside of the box and take an innovative approach.

But before you do that, you need to identify why your child is averse to reading. There are many possibilities: is it that they have difficulties remembering what they’ve read; or perhaps they may have difficulties decoding the words, which is the ability to apply your knowledge between letters and sounds; or it might be that they are unable to understand the language used. Whatever the reason, it’s helpful to know. It’s only then that we can support their needs which may lead to greater enjoyment in reading.

A boy behind a pile of books on a table with hands in fists

Explore five ways in which we can encourage reluctant readers using books:

  1. Firstly, we could narrate what’s happening from the images and relate it to experiences that your child has had, which will make it more relevant. For example, when looking at a book with a cat in it, you could say “do you remember the time when grandma had a black cat sipping out of her glass of water?”.
  2. You could talk about what they think will happen next and make predictions. You could even make this into a game. Write your predictions on paper and see who is right.
  3. Draw images to identify the key parts of the story. You might want to create a story board together.
  4. Make a sensory experience, where your child can have a hands-on approach. See what you have at home, you don’t have to go out and buy materials. E.g., If the book is talking about a gravel path, you may have rice crispies; if it mentions the weather, you could spray water or have a torch for sunlight. Let your imagination do the work! This is also a great way to learn new vocabulary. In addition, you can also use a colour coded structure to support their expressive language (e.g., who? (the man) doing what? (is eating) to what? (an apple) how? (quickly) where? (in the park) when? (on Monday). Write out the different parts of the sentence with a picture for each part. So, your young person has a visual to learn from.
  5. Why not act out the story with family or friends? This really brings the story to life and allows your child to practise vital skills for attention and listening and social interaction such as turn-taking.

Make sure you use a book that is appropriate for the age and stage of your child’s development and adapt your activities accordingly.

Check my blogs for speech, language, and communication support.

Contact me and see if I can help you.

Find a speech and language therapist for your child in London. Are you concerned about your child’s speech, feeding or communication skills and don’t know where to turn? Please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you or visit my services page.

Four reasons to continue Speech and Language Therapy during the summer
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Four reasons to continue Speech and Language Therapy during the summer

ByLondon Speech and Feeding

The summer holidays can be tricky for parents as there is so much to do: organising childcare, the actual holiday, and trying to have some all-important ‘me time’. Speech therapy for your little one might be the last thing on your mind. But …. If we can prioritise only a small amount of time every day then we are maximising time and finances spent thus far and can continue your child’s Speech and Language Therapy sessions throughout the summer, no problem. Have a look at this blog. We’ll take you through good reasons why you shouldn’t ignore Speech and Language Therapy sessions this summer.

1. Building communication skills takes time

You’ve worked so hard throughout the year to support your child’s speech, language and communication. Now is the time to continue, not to stop! You will watch your child’s communication and confidence grow and flourish over the next couple of months. All the different experiences your child will have on holiday or just even pootling about in your local park with you, or granny/nanny will help expand their capacity for learning and using language and words to communicate with you. If you have time during the summer, you can embed the skills your child has learnt into everyday life which is vital . If in doubt ask how you can use the strategies you have learned in any new environment. Together we can workshop all eventualities and make them fun and doable. There is no end of fun and opportunities with a bucket, spade and a bit of sand!

2. Getting to know your child’s Speech and Language Therapist is vital

Here’s a plug for regular therapy sessions: building a rapport with your child’s Speech and Language Therapist is key. If our sessions together are consistent and regular, then it will be so easy for us to develop a good rapport with your little one. Trust is key. So if sessions are infrequent and irregular it is hard for your child to build up trust with their therapist and it is hard for the therapist also to get you know your child and tailor the sessions so that they really work very well. We need to know what your child loves and what activities or toys work well; so, if sessions are missed and irregular then the process just takes longer.

3. Goals are set and measured

Sometimes a break is needed and that’s fine. We measure goals within a certain time frame and whilst a few weeks holiday are great for everyone, we don’t want to lose any progress your child has made. If a child does not attend sessions, progress will often diminish as consistency in therapy is key!

4. You’ll be able to embed skills over the summer at home

Did you know you can access Speech and Language Therapy wherever you are with our remote service? Teletherapy allows flexibility which means your child’s sessions can be wherever you are. Whilst this isn’t for everyone, it does allow regular sessions to continue. If that does not work for you then let’s talk about how we can help you transfer all the therapy goals into your holiday. You will be surprised how easy it is: lots of goals can be worked into snack times for example or bath times. You will have those wherever you are so this won’t take away your holiday fun, promise!

Find out more about teletherapy.

Find a speech and language therapist for your child in London. Are you concerned about your child’s speech, feeding or communication skills and don’t know where to turn? Please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you or visit my services page.

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