Five ways to increase confidence and reduce frustration in children with speech and language and communication difficulties

ByLondon Speech and Feeding
|
An orange speech bubble with a testimonial

Your child’s speech, language and communication difficulties may impact their self-esteem. And they may show signs of increased frustration. You want them to be full of confidence, increasing their participation in school and fully engaging with their peers.

1. Practise active listening

Speech difficulties can mean that it’s more challenging to understand what your child says. It’s important to show that you’re paying attention, giving them time to express themselves. Focus on what your child says rather than how they are speaking. Remember to maintain eye contact, and actively listen. Active listening and giving time can be trickier than it sounds. I can provide strategies to support your active listening skills.

2. Give other means and forms of communication

Allowing children to express themselves in a variety of ways (e.g., gesture, signs, written, use descriptions to describe a word (e.g., sand – you find it out the beach, it can have pebbles on it, it’s not the sea), use of symbols or high-tech augmentative communication methods such as a computer). Using different ways is vital in reducing frustration and communicating their message. If you’re unsure of what other forms of communication you can use, please contact me for some top tips.

3. Praise efforts

Providing specific praise allows your child to understand what they’ve achieved. E.g., you could praise the way your child listens, or how they take turns, or their resilience (e.g., “I like the way you listened” or “good listening”). Think of different ways you could praise you child during different activities, so you are prepared with phrases that you can use.

4. Have clear start and end points in activities

Some children with speech, language and communication needs have difficulties with transitioning from one activity to another. They also have difficulties with changes in routine. This can add to their frustration and changes in behaviour. So, how do you show a clear start and end to an activity? You can have a visual timetable, or you could have ‘start’ and ‘finish’ boxes where you place all the materials in the box labelled ‘start’. And once the activity has finished, you put the items in the box labelled ’finished’. If you need support with transitions, please contact me.

5. Use visuals

Visuals can support your child to understand routine and spoken language. Visuals can range from symbols to online images, to photographs, or a combination. Explore which type of visuals work well for your children. Using visuals can be powerful if used correctly. Make the most of the opportunities that visuals can provide for your family.

Increase confidence and reduce frustration in children with speech and language and communication difficulties today. Please feel free to contact me if you need any support or tips on maximising these opportunities.

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.

1

Similar Posts

  • · ·

    The power of containment: A therapeutic approach for autistic children

    ByLondon Speech and Feeding
    Photo by lemonlenz

    The practice of wrapping or swaddling children, often referred to as ‘containment,’ has been used for centuries to soothe and comfort infants. I use this therapeutic approach with autistic children at the London Speech and Feeding Practice. While it might seem counterintuitive, the act of being tightly wrapped can provide significant benefits for children who struggle with sensory processing, emotional regulation, and communication.

    Understanding sensory processing and autism

    Autistic persons often experience challenges with sensory processing, which is their brain’s ability to interpret and respond to sensory information. This can lead to sensory overload or under-responsivity. Containment can be a valuable tool in helping children regulate their sensory input.

    Photo by lemonlenz

    To summarise, here are some of the benefits of containment:

    • Sensory Regulation:
      • Provides deep pressure input: The tight, enveloping sensation of being wrapped can provide deep pressure input, which is calming and organising for many children.
      • Reduces sensory overload: By creating a controlled sensory environment, containment can help to reduce overstimulation and promote a sense of safety.
    • Emotional Regulation:
      • Containment creates a sense of security: Being wrapped tightly can mimic the feeling of being in the womb, providing a sense of security and comfort.
      • Facilitates calming: The deep pressure input can help to calm the nervous system and reduce anxiety.
    • Improved Body Awareness:
      • Enhances proprioception: Containment can improve the child’s awareness of their body in space, which is essential for motor development and sensory integration. I often provide extra pressure on a child’s arms and legs sticking out of the yoga mat; this helps my child understand where their limbs are in space: I can feel my legs and I can feel my arms and I can feel where they are right now, i.e. they are under Sonja’s hand, I can feel them.
    • Facilitates Communication – and this is obviously where I come in as a Speech and Language Therapist:
      • Swaddling creates a safe space: When a child feels calm and secure, they are more likely to engage in communication.
      • Enhances joint attention: The shared experience of being wrapped can foster joint attention, which is essential for language development. You can see this one in my highlights where I swaddle my student in the yoga mat (picture above). She absolutely loves it, and what is more she is calm and steady when usually this child likes to be on the move constantly. Here we have a wonderful moment of joint engagement. She looks at me, she can listen to what I say or sing, and she can tell me in her own way to carry on rolling her or to carry on singing or providing calming pressure to her legs and arms or to stop.

    A few pointers for when you try this at home: How to practise containment safely and effectively

    • Create a safe environment: Ensure the wrapping material is soft, breathable, and free from any hazards.
    • Observe your child’s cues: Pay attention to your child’s body language and verbal cues to determine their comfort level.
    • Respect your child’s boundaries: If your child shows signs of distress, stop the containment immediately – this might seem obvious but sometimes we adults get so carried away with some ‘great idea’ that we have seen work elsewhere. And so we can be a little too ‘determined’ sometimes to ‘make it happen’… perhaps this rings a bell with some of my readers.
    • MAKE IT FUN: Start carefully and take it step by step. See if the student is having a nice time. It is all about trust and therefore it might not work the very first time you do it.

    It’s important to remember that containment is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Some children may respond better to other sensory-based interventions. However, for many autistic children containment can be a valuable tool in their journey towards improved communication and emotional regulation.

    For more information follow me on Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn.

    Sonja McGeachie

    Early Intervention Speech and Language Therapist

    Feeding and Dysphagia (Swallowing) Specialist The London Speech and Feeding Practice

    The London Speech and Feeding Practice

    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.

    1
  • · ·

    Strategies to support children with eating difficulties

    ByLondon Speech and Feeding

    where the cause is NOT a swallowing problem, but we are having a “fussy eater” in the family, seeming for no obvious reason

    When parents have a child who find mealtimes or eating difficult, it can put pressure on the whole family dynamics. Once we have observed a child’s eating and drinking skills and found that they are not swallowing impaired, but are for want of a better word “fussy” or “picky”, we can then start to look at what might be underpinning the food aversions/picky eating/food avoidance. Two of the main questions parents have (of course) are:

    • ‘is my child getting the right nutrition?’
    • ‘how can I have less anxiety-provoking and stressful mealtimes?’

    We all tend to have an image in our minds about the ‘perfect mealtime’, and how mealtimes ‘should’ be. Speech and Language Therapists with a Feeding Specialism are the perfect professionals to help you unpick feeding issues. We are trained to look at swallowing and oral skills and we also know a lot about feeding behaviours and sensory difficulties which could be causing your child’s eating avoidance.

    Here are some strategies that can support children with their eating:

    1. Create and maintain a mealtime culture that suits your home and lifestyle. Then stick to that. We all need some routine in our lives to thrive. Mealtimes are no different. It might be that you eat in the same place for every meal, with the same knives and forks, concentrating on maintaining good posture. Children learn by repetition so the more familiar it is, the easier they will find it. In the physical sense, our bodies also need preparing for food, regardless of whether we are eating with our mouths or we are tube-fed. We want every child to connect all the dots of the process. It starts with their eyes, noses, expectations, memories of past experiences, feelings and then finally their mouths….
    2. Be an excellent role model. Children learn through watching others, so your child will be observing you without you knowing. Ensure that you are positive about the food you are all eating, and talk about how delicious, tasty, juicy, and yummy the foods are. Make the atmosphere around the dinner table light hearted. Even though you are secretly stressed about your child not eating, try and not show this. Instead pick a topic or put on some nice music, or talk about something your child might be interested in, and try and avoid coercing your child to eat. Leave small finger foods on their plates and have a range of foods available on the table so that your child can see that everyone is eating a range of foods and enjoying them.
    3. Use positive reinforcement. Try and think of mealtimes as fun and motivating. Children who are happy will likely be more inclined to try foods and take part in family mealtimes. Reward all interactions around food, so if your child merely touches a new food then praise this behaviour. Or if your child licks a food just once, again make a nice comment and praise your child for touching and licking the food. The takeaway here is to try and keep all messages positive around food.
    4. Keep offering all types of food. What often happens is that parents stop serving foods they know will not be eaten. This makes sense in a way; we don’t want wastage! However, try and keep the doors open and re-offer all types of foods, even the ones that your child has not wanted in the past. Try and give your child one food they will like and one food they have tasted before and liked before, even a little, and then one new food to try. So, your child always has something to fall back on and they can join in with eating. But they can also try (or at least look at and think about trying) other foods that you and perhaps the siblings are eating.

    Take a look at this website, I find it very helpful in showing parents what types of foods and how big a portion to offer

    Have a go and try and implement some of the ideas above, and should you get stuck please get in touch!

    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.

    0
  • · ·

    The power of babble: Why your baby’s ‘talk’ matters

    ByLondon Speech and Feeding

    That adorable string of ‘ba-ba-ga-ga-ma-ma’ might sound like baby gibberish, but it’s actually a crucial milestone in your little one’s language development. Babbling or babble, as we call it, is far more than just cute baby noises. It’s a sequence of sounds that lays the foundation for future communication.

    Image by freepik

    What is babbling?

    Babbling typically begins around six months of age, though the timing can vary slightly from baby to baby. It involves your baby experimenting with different sounds, stringing together consonants and vowels. You might hear them repeating sounds like:

    • ‘Ba-ba’
    • ‘Da-da’
    • ‘Ma-ma’
    • ‘Ga-ga’

    As they progress, the babbling becomes more complex, with variations in pitch, rhythm, and intonation. It might even sound like they’re having a conversation with you!

    Why is babbling so important?

    1. Laying the groundwork for speech: Babbling is like a vocal workout for your baby. By practising these sounds, they’re strengthening the muscles in their mouth, tongue, and vocal cords that are essential for speech.
    2. Developing phonological skills: Through babbling, babies begin to understand the sound patterns of their native language. They’re learning which sounds go together and how they’re used.
    3. Enhancing social interaction: Babbling is a social activity. Babies often babble back and forth with their caregivers, which helps them learn about the give-and-take of communication.
    4. Cognitive development: The act of babbling requires babies to use their brains in new ways. They’re learning to control their vocalisations, pay attention to the sounds they’re making, and connect those sounds to the responses they receive from others.

    How can you encourage babbling?

    • Talk to your baby: Even though they can’t understand your words yet, talking to your baby exposes them to language and encourages them to respond with their own vocalisations.
    • Imitate their sounds: When your baby babbles, imitate them! This shows them that you’re paying attention and encourages them to keep ‘talking.’
    • Respond to their babbling: Treat your baby’s babbling as if it’s a real conversation. Respond with words, smiles, and gestures.
    • Play sound games: Make different sounds for your baby and encourage them to imitate you. This could include animal sounds, silly noises, or simple words.
    • Read to your baby: Even before they can understand the words, reading to your baby exposes them to the rhythm and sounds of language.
    • Sing songs: Singing is a fun and engaging way to introduce your baby to new sounds and words.
    • Use mirrors: Babies often enjoy watching themselves make sounds in a mirror.
    • Tactile stimulation: Gentle massage around the mouth and face can increase oral awareness and encourage vocalisations.
    • Vary textures: Offer different textured teethers.
    • Read books with sound effects: Choose books with animal sounds or other engaging noises.
    • Blow bubbles: The act of blowing and popping bubbles can encourage vocalisations.
    • Use visual aids: Show pictures of objects and say their names, emphasising the consonant sounds.
    • Use exaggerated facial expressions: When you make sounds, exaggerate your mouth movements to help your baby see how sounds are made.
    • Increase joint attention: Follow the child’s gaze and point to objects that they are looking at and say the name of the object.

    When to seek help

    If you notice that your baby is not babbling by eight months, it’s a good idea to talk to your speech and language therapist. You might also notice a lack of variation in tone when your child is making sounds, is your baby sounding a little ‘flat’ or monotonous? While every child develops at their own pace, a lack of babbling can sometimes indicate a developmental delay or hearing issue.

    Remember, babbling is a gift. So, enjoy those precious moments of ‘baby talk’ and take comfort in knowing that your little one is on the path to becoming a chatterbox!

    Do get in touch via my contact form if you are concerned about your child’s development or if you simply want some reassurance that your baby is developing well. We will be delighted to arrange a screening appointment for you and give you support and reassurance.

    Sonja McGeachie

    Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

    Owner of The London Speech and Feeding Practice.

    Health Professions Council registered
    Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists Member
    Member of ASLTIP

    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.

    1
  • ·

    Explore activities for Gestalt Language Processors to aid communication

    ByLondon Speech and Feeding
    Speech Therpaist in London

    When you have a child who uses Gestalts it is often difficult to think and adapt clinic activities into those to use at home. More importantly, you find that individualising your activities for your child who uses Gestalt are time-consuming. But you value its importance for their communication development.

    You feel so busy, you are taking them to other appointments, or trying to get through your daily activities, all whilst still ensuring your child’s emotional needs are met. You know life should not get in the way of your child’s therapy activities at home, but it does. We know your spare time is precious and limited, so let us achieve your child’s or young person’s goals in the allotted time you have which meets their way of learning (using Gestalts).

    We wanted to support you by exploring items which you may have at home, and we will give you some key phrases which you can start to model with your child. Whereas our last blog introduced the idea of gestalt language processors, we are now developing ideas to give you the tools to implement activities at home. We recognise how overwhelming it may feel, and this is one of the reasons to make activities as straight forward as possible. Therapy does not need to be complicated; it just needs to be carried out on a regular basis.

    Explore the samples I’ve created to give you an idea of how this might look but please consult with a Speech and Language Therapist who knows about Gestalt Language Processing so that you can work together to develop great home activities for your child.

    Want to learn more about gestalt language processing?

    Please contact me for help.

    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.

    1
  • · ·

    One toy, endless targets: How to grow consonant clusters, core words and colours with one flower garden toy

    ByLondon Speech and Feeding
    Sonja McGeachie with the build-a-flower garden toy

    If you’ve been following me for a while you already know my absolute favourite rule for speech therapy: let the toy work for you. You don’t need an entire cabinet full of different flashcards or games to target a massive range of speech goals (though truth be told I do have 4 cabinets! What am I saying…) but often I find that sticking to one highly engaging, open-ended toy reduces a child’s cognitive load, keeps them firmly planted in play, and gives you dozens of natural opportunities for high-repetition practice. It also reduced my cognitive load!

    In today’s post we are looking at a classic: The build-a-flower garden toy. A link is here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fivejoy-Flower-Garden-Building.

    This vibrant, stacking toy isn’t just great for fine motor skills. It is an absolute goldmine for speech therapy. While it is incredible for targeting tricky consonant clusters (blends) like /ST/, /SP/, /SPR/, /FL/, /BL/, and /GR/, it is equally powerful for building functional core vocabulary.

    1. Digging deep with /ST/

    Let’s start building our garden.

    Stem & stalk: ‘Look at this long stem!’ or ‘Can you put the stem in?’ or ‘do you want the green or the red stem’?

    • Stuck: If a piece is a little tight to push down, it’s a brilliant opportunity for a natural exclamation: ‘Oh no, it’s stuck! Help me!’
    • Stand: Once it’s secure, you can celebrate: ‘it can stand up now!’
    • 👉 Core word integration: Use this setup stage to practise ANOTHER ONE. As you hold the base pieces, wait for the child to use their words or AAC device to request, ‘I want another one!’ before handing over the next stem.

    2. Sowing seeds with /SP/ and /SPR/

    Every good gardener needs the right equipment and a close eye for detail. We can introduce tools and descriptive language to hit our /SP/ and triple-blend /SPR/ targets.

    • Spade: Grab a toy shovel or pretend to use one. ‘Let’s dig a hole with the spade.’
    • Spot: Point to the holes on the base. ‘Find a good spot for this flower.’
    • Sprout: Talk about the little green pieces: ‘Look at the little sprout!’
    • 👉 Core word integration: Build on spontaneous requesting here. If they are eyeing a specific piece, model a full phrase like: ‘I WANT THE PINK ONE.’

    3. /FL/ and fine motor actions

    Now, we can start adding the colourful petals.

    • Flower: This is your high-frequency word for the entire activity. ‘Put the green/blue/pink flower on top.’
    • Flat & flutter: ‘This piece is flat on the ground,’ or ‘The butterfly flutters by!’
    • 👉 Core word integration: This stage is perfect for teaching directional actions. Every time they stack a petal onto a stem, model the core phrase: ‘PUT IT ON!’

    4. Blending it all together with /BL/

    Building a garden is a fantastic sensory experience because of the vivid colours. We can lean heavily into the /BL/ sound by focusing on colour selection and the action of growth.

    • Blue & bloom: ‘Should we use a blue flower?’ and ‘Watch it bloom!’
    • Blade & blend: Point out the blades of grass and talk about how we blend all the colours together.
    • 👉 Core word integration: Don’t just focus on putting the toy together, taking it apart is half the fun! If a child places a piece they don’t want, or when it’s time to clean up, model: ‘TAKE IT OFF.’

    5. Working the /GR/

    Finally, we look at the environment supporting our garden. The /GR/ blend can be targeted by looking downward at the base of our toy setup.

    • Green: Nearly every stem and base piece in this toy is a vibrant shade of green.
    • Grass & ground: ‘Put the base down on the ground.’ ‘Look at the green grass.’
    • 👉 Core word integration: Combine your /GR/ blend with a powerful core phrase. As you pull a stem upward slowly or stack the petals higher and higher, chant together: ‘MAKE IT GROW! Grow, grow, grow!’

    Maximise your repetitions in play

    The beauty of the flower garden toy is its repetitive nature. Because a child builds multiple flowers, you aren’t just saying a word or a phrase once, you have the potential to repeat it 10, 15, or 20 times in a single sitting without the child losing interest.

    By layering structural speech sounds (like blends) over functional communication phrases (like core words), we give children words they can use across their entire day.

    What toy would you like to see us target next in our series? Let me know in the comments on Instagram, and don’t forget to swipe through the carousel there to save these word lists for your next playtime!

    If you are concerned about your child’s speech, please do not hesitate to get in touch. I would love to help you find some answers.

    Sonja McGeachie

    Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

    Owner of The London Speech and Feeding Practice.

    Health Professions Council registered
    Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists Member
    Member of ASLTIP

    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.

    3
  • ·

    Understanding Angelman Syndrome: A guide for parents

    ByLondon Speech and Feeding

    Angelman Syndrome (AS) is a complex neurological disorder that affects development. It’s caused by a missing or functionally incorrect gene (UBE3A) on chromosome 15. While AS is rare, understanding its characteristics is crucial for parents and caregivers.

    What are the key characteristics of Angelman Syndrome?

    Children with AS typically exhibit a range of unique characteristics, which can include:

    • Developmental delay: Significant delays in reaching developmental milestones, such as sitting, crawling, and walking.
    • Speech impairment: Limited or absent speech. Individuals with AS may use few or no words.
    • Movement and balance issues: Difficulties with coordination, balance, and movement, sometimes causing a jerky or unsteady gait.
    • Happy demeanour: Frequent smiling, laughter, and a generally happy, excitable personality.
    • Intellectual disability: Varying degrees of intellectual disability.
    • Seizures: Seizures are common and often begin in early childhood.
    • Sleep difficulties: Disrupted sleep patterns and difficulty falling asleep.

    The role of Speech and Language Therapy

    Speech development and social communication is significantly affected in Angelman Syndrome, and therefore, Speech and Language Therapy plays a vital role in helping individuals with AS to communicate. As Speech and Language Therapists (SLT) we can work with the child and family support any of the following:

    • Assess communication skills: We evaluate the child’s current communication abilities, including any vocalisations, gestures, or signs they may use. With younger children we do this through play and playful social games as well as observation of a child playing and interacting with their siblings or caregivers.
    • Develop alternative communication strategies: Since spoken language may be limited, SLTs can help the child learn other ways to communicate, such as nonverbal communication, e.g
      • Gestures: use of pointing, waving and miming certain activities.
      • More formal sign language: Teaching basic signs to express needs and wants.
      • Core boards: Using pictures and symbols to represent everyday common words, actions, and feelings.
      • Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices: Providing electronic devices that can produce speech.
    • Encourage vocalisations: When words don’t readily develop, SLTs can encourage the child to make vocalisations and sounds, as these can be a form of communication.
    • Support language development: SLTs can work on understanding of language, even if expressive language is limited.
    • Educate and support families: SLTs provide families with strategies and techniques to support their child’s communication at home.

    The importance of a multidisciplinary approach

    Caring for a child with Angelman Syndrome requires a team effort. A multidisciplinary approach, involving various healthcare professionals, is essential to address the diverse needs of the individual. This team may include:

    • Paediatrician: Provides overall medical care and monitors the child’s health.
    • Physiotherapist: Helps with movement, balance, and coordination.
    • Occupational therapist: Works on daily living skills, such as feeding, dressing, and self-care.
    • Speech and Language Therapist: Addresses communication and language needs.

    By working together, we can provide comprehensive care, address the unique challenges of Angelman Syndrome, and help the child reach their full potential.

    Conclusion

    Angelman Syndrome presents unique challenges and opportunities. With early diagnosis, appropriate interventions, and a strong multidisciplinary team, children with AS can make good progress and live fulfilling, joyful lives. As Speech Therapists we delight in supporting parents in their role in advocating for their child.

    Do get in touch via my contact form if you are concerned about your child’s development.

    Sonja McGeachie

    Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

    Owner of The London Speech and Feeding Practice.

    Health Professions Council registered
    Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists Member
    Member of ASLTIP

    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.

    1