Is our student ready to move to NLA 2 (Natural Language Acquisition stage 2)?
We know that the GLP (Gestalt Language Processor) will move into the next stage when they are ready. But are they now ready you might think? When are they ready? How do I know? If you are not sure whether your child is ready to move forward then go and see your GLP trained Speech Therapist. Together you can work out what the next steps are and how to help your child settle into NLA 2. It’s very exciting!!
Tip
The first useful tip: keep a language sample of phrases your child says. This is very helpful!
You might want to check with your Speech Therapist and offer some language sampling you have taken so they can help you figure out where your child is currently. Always keep an Utterance Journal that you can share with your Speech Therapist and with others who look after your child.
Basically, we want to listen out for phrases our child says that you or nursery don’t say routinely; that way you can presume that this is not an echo but a mixing together of two chunks of gestalts. Watch out for those coco melon phrases though: double check it really isn’t an NLA 1 gestalt that is copied verbatim from a favourite you tube video.
You can best support your child best by listening, and thus figuring out what your child is TRYING TO SAY. Often your child might skip over the parts of gestalts they don’t want to say. This is common in older kids who have long gestalts, sometimes even whole episodes or whole stories!
Try and tease out their shorter mitigations and then focus on practicing and modelling those as they are so much more useful!
So back to our question: are they ready?
Are their gestalts covering a variety of situations and contexts?
Make a note in your journal to see what the backgrounds are to each phrase you ear, so for example:
Transitioning: ‘it’s time for the park’ ‘what’s next’ ‘shoes on’
Bed Time: ‘we need to wash’ ‘let’s get in (bath/bed)’ ‘ready for our book’
Toilet/nappy: ‘we need the potty’ ‘where’s the potty’ ‘let’s wash hands’
Mealtime: ‘time to eat’ ‘go get a spoon’ ‘yummy num num’
Park/going out: ‘look at the squirrel’ ‘funny doggy’ ‘I wanna swing’
At the shops: ‘let’s get the trolley’ ‘lots of veggies’ ‘no tomatoes’ ‘ooh long queue’ ‘back to the car’
And… does the child use the phrases for a variety of functions?
labelling
providing information
calling out
affirming
requesting
protesting
directing
We need to offer lots of similar language models so that in their own time our children can extract/mitigate useful phrases for what they want to express. The more similar utterances a child hears around him the more he/she can discover the communalities. Once the child has a small range of phrases, he/she can mix them up and create semi-original own phrases.
If the answer is YES!! our child has perhaps not all but a range of functions and a range of situations where they use a variety of easily mitigable gestalts then yes they are ready for moving to stage 2 of NLA!
Hurrah!
Keeping a journal of what your child is saying and in what circumstance is crucial to help with our ongoing detective work!
Next time I will be looking at how we can help our NLA 2 GLP produce even more of their own mix and match phrases.
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.
Have you ever thought about how difficult it can be to produce certain speech sounds? Some sounds are definitely trickier than others. This is especially true for children with speech sound disorders like Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS).
My student with CAS has been working hard on producing the /L/ sound especially when it was followed by an /O/ or /OO/ like, ‘log’ or ‘look’. We’ve practised lots and now that he’s got a good handle on /L/, he’s started replacing another difficult sound, /Y/, with it. So, ‘yes’ becomes ‘less’ and ‘yuck’ becomes ‘luck.’
This is a common pattern in speech development. Once a child masters a new sound, they may start using it in place of other sounds they find even more challenging.
Minimal Pair therapy
I use different evidence-based methods to help my students. And I often like to start out with phonemic awareness and then I move to contrasting the error sound with another sound to make completely different words. This approach is called ‘minimal pair’ therapy: both words are the same except for the initial/final sound which has the error sound, and this is contrasted with the correct sound.
Below is an example of this:
After we have worked on sound awareness, listening and becoming aware of small units of sound matter, then we can move to working on tongue placement and movement.
Tongue placement and movement to produce correct /L/ and /Y/ sounds
To produce these sounds correctly, the tongue needs to be in specific positions and make specific movements.
/L/ sound:
Tip of the tongue touches the alveolar ridge (the bony ridge behind your upper teeth)
Sides of the tongue are raised to the sides of the upper teeth
Airflow escapes through the sides of the tongue
/Y/ sound:
Tip of the tongue touches the roof of the mouth behind the alveolar ridge
Sides of the tongue are raised to the sides of the upper teeth
Airflow escapes through the centre of the mouth
I also use:
Auditory bombardment: Auditory bombardment is a technique that involves repeatedly listening to a target sound. This can help children to develop a better understanding of the sound and how to produce it.
Visual cues: Visual cues can be helpful for children who are having difficulty producing a particular sound. Here I use the image of a ‘standing tongue’ versus a ‘sitting tongue’.
Physical cues: I use my hands to show a ‘standing tongue’ for the /L/ versus a ‘sitting tongue’ for the /Y/. But what worked even better and sadly I don’t have the video clip for it:
Semantic cues: For example a picture of an ‘EAR’ to make the sound /Y/ so we shape the sound /EA/ to /Y/.
Parent involvement: Parents play an important role in their child’s speech sound development by providing opportunities for them to practise their speech sounds at home. This can be done through activities such as reading books, singing songs, and playing games.
Reinforcement: It is important to praise children for their efforts, even if they are not perfect. This will help them to feel motivated to keep practising. Important here for speech correction is concrete reinforcement: I feed back to my student what exactly they were doing correctly with their tongue or lips. Rather than saying ‘well done’, I mention what my student has just done with the tongue to change the sound: ‘I saw you lowered your tongue! That made a good /Y/’.
Another great way of reinforcing positively is to ask the student how they feel they have done? For the older ones I often ask them to self-rate their sound production out of 10. Then we can work towards the next incremental number upwards. This is very effective and gives the student control over their own work.
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.
When your baby reaches around 12 months, there is a lot going on developmentally. They are learning to walk, communicate, feed themselves and become increasingly independent. One small but important milestone that can sometimes get overlooked is learning to drink from an open cup.
Many toddlers continue to have milk from a bottle well beyond their first birthday, and parents are often understandably reluctant to take it away. The bottle may be familiar, comforting and convenient, particularly at bedtime.
But moving towards an open cup is not simply about changing the way your child drinks. It is part of their development of oral-motor skills, feeding independence and mealtime development.
And there is another piece of the puzzle that is often overlooked: how your toddler is sitting while they eat and drink.
The way the body is supported can make a real difference to what the mouth is able to do.
Babies can begin learning to drink from an open cup much earlier than many parents realise. By around 12 months, most children should be given regular opportunities to practise drinking from an open cup alongside other suitable drinking vessels.
An open cup encourages your toddler to learn a different pattern of drinking from the sucking pattern they have used with a bottle.
With an open cup, your child needs to:
lean towards the cup and control its position
grade how much liquid enters the mouth
use their lips to help control the liquid
coordinate breathing and swallowing
develop increasingly mature tongue and jaw movements
learn to take a drink without relying on a teat or nipple.
These are useful skills for developing efficient eating and drinking.
This doesn’t mean that a toddler who still has a bottle at 14 or 18 months has somehow ‘missed their chance’. Children develop at different rates, and there is always an opportunity to work towards new skills.
However, if a bottle remains the main or only way a child drinks for a long time, there can be fewer opportunities to practise these more mature drinking skills.
The occasional bottle is not the issue. The concern is when a toddler continues to rely heavily on a bottle and therefore has little reason or opportunity to develop other drinking skills.
A bottle encourages a sucking pattern which is appropriate for infancy. As children mature, we want to see increasing use of their lips, tongue, jaw and facial muscles in more sophisticated ways.
Long-term bottle use can also make the transition to an open cup more difficult simply because the child has become very accustomed to the bottle.
There can also be practical considerations around dental health, particularly when milk is offered frequently throughout the day or overnight.
For many toddlers, the bottle has also become associated with comfort, sleep or emotional regulation. This can make giving it up feel like a very big change for the whole family.
So rather than thinking, ‘The bottle has to disappear tomorrow’, think:
‘How can I gradually increase opportunities for open-cup drinking?’
Offer the open cup regularly at meals. Let your toddler experiment. Expect spills. Keep the amount of liquid small initially and provide plenty of encouragement.
Learning to drink is a skill. And skills need practice.
When we think about feeding, we naturally tend to focus on the mouth. We watch what the tongue is doing, whether a child chews, whether they cough or gag and what foods they accept.
But feeding is a whole-body activity.
Your child needs a stable body position before they can use their mouth efficiently.
Think about trying to drink from a cup while sitting on a wobbly stool with your feet dangling in the air. You would probably find it much easier if your body was well supported.
The same principle applies to toddlers.
A well-designed highchair such as a Tripp Trapp chair can provide a stable base when it is correctly adjusted for the individual child. Ideally, your toddler should have:
hips well supported
knees comfortably bent
feet resting firmly on a footplate
a stable pelvis and trunk
the table or tray at an appropriate height
This gives your child a solid foundation from which to move.
And that matters because stability in the body supports movement and control in the mouth.
I sometimes hear parents say, ‘He doesn’t need the footrest don’t worry about it (as I crouch down with my Allenn key to adjust the Tripp Trapp chair) but I always explain it is very important to have his feet supported. Dangling legs can make it much harder to maintain a stable sitting position.
When the feet are supported, your toddler can push gently through their feet and stabilise their pelvis and trunk. This can help them maintain a more organised position while eating and drinking.
They can then devote more attention to the job in front of them:
looking, reaching, grasping, chewing, swallowing and drinking.
This is particularly important for toddlers who are developing their chewing skills or who find mealtimes physically demanding.
Eating involves an extraordinary amount of coordination.
Your toddler is managing food in their hands, bringing it to their mouth, biting, chewing, moving food around with their tongue, forming a bolus and swallowing, often while simultaneously looking around, communicating and interacting with you.
Drinking from an open cup adds another layer of coordination.
Good postural support doesn’t teach a child to drink from a cup, but it can give them a much better physical foundation from which to practise the skill.
This is why, when I assess a toddler’s feeding, I don’t just look inside the mouth.
I also look at how the child is positioned.
Making open-cup drinking part of everyday life
You don’t need a complicated programme.
At meals, offer a small amount of water in an open cup. You can help your toddler hold the cup initially, tipping it gently towards their lips and allowing them to control the drinking as much as possible.
Some mess is completely normal!
You might also use a small, lightweight open cup that is easy for little hands to manage.
And remember that the goal is not to make every drink perfect. The goal is to give your child regular, positive opportunities to practise.
If your toddler is struggling with drinking, frequently coughing or choking, refusing cups, relying heavily on a bottle, or experiencing difficulties with chewing and eating, it is worth seeking professional advice from a Speech and Language Therapist with expertise in paediatric feeding.
The bigger picture
Open-cup drinking and good sitting are not two unrelated developmental skills.
They are part of the same picture.
A stable body provides a foundation for skilled movement. Skilled movement supports feeding. And feeding skills develop through practice and opportunity.
So as your toddler approaches and moves beyond their first birthday, think beyond simply asking, ‘How much milk are they drinking?’
Think about how they are drinking, how they are sitting, and what opportunities they have to develop the skills they will need as they grow.
And if you have a little one sitting beautifully at the table in a well-supported Tripp Trapp chair, remember: you’re not just creating a comfortable seat.
You’re creating a stable foundation for eating, drinking, learning and growing.
Do get in touch with me. I would love to hear from you and help your little one develop good sitting and drinking habits.
Sonja McGeachie
Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist
Owner of 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.
Bilingualism is a beautiful aspect of our diverse world. Growing up in a bi- or multi-lingual household is a wonderful gift, allowing children to communicate with a broader range of people and access many cultures.
My own two children grew up in a bilingual German-English speaking household. They have both been so enriched by this experience, not only language- and learning-wise but of course also culturally: their world has always been so open and colourful. Growing up in inner London and having their German family and mum’s friends as well, this has been a wonderful experience. Both my boys speak German well (not quite like native speakers but like very good second language speakers) and both have very easily learned 3rd and 4th languages additionally when in secondary school.
Whilst bilingualism has untold benefits, it’s not uncommon for bilingual children to take slightly longer to reach certain speech milestones. This should not be automatically mistaken for speech disorders but rather seen as a natural part of bilingual language development.
Bilingualism and speech delays
Sometimes, of course, we do see speech delays or disorders where a child’s speech development lags significantly behind their peers. We often see a delay in both languages equally, making it extra hard for to communicate effectively. BUT PLEASE KNOW the family speaking in multi-lingual languages never caused the delay/disorder!
If there is a delay or a disorder any number of other reasons could have caused it, such as:
hearing impairments,
reduced phonological awareness,
sensory processing issues,
reduced attention and reduced joint attention,
neuro-developmental delays or difficulties,
general or specific learning difficulties
or sometimes other genetic factors.
So, to say that the difficulty is due to a child being exposed to several languages is a red herring. (no offence to herrings!)
Speech therapy
Speech therapy can be powerful to help bilingual /multilingual children with speech delays unlock their full linguistic potential. By providing individualised assessments, targeted interventions, and involving families, speech therapy can bridge the gap between speech delays and bilingualism. It’s essential for the therapist and parents to work together to support the children in their unique linguistic journeys, helping them communicate effectively and thrive in both of their languages.
Image by Freepik
Speak your home language at home
Many parents report that they worry about speaking their home language at home and instead they have been focusing on just speaking English at home. They now rarely use their home language with their child. They fear that speaking a language other than English with their child will cause further delay and hinder their progress. All parents want the best for their child and often parents fear that their child won’t fit in or will be seen as ‘different’. So we can understand why parents feel that the English language is the only one worth having.
But the opposite is the case: it is crucial to speak in both languages freely, both at home and outside the home! Both languages will benefit your child, no matter what the delay or difficulty is. Acquiring a ‘mother tongue’ or native language is absolutely vital for children to have a good, solid linguistic grounding on which to build other languages. Bilingual children may mix languages during speaking and parents may equally mix their languages. This does not hinder language development and is a natural part of linguistic development.
Speak freely and naturally
What is far more important than the question: ‘which language should I say this in?’ Instead think: ‘let me speak freely and naturally, let me respond naturally, in good intonation and let communication flow freely to the child.’
Speech therapy can be a crucial resource for bilingual or multilingual children and their families.
We work on targeted interventions to address speech and language difficulties, helping your child develop essential communication skills. For home practice between therapy sessions, we can recommend tailored treatment plans to help you help your child in daily life. Our input could be focusing on articulation, phonological awareness, attention and listening, vocabulary development and grammar.
Family support is crucial in speech therapy. We like to work closely with parents to provide guidance and strategies for fostering language development in both languages at home.
If you have any worries about your child being delayed in a bilingual or multilingual household do get in touch and we will be happy to support you in your journey.
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.
Does your child struggle to focus on toys or activities? Do they dart away as soon as you approach? You’re not alone!
The key to unlocking your child’s potential lies in following their lead. Let them guide the play session, and watch their engagement and focus soar.
Why Child-Led Play Works:
Empowerment: Children feel in control, sparking their curiosity and motivation.
Focused attention: They’ll stay engaged with activities for longer periods.
Reduced frustration: By stepping back and observing, you eliminate the pressure and stress that often comes with directed play.
How to Implement Child-Led Play:
Prepare the environment: Set out a limited selection of engaging toys.
Observe and wait: Sit back, watch, and listen to your child’s interests.
Embrace the moment: Resist the urge to direct or question; simply enjoy the process.
Remember: This simple approach can transform playtime and support your child’s development. Give it a try for a week and see the difference!
#OWLing #hanenmorethanwords
Observe, Wait, Listen. It’s a powerful formula for unlocking your child’s potential.
You will likely see:
Your child will stay put with any toy for longer whilst you are near them.
Your child will tolerate you being nearby and he/she won’t move away.
Your child will start giving you brief glances of enjoyment, or perhaps they will hand things to you, or they might take your hand and lead it to something that needs opening etc.
In other words, you will see that there suddenly is JOINT PLAY. Yes, granted it may not be according to your adult agenda, but there will be more togetherness than there was before. And this is the START of communication and social engagement.
USE Core words and a coreboard — to help your child understand the power of words
Core words are the building blocks of communication. Try using a coreboard like the one below, they are versatile and can be used in countless ways. By modelling these words naturally during play, you expose your child to their meaning and function in context. This approach is far more effective than isolated drill and practice, more powerful than flashcards!
Combining child-led play and AAC modelling creates a magic effect. To summarise:
Increased engagement: When you follow your child’s lead, they are more likely to be engaged and receptive to learning. This creates optimal conditions for introducing AAC core words.
Natural learning: By modelling AAC core words in the context of play, you help your child understand their meaning and purpose naturally. This fosters generalisation and spontaneous use.
Building relationships: Shared play experiences strengthen the bond between you and your child. This trust and connection are essential for successful communication.
Reduced pressure: Modelling AAC core words without expectation removes the pressure to produce language. This allows your child to explore communication at their own pace.
Expanded vocabulary: As your child becomes more comfortable with AAC, they will begin to incorporate core words into their own communication. This leads to vocabulary growth and increased independence.
Practical Tips
Observe and respond: Pay close attention to your child’s interests and actions. Respond to their cues with enthusiasm and support.
Keep it simple: Start with a few core words and gradually introduce new ones as your child’s skills develop.
Be patient: Language learning takes time. Celebrate small successes and avoid frustration.
Have fun: Remember, play is supposed to be enjoyable for both you and your child. Relax and have fun together!
Let’s say your child is playing with a pop-up toy like you see me do in the above photograph. Here, I followed my child’s lead by waiting to see what she wanted to do with the toy. You are now OWLING! (Observe Wait and Listen)
Once I noticed that there was repetitive opening of the flaps going on I then pointed to OPEN and MORE on the board, as I said: ‘let’s OPEN this one’ / let’s see MORE animals’ / ‘MORE cow! it says moo!’ ‘OPEN another one’ and so on.
Important to know, we are not expecting our child to respond verbally or with AAC, but we are providing language input and demonstrating how these words can be used with enthusiasm.
Naturally in time your child will look at the board and at your pointing and they will eventually want to copy you!
By incorporating these strategies into your daily interactions, you can create a supportive environment that fosters language development and communication growth. If you would like more guidance please get in touch and book in for a consultation, some individual therapy and/ or some parent coaching.
I look forward to supporting you. Please contact me and let’s see how.
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.
Does your child say “Dough” instead of “Go”? Or “Tea” instead of “Key”? Do you hear a /Sh/ instead of an /S/ does “see” sound more like “she”?
We Speechies call this a Fronting Pattern which means that a sound that should be produced at the back of the throat with the back of the tongue, like K or G , is said at the front of the mouth with the tip of the tongue, like a T or a D or SH. When this happens speech can be really hard to make out because these sounds are literally everywhere in everyday sentences. Just think how many K’s and G’s we hear in a simple sentence?
For example, I heard my little student say earlier today: “I know what game we can play in your garden? It’s the one with cones and rings and cushions! I know where it is I can get it.”
But it sounded like:
“I know what DAME we DAN play in the DARDEN! It’s the one with TONES and rings and TUSHIONS! I know where it is I TAN DED it.”
If that sounds familiar to you, here is a little overview of what we can do about it:
First up it’s always good to start with general speech sounds awareness: does a child hear syllables and intonation? Do they know words that rhyme? Can they follow or copy a simple beat with a drum? Can they listen and hear quiet sounds and loud sounds and can they copy those? Can they follow mouth and tongue movements:, for example : stick out your tongue, lick your lips, click your tongue, blow raspberries?
Then it really helps to talk about BACK and FRONT of things and to draw attention to the back of the mouth and the back of the tongue and the front tip of the tongue and how sounds are made in the mouth. I often use a puppet to show this or a model of a mouth like this one here in the picture.
Next we try and listen to words starting with a BACK sounds like a K or a G , and I read out a list of words with those sounds: COW, CORE, CAT, CONE, KEY etc or ARK, EEK, OAK, ACHE…
Or GOO GUY GUM GONE
After that we try and see if a student can actually produce a single sound like a K or a G just by itself. If they can, that’s a really great start and if they can’t I help them to produce one – over a few sessions we usually get there. We call this Sound production in isolation.
Once a child can produce a sound correctly, on its own, we try and start working on very simple words that are really powerful like “GO”!!!!! in a motivating game or “CAR” for little ones who love a car racing track.
Now that we have established the back sounds and are using it in short words, we can gradually re-train brain pathways and oral- motor/movement pathways to use these new sounds in many words and then short phrases. That can take time!! This is called generalisation and it is not uncommon for it to take up a whole year for fluent speech to be error-free .
Why does it take so long? Being able to produce a correct and clear K or G sound does not mean it will be used easily. Our brain pathways are fixated or habituated to the error sound. It takes time for habits to change. A child might be able to hear the word TIGER with a G in the middle and she knows that it is not a TIDER but when saying it her tongue automatically moves forward rather than lifts up at the back. It’s a bit like a person who has a rounded back: the brain knows to stand upright and how not to slouch, but when we don’t focus on it, ooops we have slouched again because that is what we are comfortable doing and our body moves with our habit.
It takes effort and motivation to change our movement patterns and that includes our tongue and lip patterns! We usually get there through a huge variety of games and practice. Lots and lots of repetition is key as is motivation to change.
Parents and carers are crucial in the success of Speech Therapy!
We need your feedback at home, the regular short and sweet exercises, the constant positive encouragement and great modelling of speech sounds. We often find that parents are tuned into their child’s error sounds and can understand them much better than anyone else. This is great of course in many ways, however, it also means that the child has less motivation to change: if mummy understands me then my world is ok.
I will give you a short outline of what different speech therapy models I use in my practice, be it in clinic face to face or on-line in my future blogs soon.
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.
Picture this. A small dinosaur is stomping across a wooden floor. A tiny teacup is being filled with imaginary juice. Someone, probably you, has just been told very firmly that you are the baby and you must go to sleep now.
To the outside world, this is just play. Joyful, chaotic, completely ordinary toddler play.
But for a child with Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS), also known as verbal dyspraxia, what is happening inside a well-designed pretend play session is anything but ordinary. It is, in fact, some of the most powerful motor speech therapy we have.
Let me explain why.
First, a quick reminder: what is dyspraxia?
Childhood Apraxia of Speech is a motor speech disorder. The difficulty does not lie in the muscles of the mouth, those are perfectly capable. The difficulty lies in the brain’s ability to plan and sequence the precise movements needed to produce speech sounds consistently and accurately.
A child with CAS knows what they want to say. The message is there. But somewhere between the intention and the execution, the plan breaks down. Words come out differently each time, or not at all. It is effortful, unpredictable, and for many children, deeply frustrating.
What this means for therapy is important: CAS requires motor learning, not just language stimulation. And motor learning has very specific conditions under which it thrives.
Repetition is the medicine and pretend play delivers it without the child noticing
One of the most well-established principles of motor learning is that new movement patterns need to be practised many, many times before they become reliable. Think of learning to ride a bike, or to touch-type. Repetition is how the motor system builds consistency.
For speech, this means a child needs many opportunities to attempt a target word or phrase within a single session. In a formal drilling exercise, this quickly becomes tedious and dysregulating, especially for young children. After five attempts at ‘go’, most three-year-olds have mentally left the building.
But inside a pretend play scenario? The word ‘go’ appears naturally and meaningfully dozens of times. The car goes. The train goes. Ready, steady, go. Go to sleep. Go there doggie. Every repetition is embedded in a moment that makes sense to the child, which means they are motivated to keep going, and the practice is accumulating without any sense of effort or demand.
A relaxed brain learns better
There is a reason I tend not to sit a dyspraxic child at a table with flashcards and ask them to repeat after me. It is not because I lack structure. Every session I run has clear targets and intentional design. It is because we know that anxiety and pressure actively interfere with motor learning.
When a child feels observed, corrected, or under pressure to perform, the cognitive load increases and the very motor planning system we are trying to support becomes less accessible. The errors increase. The frustration escalates. The session unravels.
Pretend play, by contrast, creates a state of engaged, relaxed absorption. The child is leading. They are safe. They are having fun. In this state, the brain is far more receptive to new motor patterns being laid down. I am not asking the child to perform speech. I am simply being present, following their lead, and slipping in carefully chosen models at exactly the right moments.
Child-led play gives us the child’s own words to target
Another reason pretend play works so beautifully for children with dyspraxia is that it tells us exactly which words matter most to this particular child, right now, today. When a child reaches for the toy telephone and hands it to me with enormous expectation, I know that ‘hello’ is a word worth targeting in this moment. When they are clearly trying to tell me that the baby needs feeding, ‘more’ and ‘eat’ have instant, genuine relevance.
Targeting words a child is already motivated to say means the communication attempt is coming from them. And a self-initiated attempt, even an approximation, is neurologically far more valuable than a prompted imitation.
What this looks like in practice
In the short video clip below you can see this dynamic in action. Notice how the session looks relaxed and playful on the surface. The child is absorbed in the pretend play scenario we have created together.
Notice, though, what is happening underneath:
the consistent, gentle modelling of target words
the use of Makaton signs alongside speech to provide an additional sensory pathway
the visual mouth cues that give the child a roadmap for how a sound is shaped
and running through all of it, the repetition. The same words, again and again, wrapped in play.
This is not therapy disguised as play. It is therapy that is play, because for a child with dyspraxia, those two things are not in opposition. They are, in fact, perfectly aligned.
If you are concerned about your child’s speech and wondering whether verbal dyspraxia might be a factor, 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.
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.
