Teletherapy: A fun and convenient way to help your child master those sounds!

ByLondon Speech and Feeding

It can be hard to get your child to come to the clinic on a weekly basis to work on those tricky sounds. Perhaps the car isn’t working, you have had a lot on, or our student has a bit of a cold but is still able to do a little bit of sound practice?

The good news is that Teletherapy can be a fantastic option to continue your child’s speech journey from the comfort of your own home!

Even when your wifi is not working and your laptop is broken, as you can see on this clip I was able to stretch into running the session on WhatsApp video, but that is less then ideal I will say.

What is Teletherapy?

Teletherapy is speech therapy delivered virtually, through a secure video platform. I use Zoom for example, but I have also used WhatsApp Video Call on occasions where parents’ zoom was not working.

When is Teletherapy perfect?

Here’s why teletherapy can be a great fit for helping your child solidify those learned sounds:

  • Basic sound patterns have been established in clinic: Your child is now able to say those tricky sounds BUT they are not saying them in daily life yet; they are not ‘generalising’ those new sounds into the normal speech.
  • You just can’t make it today: No more fighting traffic or fitting appointments into busy schedules. Teletherapy sessions happen at home, on your time. Sometimes even in the attic or the garden shed as in my video clip here ????
  • Your child is about 7 years old or older and is motivated to work on their sounds: I use fun and interactive online tools and games to keep your child engaged during practice sessions. Due to having done teletherapy over the Covid period I have amassed lots of great games and know-how in this area. Our student needs to be mature enough to be able to sit in front of the laptop camera and participate with a minimum of adult help.
  • Your child loves gaming and is best motivated through online games: Sometimes children are best motivated when playing online games in between speech sound/language activities; in this case teletherapy is totally perfect.
  • Focus on Carryover: The familiar environment of your home can actually be an advantage! I can guide my student on practising sounds in everyday situations, like reading a book together or playing with toys, sometimes even talking to their sibling or a.n.other in the room.
  • Parental Involvement: Teletherapy allows you to be directly involved in the sessions just in same way as when I see your child in my clinic. You can learn strategies and techniques from me to continue practising with your child throughout the day. You can also make a note of the online games I have and then use them in your home sessions.

What to Expect During a Teletherapy Session

  • Initial Consultation: We start with a brief chat on how the week has gone, what gains have been made with the home exercises and we settle the student into a good learning mode; sometimes I start off with a very quick game just to set the scene.
  • Working on generalising: When asking my student about how their week has been I will remind them to remember their new sounds and to try and produce them whilst talking to me. This is already the start of therapy.
  • Practising target sounds: We practice our target sounds in different contexts, using games, visuals, and activities.
  • The teletherapy session lasts the same amount of time as do 1:1 sessions, unless I see that a child becomes very fidgety and we are not able to hold out much longer, I will cut short the session and focus on increased home practice.
  • Home Practice: Just like in 1:1 clinic sessions, I will provide you with easy-to-follow tips and activities to continue practising sounds throughout the week.

Getting Started with Teletherapy

  • Technology Check: Ensure you have a reliable internet connection and a device with a camera and microphone.
  • What device is best: Ideally the student needs to be on a laptop or PC because that way the student can actively engage with their mouse, moving game pieces, or participating in online activities using their mouse. Tablets are ok but do not allow active participation of the student as described above. However once in a while we can make it work and I do have some games and activities that do not rely on student participation.

Finally, I would say that Teletherapy is a safe, fun and effective way to continue your child’s speech therapy journey. It’s convenient, engaging, and it is perfect on a rainy day when you don’t want to or can’t come out to bring your child to clinic.

Do get in touch if you would like some in-person or on-line 1:1 support with this. It can be overwhelming to figure it all out alone.

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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Similar Posts

Why Imitation is so Important
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Why Imitation is so Important

ByLondon Speech and Feeding
Target Activities and Games For Kids

Why imitation is so important and how can speech and language therapy help children who struggle to imitate?

Imitation or copying starts in early infancy. When we observe a young baby and his parent or familiar adult we can see clearly and frequently that the baby will be intently looking at adult’s face and try to copy their facial expressions, smiles and all those funny baby sounds we often make with young babies.

These sounds are called “motherese” and are the beginnings of a little conversation between the parent and the baby. The “conversation can go back and forth for a long time and include sounds, as well as facial expressions.

A little later on, once the baby can crawl and sit up unaided the copying then goes on to include toys and objects. Mum or Dad will show their toddler how to use a drum or how to put a little train on the wooden tracks and the toddler will try and copy this. They may not succeed and be a little clumsy perhaps but the act of copying anything and everything their favourite adult does is typically seen throughout the day.

We all know and have laughed at mums or dads saying; ssshhh don’t say that in front of the baby he/she will copy you, watch your mouth! (as dad is swearing at the broken radiator….)

This imitation goes on for years and includes eventually of course little words, more words, putting words together and then creating sentences, all the while our toddler is listening to how their adults speak, not only what they say but how they say it. This is how dialects and accents can be transmitted easily from parent /family to child.

Copying in Children with Autism

We know that children with autism often struggle to imitate. We see children on the spectrum typically having great difficulty to copy adults or children; this can be seen in very reduced play with their peers in nursery for example.

Children with autism tend to have reduced joint attention and engagement with others and need to develop the ability and awareness to copy others in order to then engage more jointly with others.

Speech and Language Therapy can help with Parent Child Interaction work and Coaching, here is how:

During my coaching work with parents I teach step by step how to help a child who struggles to imitate:

We look at all the researched skills and actions that adults can take to help their little one to copy, starting with close observation of their child’s interests, then following and including their child’s play and copying/imitating their child in how they play. I teach steps in a graduated way so that it is easy to see the progress and joyful to have the results at the end.

The results are clear to see over time: our children on the spectrum learn to imitate actions, with objects and gestures, then sounds and words. Alongside this increased imitation skill the child can then develop more joint attention and engagement.

I would always recommend Parent Child Interaction Training as a first port of call as we learn so many great techniques which are well researched by the Hanen Programme, www.hanen.org. Do drop me a line if you would like to find out more.

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.

Tongue-Tie: A complex issue requiring careful assessment

Tongue-Tie: A complex issue requiring careful assessment

ByLondon Speech and Feeding

Tongue-tie, or ankyloglossia, is a condition where the lingual frenulum, the thin piece of tissue that connects the underside of the tongue to the floor of the mouth, is too short or tight. Tongue-tie is quite common in babies and is often not detected after birth. Tongue-tie can lead to a difficult start with breast feeding as it makes it very difficult for the baby to latch effectively.

In my clinical experience as a feeding therapist, I have seen many babies who were not able to latch well due to the frenulum being tight. In many cases an experienced feeding speech therapist/lactation consultant can really make a difference and help a new mum to latch the baby even though the tongue is tethered to the floor of the baby’s mouth. In some cases the frenulum can be divided and once this has been done, in some cases, feeding improves immediately or soon after the division. But this is not always the case. I have seen several babies who have had as many as four tongue-tie divisions and feeding was still difficult.

It is important to say that while tongue-tie can sometimes impact speech and feeding, it’s important to note that it’s not always the root cause of these difficulties. In recent years, there has been a surge of interest in tongue-tie division surgeries, with some cases being unnecessary. It’s crucial to understand the complexities of tongue-tie and the role of speech therapy in addressing related challenges.

The impact of tongue-tie on speech and feeding

When tongue-tie is severe, it can interfere with the tongue’s ability to move freely, affecting speech production and swallowing. Some common speech and feeding difficulties associated with tongue-tie include:

  • Feeding difficulties: Challenges with sucking, chewing, and swallowing.
  • Drooling: Excessive drooling due to difficulty controlling saliva.
  • Speech problems: Difficulty producing certain sounds, such as /l/, /r/, /t/, /s/ and /d/.

The importance of comprehensive assessment

Before considering any surgical intervention for tongue-tie, it’s essential to undergo a thorough evaluation by a qualified speech-language therapist (SLT). An SLT can assess the severity of the tongue-tie, its impact on speech and feeding, and determine if surgery is necessary.

  • Functional assessment: The SLT will assess the tongue’s range of motion, its impact on speech sounds, and the child’s overall oral motor skills.
  • Feeding evaluation: The SLT will observe the child’s feeding patterns and identify any difficulties related to tongue-tie.
  • Differential diagnosis: The SLT will rule out other potential causes of speech and feeding difficulties, such as apraxia of speech, dysarthria, or sensory processing disorders.

The role of speech therapy

Even in cases where tongue-tie is present, speech therapy can often be highly effective in addressing speech and feeding difficulties. Here’s how speech therapy can help:

  • Articulation therapy: Targeting specific speech sounds that may be affected by tongue-tie.
  • Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS): if the diagnosis by the SLT has shown that in fact the child has motor planning difficulties then there are very specific and effective treatment programmes that help with this and can make a real difference over time.
  • Feeding therapy: Strategies to improve swallowing, chewing, and oral-motor skills.
  • Sensory integration: Addressing underlying sensory processing issues that may contribute to feeding difficulties.

London Speech and Feeding Case Study: The importance of comprehensive assessment

One of my clients was initially diagnosed with tongue-tie and recommended for surgery at the age of eight years old. His speech had been perceived by parents and teachers as ‘mumbled and unclear’.

However, after a thorough evaluation, I was able to determine that the child’s primary issue was apraxia of speech, a neurological disorder that affects motor planning for speech. Parents decided to wait with surgery and trust my judgment and we proceeded with weekly intensive speech therapy to address motor planning difficulties around tricky sounds and words. I am delighted to say that the child’s speech has improved significantly, demonstrating the importance of comprehensive assessment and individualised treatment. He is no longer seen as a candidate for an operation, which would have been traumatic for him at his age and, as it turned out, entirely unnecessary.

Below is a short video clip of my working on the /l/ sound with this child.

Using the Gingo Puppet from GingoTalk

Conclusion

Tongue-tie is a complex issue that requires careful evaluation and individualised treatment. While surgery may certainly be necessary in some cases, it’s essential to consider the potential benefits and risks. Speech therapy can be a highly effective approach for addressing speech and feeding difficulties associated with tongue-tie, even in cases where surgery is still required. By working with a qualified speech-language therapist, parents can ensure that their child receives the best possible care and support.

Please feel free to contact me.

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.

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Practical tips for speech and language development
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Practical tips for speech and language development

ByLondon Speech and Feeding
Image by Racool_studio on Freepik

As parents, we all want our children to develop strong communication skills. This starts early, with the simple sounds and babbles of a new-born baby. Here are some practical tips to help you encourage your baby or toddler’s speech and language development through play and everyday activities.

General tips for creating a language-rich environment

  • Talk to your child frequently throughout the day: Even when they’re young, they’re absorbing information. Describe what you’re doing, name objects around the house, and respond to their babbling.
  • Read aloud regularly: Books are a great way to introduce new words and concepts. Choose books with simple language, bright pictures, and repetitive phrases.
  • Sing songs and nursery rhymes: These provide a fun way to practise pronunciation and rhythm.
  • Label objects: Put labels on toys, furniture, and everyday items to help your child associate words with objects.

Engage with your child in their play activities

  • Pretend play: Encourage imaginative play by pretending to be different characters or animals.
  • Build and create: Use blocks, Legos, or playdough to build and create different structures.
  • Outdoor activities: Explore the world around you. Talk about different plants, animals, and weather conditions.

Tips for effective communication

  • Get down to their level: When talking to your child, get down on their level to make eye contact and show that you’re listening.
  • Use simple language: Avoid using too many complex words or long sentences. In the early years (0–3 years) try and make things concrete, stay in the ‘here and now’ — point and gesture lots to help your child understand what you say
  • Be patient: Give your child time to respond and don’t rush them.
  • Model good language: Use clear and correct language yourself.
  • Speak in your native, natural Language: If English is your second language try and speak to your child in your native language: it is more natural and your will probably know better how to speak and sing to young children in your own native language.

Reading to your child

Reading to your child is a powerful way to boost their language skills and create lasting memories.

Reading to your child is more than just a bedtime ritual; it’s a powerful tool for fostering their language and literacy skills. Studies have shown that children who are read to regularly develop larger vocabularies, stronger comprehension skills, and a greater love of learning.

Why is reading so important?

  • Vocabulary expansion: When you read to your child, you expose them to new words and concepts. This helps them build a strong vocabulary, which is essential for effective communication and learning.
  • Improved comprehension: Reading aloud helps children understand the meaning of words and sentences. This improves their comprehension skills, making it easier for them to learn and understand new information.
  • Enhanced cognitive development: Reading stimulates a child’s brain and helps them develop critical thinking skills, problem-solving abilities, and imagination.
  • Stronger emotional bonds: Reading together creates a special bond between you and your child. It’s a time for cuddling, bonding, and sharing stories.
  • The Reach Out and Read Foundation found that children who are read to regularly have significantly larger vocabularies and better language skills than those who are not.
  • A study published in the journal Paediatrics revealed that reading to children can have a positive impact on their academic achievement, even years later.

By making reading a regular part of your child’s life, you are investing in their future success. So, grab a book, get cozy, and enjoy the wonderful world of stories together!

Here are some great books I love using in my Speech Therapy sessions:

Books for 6 months to 2 years

Touch and Feel Books

  • Touchy-Feely Farm by DK Books: This book features different textures to explore, such as soft fur, rough bark, and squishy mud.
  • Baby Touch: Animals by DK Books: This book introduces various animals and their textures, like soft feathers, scaly skin, and furry coats.

Lift-the-Flap Books

  • Peek-a-Boo! Animals by DK Books: This book has flaps to lift revealing different animals hiding underneath.
  • Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill: A classic lift-the-flap book that encourages spatial awareness and vocabulary.

Pop-Up Books

  • Pop-Up Farm by DK Books: This book features fun pop-up elements that bring the farm to life.
  • Pop-Up Jungle by DK Books: Explore a vibrant jungle with this interactive pop-up book.

Sound Books

  • Sound Books: Farm by DK Books: This book features sounds that correspond to different farm animals.
  • Sound Books: Safari by DK Books: Listen to the sounds of various safari animals in this interactive book.

Interactive Books

  • That’s Not My… Series by Usborne: These interactive books feature tactile elements that encourage exploration and vocabulary.
  • Peek-a-Boo! I Spy by DK Books: This board book with flaps encourages visual tracking and vocabulary.

These books are designed to engage young children through their senses and encourage exploration. The repetitive nature of these books helps toddlers learn new words and concepts while having fun.

Books for 2 years ++

Classic favourites

  • The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle: This colourful and interactive book is a classic for a reason. It introduces simple words, colours, and days of the week.
  • Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle: This repetitive story helps children learn colours and animals.
  • Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill: A simple hide-and-seek book that encourages vocabulary and spatial awareness.

Modern classics for children 3 years – 6 years

  • The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler: A fun and imaginative story that introduces more complex vocabulary and rhyming.
  • Room on a Broom by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler: Another rhyming story that encourages counting and vocabulary.
  • The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr: A playful and imaginative story that introduces various foods and social skills.

Books for children 6 years ++

  • The Adventures of the Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: A philosophical tale that introduces complex vocabulary and themes.
  • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl: A whimsical and imaginative story that introduces a variety of characters and settings.
  • Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling: A classic fantasy series that introduces a wide range of vocabulary and concepts.

Remember: The best books for your child are the ones they enjoy. Encourage them to explore different genres and find stories that spark their imagination.

Please feel free to contact me.

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.

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Stage 2 NLA
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Stage 2 NLA

ByLondon Speech and Feeding
Image by Freepik

Last time we asked: is our child ready tp move to Stage 2 NLA (Natural Language Acquisition stage 2) and we looked at how we can know. Now we know: he/she is ready, they are mixing and matching those scripts quite liberally! Hurrah!

So for example we hear phrases like:

  • ‘let’s go’+ ‘downstairs’
  • ‘it’s’ + ‘downstairs’
  • ‘I see it’ + ‘downstairs‘
  • ‘I want to’ + ‘shoes downstairs’ (I want to put my shoes on downstairs)

To recap, it’s important to listen out to a variety of contexts because if we only hear the single version of a gestalt —this is so great, hurrah!— but that’s not yet Stage 2.

What we can now do on a daily basis to help and support at this time:

1. We need to offer more ‘mix and match’ phrases to help our child establish this new way of communicating.

Good phrases:

  • It’s … raining / cooking / eating / washing / brushing
  • That’s … great / cool / amazing / wow / so good
  • Let’s … see / look / go / run / chase
  • How’bout … some food / playing / I’ll chase / sleeping / we read a book
  • I see a … bird / large car / fire engine
  • I wanna … have a biscuit / have a book / have a snuggle
  • We’re … going out / going home / going in the car / going upstairs

Here in my video clip of train play I use:

  • Let’s go
  • It’s going up the hill
  • It’s coming down
  • Ooops it falls!
  • It’s stopping
  • Let’s put on another parcel
  • Ready steady go
  • Off we go
  • It’s come off!
  • Let’s fix it
  • I can do it
  • I don’t need help

You can offer these gestalts either with an AAC as you can see me do in the video clip or you can just verbally offer these.

2. Watch out for Pronoun confusion or reversal:

Gestalt kids repeat gestalts, so we don’t want to create ‘pronoun reversal’.

Instead model from a:

  • first person perspective: ‘I’ / ‘Our’ / ‘Us’
  • joint perspective: ‘We’ / ‘Let’s’ or a
  • neutral perspective: ‘It’

You can turn almost any sentence into a good language model once you get used to it. And you can avoid ‘you’ and ‘your’ at the same time!

So instead of saying, ‘Do you want to go to the park?’

You could say:

  • We wanna go to the park?
  • Let’s go out?
  • Shall we go out / to the park?

3. Start providing ‘variation’ in your language modelling:

Instead of just modelling something one way, start thinking about offering a pattern in a couple of other ways, in a couple of different situations, then several ways in several different situations.

Example: once you hear your child saying: ‘it’s raining’ and you know it’s a mitigation, because you don’t often say ‘it’s raining’, or haven’t said it in a while and you know your child says other ‘it’s’ phrases.

Repeat: ‘it’s raining!’

Then: ‘it’s’ + ‘raining hard’ / ‘it’s wet out there’ / ‘It’s’ + ‘raining lot’s’.

Then later think of other combinations for ‘it’s’ + ‘something’:

  • (rice) ‘It’s’ + ‘cooking’
  • (water/tap) ‘It’s’ + ‘running’
  • (radio) ‘It’s’ + ‘singing
  • (dog) ‘It’s’ + ‘peeing’ / ‘it’s’ + ‘running’ / ‘it’s’ + ‘jumping’

In my train video clip:

  • Let’s go
  • It’s going
  • Let’s make it go
  • Ready steady go
  • Oops its gone

4. Use natural intonation that shows you really mean what you’re saying.

You can be animated or try for musical if your child prefers that / doesn’t mind you singing —they might not like it if their hearing is pitch perfect and your singing is off key…—

  • ‘I’m’ + ‘trying to find you!’ (animated, goofy face)
  • ‘I’m’ +’ getting tired!’ (exaggerated stretch and yawn)
  • ‘I’m’ + ‘catching up with you!’ (animated goofy)
  • ‘I’m’ + ‘gonna get you!’ (animated goofy)
  • ‘I’m’ + ‘sad right now’ (exaggerated face and tone of voice)

5. USE SILENCE!

Important, I might not have said this before but we need to hold back sometimes (hard I know) and not constantly offer models. Let our child sit in a bit of silence with us there just observing and waiting for their own offers. This is a very important point. Silence is golden sometimes. Try it out. I am not talking about the silence that comes with a person scrolling on their phone though, we do need to be present and receptive.

You will see this works wonders!

Do get in touch if you would like some in-person or on-line 1:1 support with this. It can be overwhelming to figure it all out alone.

You can also check my friend’s lovely handmade jewelry on her website.

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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Language Development

Language Development

ByLondon Speech and Feeding
Kids Speech Therapist London
Language Development

Books, Stories And Colourful Semantics

Many of my students have difficulties telling stories. When looking at a book together, even books they love and have seen many times, they often struggle to understand what they are reading and cannot therefore retell the story in any sequence. A great method I often use with those students is called Colourful Semantics.

What is Colourful Semantics?

Colourful Semantics is an approach aimed at helping children develop grammar and meaning of phrases and sentences. We help children identify WHO is the subject in a story, what is he/she/it DOING to WHAT and WHERE. There are lots of colour coded stages but we tend to start with the basic 4:

WHO = ORANGE

DOING = YELLOW

WHAT = GREEN

WHERE = BLUE

Once a student is accomplished at this level, we move on to different colour codes for describing words (adjectives), connecting words (with/together/and/therefore) feeling words (PINK), timing words (BROWN) eg. when, tomorrow, last week etc.

Colourful Semantics is a really useful method and helps children to organise their sentences. It also helps me knowing how to guide a student in thinking about the story.

The approach can be used with children with a range of Speech and Language Needs, such as:

  • Developmental Delay / Disorder
  • Autistic Spectrum Condition
  • Down Syndrome
  • Any other syndromes and related speech and language delays
  • General Literacy difficulties

There are a wide range of benefits to using this approach and I use it in my therapeutic work with children of around 3 years plus. Below is a little video which shows how I use it with this student who has general language difficulties associated with Autism. One of the main benefits with this student is that seeing the Cue Cards helps her to use a much wider range of vocabulary than she would ordinarily generate. Her sentences are getting longer and she is more able to answer questions. In general, I find it useful to help with storytelling and to guide us through the story in a sequence.

There are many on-line games these days that have incorporated the Colourful Semantics Approach. Once a child is familiar with the basic colour scheme then gradually the visual prompts can be reduced to using verbal prompts.

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.

LAMP Words for Life: A revolutionary AAC system
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LAMP Words for Life: A revolutionary AAC system

ByLondon Speech and Feeding

Introduction

When working with non-speaking or minimally speaking children the LAMP Words for Life AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) system is my absolute go-to every time. For me it stands out as a revolutionary system that has transformed the lives of many of my non-speaking students. LAMP Words for Life is a ROBUST, comprehensive language-based AAC system and it is designed to help any user to express their thoughts, feelings, and needs effectively, thereby achieving maximal independence in their daily life. A winner!

There is a whole host of AAC apps and systems out there and each has their own advantages and benefits for sure. I have tried a good number of other systems. I do also like certain features of other AAC systems for sure. For example GRID: I love the versatility of GRID and the ease of editing the system is fantastic.

Why I think it works so well

However, strangely I always return to LAMP when push comes to shove. I have thought very carefully about it and so here are my thoughts on why this is and why it works so well:

  1. Intuitive interface: LAMP Words for Life features are for me really user-friendly and it is easy to navigate and understand (this is very important for non-techy people). I think it makes sense and it is accessible to users of all ages and abilities. Yes the pictures are a little bit different to other symbol systems we use, especially here in the UK to be sure, and this is one of the reasons why it is good to have a variety of systems available, so that we can cater for students who are used to other symbols or do very well with specific symbol core boards. I have learned though that the pictures are not that important when using LAMP because the entire system is based on MOTOR PLANNING. And once one knows the motor plan to find a picture it is in our brain and we do not look at the picture any more. So, the motor plan to find a word is much more important when using LAMP than worrying about what the picture looks like.
  2. Comprehensive vocabulary: The system offers a vast vocabulary of words and phrases, covering a wide range of topics and contexts. This enables users to express themselves effectively on a variety of subjects. That said, almost every time I use LAMP there is a little word I need and it’s not on there. But that’s not a problem: for example, I was looking for ‘sunglasses’ the other day. Sure, there is ‘sun’ and ‘glasses’ but that would be two separate motor plans and for my student that would be too many for now, so it was very easy to quickly add the new word ‘sunglasses’ under ‘accessories’ or ‘beach wear’ — I added it within less than one minute. Likewise, there are a ton of words which cater for the US market, and I tend to change them to fit the UK vocabulary like ‘nappy’ for ‘diaper’. Or I delete them entirely if I feel my child will never need to use a certain word like ‘conference’ or ‘nun’. PS: should they get to a point of using the system as an adult independently then these words can surely be added again, or if my student ever moves to the US then the words can be changed back to US terms again without any problem.
  3. Grammar support: LAMP provides built-in grammar support, helping users construct grammatically correct sentences. This can be particularly beneficial for individuals with language processing difficulties. But what I love about the way LAMP is organised here is that, in contrast with other systems I have used, it does not PREDICT what you want to say, it lets the user decide and find the right grammatical structure. I appreciate this because, just like I hate my phone or email offering predictive text or offer corrections to my words, I really do not get the systems that offer automatically a grammar change which mostly I don’t want. Where that is the case, I am often confused and hindered in finding the correct wording. I love the simplicity of LAMP and at the same the complexity that can be achieved gradually with practice. LAMP is fully designed to enable a user to build up not only vocabulary but a full language system. On a course recently I was able to hear adult LAMP users speaking to the audience in full and quick grammatically well-rounded sentences on a host of topics.
  4. Customisation: LAMP can be customised to meet the individual needs of each user. This includes options for adjusting the vocabulary, layout, and accessibility features. It is not as easy to edit as GRID I will say and that can cause me a little bit of frustration at times, but on balance I still vastly prefer the system as a whole. It can also be customised quite well for Gestalt Language Processors. It takes a little bit of practice and thinking about how best to do this but I have found a way that works well which I demonstrate in the short video clip.
  5. Community support: LAMP Words for Life has a thriving community of users on Facebook and this is so valuable and inspiring. Therapists and families of LAMP users alike share experiences, provide resources, and offer encouragement. This can be a valuable source of support for both users and their families.
  6. Comprehensive support: LAMP Words for Life offers quick and thorough support services, including training, resources, and ongoing assistance. This is invaluable and reassuring for both users and caregivers.
  7. Research-based: The development of LAMP Words for Life is based on extensive research and evidence-based practices. This ensures that the system is grounded in sound scientific principles.

Conclusion

To conclude LAMP Words for Life is a powerful AAC which provides us with a means of effective communication, language development, and social interaction. Whether you are a parent of a non-speaking child or a speech therapist looking for innovative AAC solutions, LAMP Words for Life is worth exploring.

Example on how to use AAC at story time

Feel free to contact me if you need help with your child.

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.

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