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Your child’s development during lockdown.

By Beth Atkinson No CommentsPosted in Activities, Kids, Parents, Teachers, Tips and AdviceTags: , , ,

Are you worried about keeping up with your child’s Speech and Language Therapy during the lockdown?

Trying to juggle work, home schooling and the anxiety we are all feeling during these unusual times is daunting to say the least.  Many children receive the bulk of their Speech and    Language Therapy support through schools or in the clinic, neither of which are options for the foreseeable future as they are not safe places for our families to be.

  Chatter SLT are offering remote speech and language therapy support via a range of video platforms.

  • If you want to check your child is on track
  • Chat to a speech and language therapist about adapting activities and school targets to the home
  • Update programmes and activities
  • Have regular 1:1 video sessions directly with your child
  • Spend the time you have with your children on really targeting speech or grammatical difficulties

All without leaving home (or even getting out of your pyjamas if you want!)

We can help you.  Contact us for a free no obligation chat and quote

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THE LANGUAGE PYRAMID SERIES- WK 4- UNDERSTANDING WORDS AND SENTENCES

By Claire West No CommentsPosted in Activities, Kids, Parents, Teachers, Tips and AdviceTags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Does your child understand what you say to them?

Can they follow instructions in school or nursery?

Can you ask them to do more than one thing e.g. go upstairs, brush your teeth and get your school bag?

Children need to understand what is said to them before they can start using words and sentences accurately.  Following instructions is a vital skill for learning and keeping safe.  Children who have difficulties understanding can be labelled as naughty but it could be that they don’t know what they are supposed to be doing.

Some instructions are easy to follow e.g. go get your shoes- your child may know that before they go out they need their shoes; they will have done this many times and can see the other people around them putting their shoes on.  As they get older, children are expected to follow longer, more complex instructions e.g.  Put your books in the red box, wash your hands then sit down on the carpet.  They need to remember lots of information, know the vocabulary used (box, wash, hands, red) and understand the smaller grammatical words (in, then).

Speech and Language Therapists are highly skilled at assessing comprehension (understanding language) and highlighting where any problems may lie.

If you are concerned about your child understanding language there are lots of strategies you can use to help them:

  • Break instructions into smaller chunks e.g. brush your teeth; get your school bag
  • Repeat instructions multiple times
  • Get your child to repeat back what they have been asked to do
  • Encourage your child to ask for help e.g. putting their hand up in class
  • Contact us to arrange a full assessment
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The Language Pyramid Series- Wk 3- Attention and Listening

By Claire West 1 CommentPosted in Activities, Kids, Parents, Teachers, Tips and AdviceTags: , , , , , ,

Attention and Listening

Does your child find it hard to sit still?

Do they appear to ignore you?

Do they talk when they should be listening?

Do they have difficulty following instructions?

Are they easily distracted?

Can they only concentrate on one thing at a time?

Do they move quickly from one toy to another?

Do they find it very hard to complete a game or activity?

 

Lots of children have difficulties with their attention (concentration) and listening skills.  Children’s attention develops and matures as they get older.

Concentration difficulties impact on all areas of communication:

  • following instructions
  • learning and using new words
  • forming sentences
  • listening to and using the correct sounds in words

Children with attention and listening difficulties often end up in trouble in school or nursery.  They are not being naughty; they need someone to help develop their attention and listening skills.

 

How can you help?

  • say your child’s name before giving an instruction so they know to listen e.g. “Tyler put your coat on”
  • keep activities short and interesting
  • praise them when they are listening well e.g. “great listening Evie”
  • talk about how to be a good listener e.g. sit still, look at the person who is talking, only talk when it’s your turn
  • go on a listening walk, talk about what you can hear e.g. birds, cars, a helicopter
  • get in touch with us for more Attention and Listening game ideas and further support
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The Language Pyramid Series- wk 2- Play and Interaction

By Claire West No CommentsPosted in Activities, Parents, Teachers, Tips and Advice, Uncategorized

Play and Interaction

  • Does your child find it hard to play with others?
  • Do they look at you when you are talking to them?
  • Do they like playing with one particular toy or do they play with toys in an unusual way?
  • Can you have a conversation with your older child about different topics or do they always want to talk about the same thing?

Your child may need support with their play and interaction skills. Therapists often start by developing and reinforcing these skills before moving onto other areas of language development. It may look like we are “only” playing with your child but we are helping them build an important building block for communication.  This is the largest section of our Pyramid of Language Development
Interaction is vital for successful communication.  It happens when two people share an interest in something and make a connection.  This can be through starting a conversation, asking for something or responding  to something someone has said.   Children learn and develop their interaction skills through play. They learn to play with other children and take turns.  They invite others to play with them, make up stories together and keep games going.

How can you help?
-if you are worried about your child’s interaction get in touch
-watch your child as they play, look and learn about what they are interested in, will they let you join in?
-turn off the TV, lock away the tablet and get some toys out!
– play “people games”- e.g. tickling, chasing, row row row your boat.  These games don’t need any toys so are great for showing children that other people can be fun to play with too.

 

Difficulties with interaction can be a sign that your child has more complex communication needs such as Autism, language impairment or learning difficulties.  Don’t sit at home and worry about it, get in touch with us or your GP, there’s lots we can do to help.

 

Beth Atkinson

Chatter Independent Speech Therapy

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The Language Pyramid Series- wk 1- An Introduction

By Claire West No CommentsPosted in Parents, Teachers, Tips and AdviceTags: , , , ,

Language Pyramid Explained

Successful communication is made up of many components. Language can develop naturally for lots of children, however for around 1 in 10 children extra support is needed to help them become confident communicators.

Language can be thought of as a pyramid, each layer needs to be securely in place to support the next block. Without a good solid base, further development can be shaky. Children can have difficulties at each level and specialist input is needed to provide the correct support.

Over the coming weeks we will explain each layer in more detail and what you can do to help your child become a confident happy communicator.

 

Beth Atkinson, Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

Chatter Independent Speech Therapy Ltd

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Signs of Autism

By Claire West No CommentsPosted in Tips and AdviceTags: , , , , ,

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social impairments, cognitive impairments, communication difficulties, and repetitive behaviors. It can range from very mild to very severe and occur in all ethnic, socioeconomic and age groups. Males are four times more likely to have autism than females. Some children with autism appear normal before age 1 or 2 and then suddenly “regress” and lose language or social skills they had previously gained. This is called the regressive type of autism.

SIGNS OF AUTISM:
•No big smiles or other warm, joyful expressions by six months or thereafter
•No back-and-forth sharing of sounds, smiles, or other facial expressions by nine months or thereafter
•No babbling by 12 months
•No Gesturing (pointing, waving bye-bye) by 12 months
•No words by 16 months
•No two-word meaningful phrases (without imitating or repeating) by 24 months
•Any loss of speech or babbling or social skills at any age

EARLY SIGNS OF AUTISM:
•Doesn’t make eye contact (e.g. look at you when being fed).
•Doesn’t smile when smiled at.
•Doesn’t respond to his or her name or to the sound of a familiar voice.
•Doesn’t follow objects visually.
•Doesn’t point or wave goodbye or use other gestures to communicate.
•Doesn’t follow the gesture when you point things out.
•Doesn’t make noises to get your attention.
•Doesn’t initiate or respond to cuddling.
•Doesn’t imitate your movements and facial expressions.
•Doesn’t reach out to be picked up.
•Doesn’t play with other people or share interest and enjoyment.
•Doesn’t ask for help or make other basic requests.

Image and article from the www.nationalautismassociation.org

 

 

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10 Tips to Talking- Tip 1

By Claire West No CommentsPosted in Activities, Tips and AdviceTags: , , , , , ,

Each week we are going to post a new piece of advice to support your little one’s talking.  This advice is perfect for children who are developing their talking at an expected rate and those who are a little behind or those who are having lots of difficulties learning to talk.  It benefits all children and whether you are parents, Speech Therapists, Nursery Nurses or Teachers, we should all follow these simple yet very beneficial tips.
Week 1:
Get down to your child’s level
This may sound very simple but think about the times you have spoken to your child or given an instruction when you are stood above them looking down (or sometimes not facing them).  In this position it is difficult for your little person to listen to all the information you give, see your facial expression and see how your mouth moves to form the sounds and words.

These are all things your child needs to be able to see and hear to support their language development.  Aim to get their attention by saying their name before you speak and get down to their level so you are face to face.  This is the position where your child will learn the most from you.

This is also the best position to be in when playing. We all know how important playing with our children is but we also need to be down at the same level as them and in a position where they can see you very easily when they look up from the very interesting game you are playing.  When we play with children we use language to describe what is happening, our children learn from this language and learn even more if the person is close to them and fully engaged in the activity.  This also supports your child to see what you are doing with the toys and shows them you are interested in what they are doing and enjoying being with them.

Next time you play with your child or speak to them remember:

• Get down to the same level… bend your knees, lay on the floor in front of them, whatever it takes

• Say their name if you are unsure if you have their full attention

• Notice the difference between giving an instruction to them standing up and looking down compared to crouching down and being face to face.

• Spend this time watching what they are doing and responding to them and joining in their fun game.

• Watch what they do when they can see your face easily, do they use more eye contact, copy your facial expressions, and copy what you say?

• And most of all…. Have fun 🙂

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Who can help?

By Claire West No CommentsPosted in Parents, Tips and AdviceTags: , , , ,

 

My Child’s talking is delayed….Who can help?

Do you have a concern about your child’s talking?  There are lots of places to go for help.

  • Have you spoken to a Speech and Language therapist? We are a friendly bunch and very approachable.  It can be difficult to find someone to speak to but at Chatter we always offer a free telephone consultation at a time that suits you.  We can talk through your concerns however big or small and if you want further support we can arrange assessment, therapy and support tailored to your child and family.

 

  • NHS Speech and Language Therapy– Most NHS SLT services accept referrals directly from parents and carers, if in doubt give them a call to check, they will probably send you a copy of their referral form to fill in.  Your child can have support from a Chatter therapist alongside their NHS therapy.  All Chatter therapists also work for the NHS so are experts in working with their NHS colleagues.  Often parents feel they don’t get enough contact with the NHS SLT and opt for additional support.  Alternatively some families feel they would prefer to seek all of their child’s therapy privately.  When referring to the NHS SLT service it is worth bearing in mind that they have clear referral guidelines which include what referrals they can and cannot accept.

 

  • Don’t get bogged down in a Google Search, here are some very helpful websites dedicated to language development and communication difficulties:

www.ican.org.uk The Children’s Communication Charity
www.talkingpoint.org.uk has free resources for parents and lots of information about children’s communication
www.stammering.org The British Stammering Association is the place to go for sensible advice on stammering/stuttering
www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk supporting the communication needs of all children
www.autism.org.uk The leading charity for people with autism
www.rcslt.org The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists

 

Don’t worry about your child’s talking, we are all happy to talk about it with you!  Seeking support from a therapist is the first step.

Written by Beth Atkinson, Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

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