How Pediatric Speech Therapy Helps Children Develop Their Language Skills
If your child isn’t talking enough, having difficulty making sentences or following directions, then read on.
What is Language?
Language is the content of our messages: Our vocabulary, grammar, sentence structure and story organization. Children use language expressively when they talk and write. They use language receptively when they listen and read. An important portion of our brain is designed to make and process language no matter which one(s) we speak at home. Learning spoken language is inherent for all humans, but there is variety in how language develops.
How do you know if your child needs support with their language development?
Sometimes, a child’s language development is delayed, or follows a different course than most. The signs of this often include:
A lack of talking, a small vocabulary or difficulty relaying clear and organized stories
Grammar errors in speech and writing that persist despite proper instruction
Difficulty understanding spoken directions
Challenges mastering letter and sound pairings when learning to read and write
Difficulty understanding the meaning of readings and formulating written information
Language development is a deeply complex and multi-faceted process that occurs for children in a series of milestones and phases. When a child is under three years of age, it can be difficult to know if skills need more time to emerge, or if they need support. Early intervention is essential to getting children on the right language learning track, so if you have a doubt, trust your gut and consult an expert.
You can book a commitment free, complimentary consult call with a speech-language therapist here.
What will a speech therapist do to improve language skills?
All therapy programs at Brooklyn Speech Therapy begin with a 30 minute consultation call where we listen to the concerns you have about your child’s speech, and we gather relevant information about their medical and developmental history and communication patterns. From there we begin to work with you and your child in a Diagnostic Therapy Session.
The first step in treating language challenges is proper diagnosis. Your speech therapist will be looking to answer several questions, such as:
Is the difficulty expressive, receptive, or both?
Are the challenges limited to one area of language?
Are there external factors like regulation or inattention influencing their development
Does this child have a different learning style for language development entirely (e.g., Gestalt Language Learning)
From there we need to determine what types of support your child responds to best. Support can be in the form of visual cues, adding tactile experiences to language, or making our adult communication styles more developmentally encouraging. We do this all through play-it’s fun! This process typically can take anywhere from one-three sessions, but our detective hats are always on throughout our therapy programs.
Regular, weekly intervention that incorporates family and caregiver training is essential to remediating the developmental language challenges we identify. We’ll design play, or game based scenarios to systematically target language gaps. Language intervention programs are not like medicine. Improvements sometimes happen quickly, but are more often gradual. A therapy program with Brooklyn Speech Therapy to support language development is thorough and collaborative. Helping your child to speak easily and comfortably is our #1 goal, with empowering you to understand their needs and support them coming in at a close second.
Want to discuss your child’s language development with an expert? Click here to book a 30 minute complimentary call.
