Some children can speak but the words won’t flow smoothly. Sometimes they are unable to express themselves in full sentences as the words or syllables break. There may not be clarity in their speech or there may be stammering. Many parents may have come across this problem in their children and such problems come as a barrier to develop their communication skills and may make them feel less confident about themselves. These issues can be addressed through speech therapy. Through this post, special educators from Preschool Palos Verdes Estates, CA , will share some information about speech therapy for children and some games and activities to be taken up at home.

What is speech therapy?

Speech therapy is a language intervention method that focuses on improving children’s speech, their ability to discern speech and overcome problems like poor word articulation, stammering, and phonological and voice disorders. It helps children to express themselves more clearly through verbal and nonverbal language. Speech therapy mainly focuses on:

• Articulation and fluency to form sounds, words, and sentences.
• Regulation of the volume of speech.
• Expressive language through pictorials, signs and written forms.

Ways to know whether your toddler needs speech therapy :

To help you understand whether your toddler needs speech therapy, caregivers from Child Care Palos Verdes Estates, CA is sharing some criteria.

1. Your child needs speech therapy if :
   
   • People find it difficult to understand what your child says as his speech lacks clarity.
   
   • Your child struggles in uttering words or expressing their thoughts through words.
   
   • His speech is disturbed with shuttering, repetition, prolongation, and blocks.
   
   • The child utters only one or two words like mama, papa rather than two/ three words sentences.
   
   • He has not developed his social skills so unable to make friends or play with others.


2. It may be surprising for you, but some kids despite having perfect pronunciation and developed reading skills, may need speech therapy.


3. Children may also need speech therapy because of some disabilities or medical conditions like autism for hearing impairment as they affect the ability of communication.

In the above-mentioned cases, consulting a speech-language pathologist is very important. Most of the time they begin services for these kids at a young age and continue through the school years.

Tips for parents on speech therapy at home; as suggested by special educators from Preschool Palos Verdes Estates, CA :

• Encourage conversation : whenever you are spending time with your kids try to have an interesting conversation with them on a topic of their choice. This will encourage them to participate in the conversation and to express their thoughts.

• Listen carefully : you should always listen to your children with full attention even if they are taking a long time to complete their sentences. Your attention will make them feel confident to speak and they will try their best to talk fluently.

• Make them read : encourage your children to read books loudly. If possible, they can repeat the content twice or thrice. These types of activities foster speaking as well as language skills.

The most important thing you can do is avoid any negative comments about your child's speech and don't force them on anything. Try to keep patience and do fun activities to improve your child's speech.