Chatty Chops

16/08/2024

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It's a fact that with the right supports in place, people with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) can achieve their educational goals. Thank you for shining a light on the need for ongoing, individualised supports.

For a person with DLD, ongoing supports might look like:

💜 Access to regular speech therapy and other allied health services including mental health support

💛 Being given more time to process information and respond to questions; teach them to ask for thinking time

💜 When giving directions and offering examples, use simplified words and short sentences.

💛 Don’t expect students to wade through text – chunk information and present it in small components.

💜 In classroom support from a teacher aide or learning support teacher

What other accommodations at school would you add to this list? Let us know in the comments.

07/05/2024

Sarah came on the ‘Introduction to AAC’ course after wondering whether it could help some of the students she taught. Here’s what she had to say:

“The AAC course was so informative! I learned so much about the possibilities of AAC and how to use it to support a range of children that I work with. The course slides and resources were amazing, and totally supported me in creating my own AAC boards. Thank you Laura!” 🥳

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If you’d like to join us for the next workshop on 20th May, comment AAC below and I’ll DM you the information! Today is also the last day you can make use of the early bird rate!

04/05/2024

So proud to have been a part of this journey for Woburn Safari Park 🥰 Almost a year ago I visited the park with Rory and Niamh and noticed a little communication board beside the soft play area. Months later after working with their head of education, I developed a range of communication boards, supported with creating social scripts and put them in touch with Widgit Software. They are now the first Safari park in the world to be a symbol-friendly organisation 🎉 I hope that in the future many more organisations will follow in their footsteps, taking measures to make their attractions more communication-friendly and accessible to all ☺️

You can access and download the communication boards and social scripts as well as tips on how to use them on their website!

02/05/2024

First up in my AAC mini series is ‘Types of AAC’. If you don’t already know what AAC means then check out my AAC highlight or ‘What is AAC?’ Post!

There are two main types of AAC, low-tech and high tech. Over my career I have mainly worked with low-tech systems like PECS when I first started out, sentence strips with blanks for symbols, ‘object-action’ boards, grab boards, communication boards and books as well as signing.

More recently, I have had the opportunity to delve much deeper into the world of high-tech systems and am really enjoying building my knowledge of these! They have included iPad apps such as Proloquo, TDSnap and grid from smart box.

I’m also thrilled to announce the return of my ‘Intro to AAC’ workshop so if you’re interested in developing your skills in setting up and using low-tech AAC, then comment: AAC ⭐️ below and I can send you more information ☺️

14/03/2024

This week I’ve seen quite a few children to support with their speech so I thought it would be useful to re-share this visual explaining speech sound development!

If you do a quick google search for ‘speech sound development charts’ you will find dozens of variations of when it is ‘normal’ for children to acquire different sounds! This is because all children are different, and although there are some typical patterns, some sounds may appear at slightly different times.

This chart is quick a quick guide and it is completely normal for children to say sounds earlier or later that what’s stated.

When learning sounds, children can display a number of ‘error patterns’ known as phonological processes. These are a completely normal part of development and they can include:

- Reducing clusters, like saying ‘pider’ for spider
- repeating syllables, like saying ‘wawa’ for water
- deleting/leaving out weak syllables, like ‘tato’ for ‘potato’
- deleting/leaving out final sounds, like saying ‘ca’ for cat
- saying sounds normally produced at the back of your mouth (k & g) at the front (saying ‘tat’ instead of cat or ‘dod’ for dog)
- replacing long sounds like ‘s’ with short sounds like ‘t’

If your child is still using these processes for a prolonged period of time, e.g still saying ‘tat’ for ‘cat’ at age 5, then it would be helpful to get the support of a speech and language therapist.

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Download our free milestones checklist for more information on speech and language milestones. If you’d like more support with your child’s early communication, comment ‘link’ or 🔗 for more info on our chatty chops course!

01/11/2023

So much can change in 3 and a half months 🩵
Rory is 8 months now and I’m starting to see his little personality develop which is so fun!
I will be the first to admit that I’m actually not a massive fan of the little baby stage and found the first 6 months really tough, both mentally and physically as I recovered from a pregnancy where I fell quite ill and lost a lot of weight and muscle. I think I’m only starting to feel more like ‘me’ these past few weeks now (although I’m still adjusting to my ‘new’ body and life as a family of 4!)
Now that Rory is interacting more, I’m really enjoying spending time with him. He’s wildly inquisitive and loves to explore but also seems to need reassuring and lots of cuddles 🩵

It got me thinking about how tough it is for babies that don’t develop those interaction skills (like social smiles or imitation of actions and sounds) early on and how difficult it can be for their parents (through no fault of their own) to build bonds with their them.

Milestones at this age can vary and so much can change in such a short space of time, but if you are ever concerned about your baby’s development, you should speak to your HV or local speech and language service as soon as possible. Early intervention is key, and support can not only help with their communication, but with building relationships and a strong bond too 🩵

If you unsure of what milestones to look for, you can look at our free milestones checklist. We also have a baby and toddler signing course! Just comment ‘milestone checklist’ or ‘signing course’ and I can send you info!

25/10/2023

Starting soon! 😊 Want to join but can’t make it tonight? No problem! A recording wil be available to watch afterwards 🙌🏻

Learn how to create and implement paper-based communication aids to support children with limited verbal skills

11/10/2023

Jargon busting time! You might have seen me mention AAC a lot recent, but what does it mean?

AAC stands for alternative and augmentative communication.

The International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (ISAAC) describe it as:

“…a set of tools and strategies that an individual uses to solve everyday communicative challenges. Communication can take many forms such as: speech, a shared glance, text, gestures, facial expressions, touch, sign language, symbols, pictures, speech-generating devices, etc.”

We all use various forms of communicating (speech, gesture, body language etc). Effective communication occurs when the intent and meaning of one individual is understood by another person.

ISAAC explain “The form (of communication) is less important than the successful understanding of the message”. I love this message. It highlights that all communication means are valid and important 🙌🏻

If you’d like to learn more about AAC, how to use it with children and tips and strategies, then check out my new workshop on 25.10.23!

10/10/2023

I’m really excited that lots of you have been asking about communication boards and *AAC recently as it’s an area I’m really passionate about! If you are new to AAC and you’d like to learn more about its benefits, how to create your own communication aids and how to support children to use them, then my online workshop is perfect for you!

When: Wednesday 25th October, 7:30-8:30pm

Where? Online via zoom (a recording will be made for anyone not able to make it or who’d like to watch it back).

Visit the link in my bio for more info and to join!

*AAC stands for alternative and augmentative communication, which just means any method/tool to help an individual who finds speaking difficult to communicate.

03/10/2023

🗣Working on speech sounds

If you’ve looked at my posts on how children develop speech and phonological awareness, you’ll know that most of the processes for speaking happen in the 🧠 not the 👄

You probably won’t be surprised to hear then that we don’t just jump into helping a child actually change the way they say the sound or word, there’s a few things we need to check first:

- 👂 Hearing: some children can be susceptible to ‘glue ear’ which is a build up of fluid in he ear canal. This sometimes needs treatment, and if children get this frequently it can affect their hearing of certain sound frequencies. It’s always a good idea to get a hearing test if you are worried about your child’s speech.

- 👂 🧠 Processing: remember, children need a mature speech processing system and if they have difficulties saying sounds, speech and language therapists will look at whether they are having difficulties processing them.

- 🧠 Sound discrimination: put simply, this is the ability to tell the difference between one sound and another. Some sounds are quite similar to others so it is a good idea to check if a child can hear and process the differences between them.

If your child says ‘tat’ for ‘cat’ for example, try playing games which get them to listen to and identify ‘k’ vs ‘t’ sounds. Try:

- getting them to post the sounds you say
- jump on/ run to the sound you say
- feed the sound you say to a puppet
- any other activity that they enjoy and find motivating!

Remember that if you are playing these listening activities, we are focusing on the child’s ability to listen to and identify the right sound, not say it correctly!

Once a child can discriminate sounds on their own and within words, then they can work on changing how they say them!

02/10/2023

Only 2 days left until our workshop! Sign up below if you’d like to learn how to support your pre-schooler’s early literacy skills 😊

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/pre-literacy-skills-focus-on-pre-phonics-tickets-720326876077?aff=ebdshpsearchautocomplete

01/10/2023

Speech sound strategies 🌟

Following how children learn speech sounds, you’ll know how complex the process is. If they make errors with sounds therefore, they are not being ‘lazy’ so telling them things like ’thats not how we say that’ or ‘not ‘teas...it’s keys, say keys’ or ‘say keys again, keys’ is not helpful!

Here are some easy ways to support speech sound errors:

- Familiarise yourself with the approximate ages children develop sounds. It’s normal for them to still be acquiring sounds like ‘th’ when they are 5 or even older! There are so many variations of the speech development chart (unsurprising since all children develop differently!)

- Listen carefully to the child, making sure you’re focusing on what they say rather than how they say it.

- If they make an error, repeat the word back, emphasising it in a positive way. This gives them a good example.

- Overemphasise the sound you are modelling back slightly.

- Avoid ‘correcting’ the child and instead model and reinforce.

- Don’t pretend to understand what they have said- children are pretty good at knowing when we aren’t listening properly! Try asking them to show you what they mean or say “sorry I’m not sure I understand” if you still are unsure after they have tried to explain. Keep things positive and be reassuring.

- If your child is seeing a speech and language therapist for speech sounds, practise any activities they give you little and often, no more than 5-10 mins a day.

These are general tips, and if you are concerned about your child’s speech development then it would be a good idea to get a referral to your local nhs or independent speech and language therapist 😊

30/09/2023

HOW DO CHILDREN LEARN SPEECH SOUNDS? (Hint…there’s more to it than moving the tongue and lips!)

Baby Niamh has been made into a diagram in an attempt to explain what is a very complicated process in a nutshell!

Speaking comes naturally for many of us, but we don’t often pause to think about all the skills it requires. To learn and say a word, a child has to:

1. HEAR the word clearly (we always ask parents if hearings checks are up to date before investigating speech sound difficulties).

2. PROCESS different sounds. The speech processing system (SPS) takes around 5 years to mature! It analyses the speech signal entering the ear and helps children sort information like:
- What sound did the word begin with
- How many syllables (beats) did it have
- discriminate the sounds in one word vs another similar word e.g cat vs mat
- tell if a word rhymes with another
- map the sequence of the sounds

3. STORE the sounds in the brain in a meaningful, organised way. The better the SPS, the more accurately a word will be stored, and therefore the quicker the next step can happen:

4. Word RETRIEVAL. If the previous steps have happened, the word will be easy to retrieve. If there are difficulties however or the SPS is immature, then a child may have stored the word incorrectly e.g. storing ‘key’ as ‘tea’.

5. MOTOR PROGRAMME: the brain then sends a signal with the programme of instructions to make the mouth move to make the sounds in the target word.

6. SPEECH MOTOR SKILLS- the lips, tongue, jaw, vocal chords and lungs then work together to produce the target word. If all the processes in no.1-5 are well developed, then they child will be able to say the word! If there is a breakdown in 1 or more of these processes, then this leads to speech sound errors!

Phew, I hope you enjoyed that little blast of information! I am a firm believer in empowering others. After all, if you don’t understand the reasoning behind a difficulty, how can you help?

16/09/2023

Would you like to feel confident in supporting your child's pre-literacy skills and learn more about the first stages of formal phonics teaching? Comment ‘WORKSHOP’ below or visit my bio for the link!

Who is the workshop for?

Parents and carers of pre-school children who want to learn more about pre-reading skills and feel confident in knowing how to support phonics work at home.

This is also suitable for Parents and carers of children with delayed speech sound skills.

What will we cover?

What is phonological awareness
Why it’s important for speech, reading & writing
Development of skills at each stage
activity ideas
The first stages of formal phonics teaching and how to support your child.

15/09/2023

Sound baskets and treasure hunts can be useful for children who have target sounds to work on in speech therapy sessions, but also for any child around the age of 3-5+ who are starting to learn individual phonics sounds.

How to use them:

Gather familiar items which begin with your child’s target sounds (e.g. in the first image, the target sound was ‘m’ so I gathered a mouse, monkey, money, mirror, magnet, milk and a man).

Look at the items with your child and draw their attention to the first sound in each word by emphasising or prolonging it. You can also say things like “mmmmmonkey and mmmmman both start with the ‘m’ sound. What else do we have that begins with an ‘M’?”

Once your child is familiar with the target sound, you can add items that begin with the target sound, but also ones that don’t. Ask your child to sort them into piles that start with ‘m’ (or other target sound) and ones that don’t.

Once your child is becoming more familiar with the target sound, you can go on a treasure hunt around the house or outdoors to see what they can find beginning with that sound.

Say the words with them or offer choices to help if they find it difficult.

Found this helpful? Comment the word ‘workshop’ if you’d like to join an early literacy skills workshop to learn more about pre-reading and writing skills!

17/05/2023

It’s national weaning week so I’m sharing some advice I created a while back on weaning onto cups!

We are here to help cut through all of the overwhelming marketing which talks about so called ‘training cups’ and give some honest recommendations based on the facts of development!

Please note we did not get paid or sponsored to recommend any of these products!

The facts: 👅 Babies are born with a suckling reflex and their tongue has a ‘front to back’ movement. As they reach 6-7 months they are starting to develop a more mature ‘up and down’ movement and by 12 months are able to move their tongue tip up and behind their teeth to the position needed to swallow liquids.

👶A lot of ‘training cups’ have spouts which actually get in the way of being able to place your tongue in the right place (behind the front teeth) therefore they encourage the immature ‘front to back’ pattern. Prolonged use of the ‘tongue thrust’ pattern can have implications on the teeth, causing the front teeth to be pushed forwards (this would be the extreme when dummies and spout cups are used excessively).

- You can introduce an open cup from 4-6 months and support your little one by holding it for them and tipping it gently. They are in the early stages of learning to ‘sip’.

- if you are keen to find a cup that is less messy, then a non- valve straw cup can be introduced (roughly 9 months but some babies may be ready earlier). This encourages a mature sucking pattern and encourages other skills like lip closure and cheek muscles to work together.

- Sarah and I are mums and we know that at times it’s impractical or impossible to sit and help our baby to drink form an open cup. If you have already used beakers with spouts, please do not worry. Start to make changes like switching from a hard to soft spout, going for your free flow rather than ‘non-spill’ options with valves, but ultimately allowing more opportunities at home for your little ones to practise drinking from an open cup! 💕

Feel free to share your experiences below and tag other parents who may find this helpful!

10/05/2023

5️⃣ tips for building communication with your baby 👶

1. Position- your babies eye sight is still developing, so position yourself close to them, where they can see you 👀

2. Watch them! Notice what movements or noises they are making

3. Respond- respond to their gurgles, vocalisations or movements by cooing or making a noise back

4. Pause- wait expectantly by widening your eyes or opening your mouth to cue your little one to respond back to you!

5. Be playful- Change your intonation to make your voice sound interesting!

Share with any new parents you know 👶

09/05/2023

Question: When do babies start to develop language skills?

Answer: From birth!

Rory is currently 10 weeks old and amazingly, babies are already demonstrating lots of the skills needed for communicating with others at this tiny age!

They can:

- Focus on another person
- Understand that someone will respond to them
- Take turns
- Tune into expressions
- Enjoy interactions
- And more!

These skills form the basis of something called ‘the fundamentals of communication’ (researched by Nind & Hewett).

Babies don’t have to be ‘taught’ these skills, but they do have to be given opportunities to learn about them through regular interactions with trusted carers. Tomorrow, we’ll look at how we can support our babies to develop these important skills!

Do you know a new parent who’d find this interesting? Tag them below 👇🏼😊