Parents are the Key to Success!
Reinforcing therapy at home can make all the difference in a child’s progress as it pertains to speech therapy. Parents that encourage therapy activities outside of clinical treatment sessions often seen their child progress 2-3 times faster than those that don’t.
At the end of each treatment session, Therapy Tree therapist share with parents techniques to help improve carryover of the treatment, but it’s ultimately up to the parent to make sure that therapy is conducted at home. Parents are the key to unlocking the success of the child.
So how does a parent go about “being” the speech therapist at home? Here are five helpful tips to easily encourage speech therapy with your child.
1. Respond to your child.
Whenever your child attempts to communicate, be sure to respond. This helps create trust and a strong foundation for your child’s communication skills.
2. Show your child.
Most of us are visual learners. We learn by watching others successfully complete a task. Show your child how to appropriately use language by modeling it. This will give your child an example to follow.
3. Add to their words.
Expand your child’s vocabulary by adding words to theirs. For example, if your child says “ball”, you could add “red ball” or “big ball” or “throw the ball”.
4. Wait for your child to fill the silence.
Silence is ok. If your child is having a difficult time expressing themselves, wait. Give them the opportunity to fill that silence.
5. Repeat what you hear.
By repeating to the child what you hear, this helps them know what you understand. It validates their communication and gives them confidence to say more.