Speech/Language Therapy 101: Back to Basics for SLPs and Caregivers
Description
Speech/Language Therapy 101: Back to Basics for SLPs and Caregivers
Are you looking for the simplest, most effective way to teach communication skills to children and teens?
Well, search no farther!
I'm speech-language pathologist Carrie Clark and in today's episode of The Speech and Language Kids Podcast, we're diving into exactly how to make the most of virtual speech sessions so we can work on closing these gaps, one child at a time.
Listen to the Podcast Here
You can listen to the full podcast episode below:
The Different Areas of Speech/Language/Communication:
- Speech Sounds: Individuals with speech sound problems have difficulty pronouncing sounds correctly. Their speech is difficult to understand. Fill out the Speech Sounds Progress Monitoring Tool to dive deeper.
- Language: Individuals with language difficulties struggle to understand or use words effectively. This can impact their ability to follow directions, express thoughts, or build sentences correctly. Fill out the Language Progress Monitoring Tool to dive deeper.
- Voice/Resonance: Individuals with voice or resonance concerns may have voices that sound hoarse, too nasal, too quiet, or otherwise unusual. These issues can affect how others perceive and understand them. Fill out the Voice/Resonance Progress Monitoring Tool to dive deeper.
- Fluency: Individuals with fluency difficulties may experience stuttering or interruptions in their speech. This can include repeating sounds, stretching out words, or having frequent pauses. Fill out the Fluency Progress Monitoring Tool to dive deeper.
- Functional Communication: Individuals with functional communication difficulties struggle to get their needs met using speech, gestures, or other means of communication. They may have trouble making requests, answering questions, or using words effectively in daily life. Fill out the Functional Communication Progress Monitoring Tool to dive deeper.
- Social Communication: Individuals with social communication challenges may struggle with conversational skills, understanding social cues, or using language appropriately in different social interactions. This can affect their ability to interact with others successfully. Fill out the Social Communication Progress Monitoring Tool to dive deeper.
To Access the Specific Progress Monitoring Tools, Click Here!
Therapy Pathways for Speech Sounds
Articulation – Individuals with articulation challenges have difficulty with specific speech sounds, producing them incorrectly or with noticeable distortions. Choose the articulation pathway for traditional sound-by-sound therapy that targets one speech sound at a time.
Phonology – Individuals with phonological challenges demonstrate consistent patterns of speech errors, such as omitting sounds at the beginning or end of words or struggling with whole categories of sounds (e.g., back sounds like /k/ and /g/). Choose the phonology pathway to teach sound patterns and eliminate phonological processes such as fronting, stopping, final consonant deletion, etc.
Motor Speech – Individuals with motor speech difficulties have inconsistent speech errors, struggle more with longer words, appear to have difficulty physically producing speech sounds, and may sound choppy and robotic. Choose the motor speech pathway to treat motor-based speech disorders, such as apraxia, by teaching specific word structures, such as CV, VC, CVC, and multisyllabic words.
Mumbling Pathway – These individuals may speak too quickly, too quietly, slurs their words, or are able to produce sounds correctly in isolation but become harder to understand in conversation. Choose this pathway for a structured approach to teaching over-articulation and increasing awareness of when they are not understood.
To access these Therapy Pathways and the corresponding Therapy Plans, click here!
Therapy Pathways for Language Skills
Following Directions Pathway
Individuals with following directions challenges have difficulty understanding and carrying out one-step or multi-step instructions. They may become easily distracted when given directions or struggle to process spoken information. Choose this pathway to target skills like following verbal and written directions, improving attention to instructions, and processing spoken language efficiently.
Asking and Answering Questions Pathway
These individuals have difficulty responding to basic WH-questions (who, what, where, etc.), struggle to ask meaningful questions, or have trouble answering questions about something they just heard. Choose this pathway to build skills in answering WH-questions, formulating clear and relevant questions, and improving comprehension through question-based interactions.
Sequencing & Retelling Pathway
Individuals with sequencing and retelling challenges have difficulty organizing events or stories in logical order. They may start retellings in the middle without context, leave out key details, or struggle to recall events accurately. Choose this pathway to focus on skills like sequencing steps, retelling stories with key details, and structuring a story clearly.
Grammar & Sentence Complexity Pathway
Individuals with grammar and sentence complexity challenges have speech that contains frequent grammar errors, sounds choppy and incomplete, or relies on shorter or simpler sentences than expected for their age. Choose this pathway to strengthen grammar use, expand sentence length and complexity, and improve overall sentence structure.
Foundations for Literacy Pathway
Individuals with literacy challenges have difficulty with early reading skills, such as phonological awareness, understanding written texts, or developing reading fluency and comprehension. Choose this pathway to build phonological awareness, strengthen early literacy skills, and improve reading comprehension and fluency.
Abstract Language Pathway
Individuals with abstract language challenges struggle to understand figurative language, such as idioms, sarcasm, and metaphors, or have difficulty making inferences from conversations and texts. Choose this pathway to develop skills in understanding and using figurative language, interpreting implied meanings, and making logical inferences.
Vocabulary Pathway
Individuals with vocabulary challenges have difficulty understanding and using new words, rely on vague or imprecise language, or struggle with remembering and using the correct words. Choose this pathway to enhance word knowledge, improve word retrieval, and build precise and meaningful vocabulary us