Mrs. Maureen Brush and Mrs. Ande Olson are Willowdale's Speech/Language Pathologists.
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please contact either Mrs. Olson or Mrs. Brush. We welcome
your input, because you are your child's most important teacher!
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please contact either Mrs. Olson or Mrs. Brush. We welcome
your input, because you are your child's most important teacher!
SPEECH/LANGUAGE INFORMATION FOR PARENTS
What is a SPEECH/LANGUAGE problem?
According to NE Rule 51, "speech or language impairments shall mean a communication disorder...
which adversely affects a child's development or educational performance".
A speech impairment refers to a child's inability to produce specific sounds
What is a SPEECH/LANGUAGE problem?
According to NE Rule 51, "speech or language impairments shall mean a communication disorder...
which adversely affects a child's development or educational performance".
A speech impairment refers to a child's inability to produce specific sounds
(such as /s/, /z/, /th/, /r/, /l/) that are appropriate for his/her age level.
A language impairment refers to an incomplete mastery of communication skills in the areas of:
1) receptive language: the ability to understand information in
verbal and/or written form and/or
2) expressive language: the ability to communicate information
effectively in verbal and/or written form
How can you help your child work on speech sounds at home?
Select a special time to concentrate on sounds (no more than 5-10 minutes at a time).
• Help your child select a special book with multiple chapters that you and your child
can read every night. Take turns reading, and let your child choose 1 page each night
on which to practice his/her correct sounds.
• Ask your child to read a homework page to you using his/her good sounds.
This not only gives practice on sounds, but also reinforces concepts in his/her curriculum.
• A fun way to practice sounds with your child is to have him/her read the daily
newspaper comics to you.
• Dinnertime is a good time to ask your child to practice his/her new sounds
NOTE: Please don't work on your child's sounds at home unless your child is at
the stage in therapy in which he/she can independently produce correct sounds
in all parts of words with ease! If you begin home practice with your child's speech
prematurely, then he/she may practice the sounds incorrectly, which could cause
speech services to be prolonged. Contact your speech/language pathologist if you
are unsure about whether or not to practice sounds with your child at home.
How can you help your child improve his/her receptive language skills at home?
There are two primary goals for improving your child's receptive language skills:
1) to maximize his/her inherent listening skills, and
2) to teach your child to compensate for listening skills that are weak
1) Home activities that maximize listening skills: (for grades K-3)
• Practice 2-3 step verbal directions when giving instructions for daily chores.
Try to limit visual cues, if possible. Examples: "Put the plates and the napkins
on the table." "Wash your hands and brush your teeth." "Pick up the brown bear
and put it beside the gray bunny." Gradually increase the length and complexity
of verbal directions as your child becomes more successful wtih simple sequential directions.
• Play riddle games often. It's a fun way to improve listening skills without seeming
like work. Example: "I'm thinking of something that is a pet and that meows--what is it?"
This is a great game to play in the car on shortor long trips. When you are driving to the
store or mall, you could play riddle games about what you plan to buy.
• Practice answering "who" (person), "what" (thing), "where" (place), "when" (time),
and "why" (reason) questions about books your child isreading, TV programs that you
watch together, personal events, etc.
For grades 3-5, you may use these same activities, only increase the length and complexity
of tasks. You may also want to include "what might happen if", "how" (in what way),
and "which" (this one or that one) questions, in addition to the "wh" questions.
2) Teach your child to compensate for weak receptive language skills by helping him/her
A language impairment refers to an incomplete mastery of communication skills in the areas of:
1) receptive language: the ability to understand information in
verbal and/or written form and/or
2) expressive language: the ability to communicate information
effectively in verbal and/or written form
How can you help your child work on speech sounds at home?
Select a special time to concentrate on sounds (no more than 5-10 minutes at a time).
• Help your child select a special book with multiple chapters that you and your child
can read every night. Take turns reading, and let your child choose 1 page each night
on which to practice his/her correct sounds.
• Ask your child to read a homework page to you using his/her good sounds.
This not only gives practice on sounds, but also reinforces concepts in his/her curriculum.
• A fun way to practice sounds with your child is to have him/her read the daily
newspaper comics to you.
• Dinnertime is a good time to ask your child to practice his/her new sounds
NOTE: Please don't work on your child's sounds at home unless your child is at
the stage in therapy in which he/she can independently produce correct sounds
in all parts of words with ease! If you begin home practice with your child's speech
prematurely, then he/she may practice the sounds incorrectly, which could cause
speech services to be prolonged. Contact your speech/language pathologist if you
are unsure about whether or not to practice sounds with your child at home.
How can you help your child improve his/her receptive language skills at home?
There are two primary goals for improving your child's receptive language skills:
1) to maximize his/her inherent listening skills, and
2) to teach your child to compensate for listening skills that are weak
1) Home activities that maximize listening skills: (for grades K-3)
• Practice 2-3 step verbal directions when giving instructions for daily chores.
Try to limit visual cues, if possible. Examples: "Put the plates and the napkins
on the table." "Wash your hands and brush your teeth." "Pick up the brown bear
and put it beside the gray bunny." Gradually increase the length and complexity
of verbal directions as your child becomes more successful wtih simple sequential directions.
• Play riddle games often. It's a fun way to improve listening skills without seeming
like work. Example: "I'm thinking of something that is a pet and that meows--what is it?"
This is a great game to play in the car on shortor long trips. When you are driving to the
store or mall, you could play riddle games about what you plan to buy.
• Practice answering "who" (person), "what" (thing), "where" (place), "when" (time),
and "why" (reason) questions about books your child isreading, TV programs that you
watch together, personal events, etc.
For grades 3-5, you may use these same activities, only increase the length and complexity
of tasks. You may also want to include "what might happen if", "how" (in what way),
and "which" (this one or that one) questions, in addition to the "wh" questions.
2) Teach your child to compensate for weak receptive language skills by helping him/her
use more than the traditional reading and hearingmodes of learning:
• Preview topics that your child will be learning at school, talking about the new
vocabulary and concepts that will be presented in class BEFORE your child hears it in class.
When the teacher presents the information that you have previewed with your child, it will
be more meaningful to him/her. This should take only 5-10 minutes a night.
• Draw pictures of the new vocabulary and concepts--even stick figures are very helpful.
Visual memory takes place in a different part of the brain that auditory memory does.
Your child may learn best if he/she draws it too.
• Say it out loud. Your child's verbal rehearsal is also a good way to learn and remember information.
• Associate it with something that is familiar to your child. This is especially effective
if the student relates it to something specific within his/her environment. An older student
could use an acronym; for example: VEMM might help a student remember Venus, Earth, Mars, Mercury.
• Write it. When a student writes his/her own study guide, it is more likely to be remembered.
Making a personal study guide by writing a list of new vocabulary words on the left side of a
page, and the definitions on the right side of the page is an effective way for a student to
practice definitions and new concepts. Students may also benefit by alternately folding one
side back and verbally rehearsing and rechecking the vocabulary and new concepts.
3) How can you help your child improve his/her expressive language skills at home?
• Preview topics that your child will be learning at school, talking about the new
vocabulary and concepts that will be presented in class BEFORE your child hears it in class.
When the teacher presents the information that you have previewed with your child, it will
be more meaningful to him/her. This should take only 5-10 minutes a night.
• Draw pictures of the new vocabulary and concepts--even stick figures are very helpful.
Visual memory takes place in a different part of the brain that auditory memory does.
Your child may learn best if he/she draws it too.
• Say it out loud. Your child's verbal rehearsal is also a good way to learn and remember information.
• Associate it with something that is familiar to your child. This is especially effective
if the student relates it to something specific within his/her environment. An older student
could use an acronym; for example: VEMM might help a student remember Venus, Earth, Mars, Mercury.
• Write it. When a student writes his/her own study guide, it is more likely to be remembered.
Making a personal study guide by writing a list of new vocabulary words on the left side of a
page, and the definitions on the right side of the page is an effective way for a student to
practice definitions and new concepts. Students may also benefit by alternately folding one
side back and verbally rehearsing and rechecking the vocabulary and new concepts.
3) How can you help your child improve his/her expressive language skills at home?
• Model correct sentence structure after your child produces a sentence incorrectly,
by saying,"You're right. You said......" and then say the sentence as it should have been said.
• Expand your child's sentences to help him/her produce more complex sentences.
You can do this by repeating a sentence that he/she produced and add words or phrases to it.
For example, if your child said, "I like books", you could respond, "Yes, you especially like to
read books about animals. Which animal is your favorite one? Why do you like that animal?"
• Give your child a choice of 2 answers when your child has difficulty formulating an answer to a question.
• For younger children, model answers to who, what, where, when, and why questions.
For example, if your child gives you a variety of information in the hope that the information
you requested is embedded in his/her answer, you could say, "If I was asked why......,
I would say......" For older students, model and help your child explain "how to...." and "why...."
and "what if....", etc. answers.
• For older students, make a point of explaining inferences (when all the information is not given),
figurative language and idioms (such as "egg someone on", "follow your heart", etc), and words that
have more than one meaning (such as bark, pound, rock, etc.)
by saying,"You're right. You said......" and then say the sentence as it should have been said.
• Expand your child's sentences to help him/her produce more complex sentences.
You can do this by repeating a sentence that he/she produced and add words or phrases to it.
For example, if your child said, "I like books", you could respond, "Yes, you especially like to
read books about animals. Which animal is your favorite one? Why do you like that animal?"
• Give your child a choice of 2 answers when your child has difficulty formulating an answer to a question.
• For younger children, model answers to who, what, where, when, and why questions.
For example, if your child gives you a variety of information in the hope that the information
you requested is embedded in his/her answer, you could say, "If I was asked why......,
I would say......" For older students, model and help your child explain "how to...." and "why...."
and "what if....", etc. answers.
• For older students, make a point of explaining inferences (when all the information is not given),
figurative language and idioms (such as "egg someone on", "follow your heart", etc), and words that
have more than one meaning (such as bark, pound, rock, etc.)
