Speech and Language Resources
Speech And Language Resources
Language
Speech and Language Specialists in public schools assist students of all ages in a variety of language areas, including speaking, listening, reading, writing, and thinking. Receptive language is the ability to understand language that we hear and read. Expressive language is the ability to use language to communicate by speaking and writing. In school, speech and language specialists support students in talking with peers and expressing what they know about what they are learning. This can range from telling stories about what happened over the weekend to a formal presentation of lab results. Students listen to directions, explanations about how to do math problems, and lessons about important people in history. Speech and language specialists help students understand and talk about words and their meanings to build vocabulary, which is essential for reading and learning.
For language resources, please click on the following links:
Preschool read aloud!
https://identifythesigns.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/ASHA_Year4to5.pdf
Preschool language disorders
https://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/Preschool-Language-Disorders/
Building language through conversation
http://www.hanen.org/Helpful-Info/Articles/How-to-Build-Language-and-Literacy-Through-Powerfu.aspx
Read aloud to older students!
https://www.readbrightly.com/importance-of-reading-aloud-to-big-kids/
Building vocabulary
https://www.parenttoolkit.com/academics/advice/english-language-arts/helping-your-child-build-a-strong-vocabulary
Articulation
Articulation is a person’s ability to produce speech sounds. Phonology is a person’s ability to produce a class of sounds. A child with an articulation or phonological disorder may be unable to produce one or more speech sounds outside of the range of developmental norms (see link below). As speech-language specialists, we complete evaluations and identify students with disorders in articulation and/or phonology.
Developmental norms are used in order to determine if a student’s articulation skills are age appropriate. There is a range in age in which a sound is expected to have been mastered by certain ages.
Articulation Developmental Norms:
http://www.rochester.k12.mn.us/UserFiles/Servers/Server_3083669/File/migration/artic_norms.pdf
What is articulation and phonology therapy?
There are various approaches to articulation therapy. One or more approaches may be utilized in order to target students’ speech sounds. The below link provide explanations of approaches that may be used by speech-language specialists when working with students with articulation or phonology disorders.
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Review of Articulation and Phonology:
https://www.asha.org/PRPSpecificTopic.aspx?folderid=8589935321§ion=Treatment
Resources:
Locate your child’s speech sound on this resource to provide practice at various levels. Check with your child’s speech-language specialist regarding the appropriate level to begin (sound position, words, sentences, story):
http://mommyspeechtherapy.com/?page_id=55
https://heatherspeechtherapy.com/worksheets/
Written Word Lists for Students:
Fluency
We all have times when we do not speak smoothly. We may add "uh" or "you know" to what we say. Or, we may say a sound or word more than once. These disfluencies are normal if they happen every once in a while. When it happens a lot, it may be stuttering.
People who stutter may have the following types of disfluencies:
- Blocks. This happens when you have a hard time getting a word out. You may pause for a long time or not be able to make a sound. For example, "I want a ...... cookie."
- Prolongations. You may stretch a sound out for a long time, like cookie.
- Repetitions. You may repeat parts of words, like co-co-co-cookie.
Stuttering can change from day to day. You may have times when you are fluent and times when you stutter more. Stress or excitement can lead to more stuttering.
Stuttering is more than just the blocks or repetitions in your speech. It can also make you tense your body or struggle to talk. Stuttering may get in the way of how you talk to others. You may want to hide your stuttering. So, you may avoid certain words or refuse to talk in some situations. For example, you may not want to talk on the phone if that makes you stutter more.
For Fluency resources, please clickon the following links:
Tips for Parents talking with their child that stutters
https://www.stutteringhelp.org/7-tips-talking-your-child-0
Links for parents of preschool children
https://www.stutteringhelp.org/content/parents-pre-schoolers
Links for parents of school age children
https://www.stutteringhelp.org/content/parents-school-aged-children
A great video for kids to watch
https://stutteringhelp.org/content/stuttering-kids-kids
Pragmatics
Social pragmatic language refers to the rules for how we use language in different situations and with different people. In school, Speech Language Specialists help students acquire, increase and expand social pragmatic language skills. These skills are necessary in order to collaborate in groups, maintain peer friendships, and interact with adults. They also impact reading and writing comprehension. To be effective readers and writers, our students require the skill of understanding perspective and character traits, and the ablility to predict, infer and draw conclusions. These academic skills have their basis in social pragmatics.
The following website offer more information about Social Pragmatic Language, and strategies employed to improve the skills:
https://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/social-communication/
https://www.socialthinking.com/
https://everydayspeech.com/
https://jillkuzma.wordpress.com/
Technology
Speech Language Specialists harness the power of technology to improve communication skills. Facilitating classroom lessons, modifying and accommodating learning, and building digital citizenship are examples of how technology is infused in learning during therapy sessions, or in consultation with a student’s educational team.