by admin | Mar 14, 2016 | news
I often get calls from mothers who are concerned that their children don't talk enough but aren't sure how much they should talk. I always try to reassure them that all children are different and have their own pace but I also explain that there are certain parameters that can guide them to make sure everything is going well:
1) At the age of one year the child should understand at least 50 words and in the expressive area say 1 to 3 words.
2) At 18 months you should understand at least 200 words and say 20 to 50 words.
3) At two years should comprise 500 words, express at least 50 and also start the productions of two words.
If your child is a healthy child, without any health condition that affects his or her language and you consider that he or she does not have these characteristics, there may be some factor that is interfering with his or her correct development and evaluation by a professional is recommended. In an upcoming article I will delve into some other developmental milestones that must also be present in every age range and are important to let us know if something is wrong. Remember that early intervention is more successful than late diagnosis.
by admin | Mar 10, 2016 | news
I have found in the consultation, especially in those home visits, that many times parents have difficulty finding appropriate toys that promote the development of language and speech in our children.
Early language proficiency correlates with later development of reading, writing, and critical thinking skills. Parents are primarily responsible for observing our children and knowing if they are progressing adequately in their ability to express feelings, understand social situations, solve problems and make good decisions, etc. so it is always good to know what to expect from our children in terms of language. From the baby's babbling, the toddler's first words, the preschooler's short phrases to the storytelling of older children.
These areas are stimulated and developed through play. That's our children's job and we must give them the tools they need to do it successfully. Speech therapists can help parents with the selection of toys in order to make better use of them, improve the quality of play and the reproduction of their children's experiences.
Parents often get carried away by advertising and buy our children many toys that entertain them but do not promote speech. That's why my recommendation is to provide your child with toys that promote talking and role play, such as people, animals, puppets, vehicles, houses, farms that help simulation games, promote social interaction, imitations of sounds, words and dialogues.
I leave you with a list of characteristics that according to the renowned American phonoaudiologist Sherry Artemenko, winner of the PAL (Play Advances Language) award, parents should look for in their children's toys if they want to stimulate the development of language and speech:
- Provides numerous opportunities to describe multi-sensory characteristics for the child.
- Offers faces and characters to encourage conversation.
- Provides flexibility, you can use the toy in a variety of ways.
- Encourages interaction, dialogue and storytelling.
- Contains related accessories to promote the simulation game.
- Encourages imagination and creativity.
- Teaches specific language concepts through play.
- Develops pragmatic social and language skills.
- Provides entertaining, easy-to-tell stories with eye-catching illustrations.
- Promotes pre-literacy, rhyming, new vocabulary, etc.
- Provides the opportunity to teach critical thinking skills such as comparison/contrast, inference and prediction.
- Invites dialogue on issues that promote character formation of the child.
Remember that it is not necessary to fill children with so many meaningless toys and that children want to share their experiences with you. You are the best stimulation for your little ones.
by admin | Mar 4, 2016 | news
In recent years we have been bombarded by various places dedicated to the early stimulation of our children through reading, writing and even numbers. Many of these approaches are positive for a child's development, yet the benefits of singing have sometimes been neglected. Parents should sing to their children every day. This interaction has been shown to avoid delays in language development. Singing lullabies to infants and toddlers is very much like talking. Each lullaby carries implicit melodies and inflections from the mother tongue, preparing the child's ear and brain for language. It has also been shown that singing activates both hemispheres of the brain. It has also been discovered that children's response to recorded music is very different from music that comes directly from their parents as singing with their parents becomes reciprocal communication precursor to oral communication.
So let's sing moms and dads!
by admin | Jan 31, 2014 | news
The best toys to stimulate language development are those that encourage exchanges in contexts that are meaningful to your child. Recreating the immediate world through play is fundamental to developing proper communication.
No toys on this list are specifically designed to teach vocabulary and are toys that your child probably already has.
It is important to take into account certain characteristics when we go to choose a toy so that in addition to entertaining the child, helps him in his development process.
Keep in mind that the toy is versatile, that is, it can be used in a variety of ways and during different stages of a child's development.
Also that they relate to meaningful and familiar experiences for your child (i.e., that everyday actions such as feeding, bathing, dressing can be reproduced).
They also help social interaction, i.e. toys that are fun to play with other children or parents.
Some examples:
Mr. Papa's face:
There are a variety of opportunities to work on the language with this toy as it includes many accessories. You can work on body parts, clothes, emotions, etc.
Blocks: blocks stimulate creativity and imagination. The child who plays with blocks reinforces symbolic play, sizes, shapes, colors, and problem solving, among others.
Casa de Muñecas /La Granja:ideal games to build imaginary scenarios (feed, build, clean) to work onomatopoeia, semantic fields, functionality of objects.
Musical Instruments: Music is excellent for the development of many areas of the brain that are directly involved in language development. It is excellent for the development of auditory discrimination, prosody, fine motor, coordination, creativity, imagination etc.
Board Games: with games such as Memory, Pictionary, Monopoly you can work taking turns, sequences, memory, problem solving, quantity concepts, etc.
These are just a few examples of the benefits you can get with accessible toys, many can even make them at home with waste material and as a family project. Remember that the important thing is not whether it is an expensive or exclusive toy but functional and fun.
Lic.RocioVargas Moya
Terapeuta del Lenguaje
by admin | Jan 28, 2014 | news
Children must be stimulated in all areas of development, a fundamental area is language. I share some examples of activities you can do at home to encourage proper development and enhance your child's communication skills:
1. Talk to him or her, looking him or her in the eye, and reinforce emotions to encourage the expression of feelings.
2. Encourage a positive communicative environment. A place where turn taking is spoken correctly, clearly and respected. Call things by name, describe their appearance and functionality.
3. When they come out, describe the activities they do. For example, if you go shopping tell your child what you are going to buy, if you go by car describe the landscape, if you are cooking ask your child for help.
4. Encourage the child to communicate even if not verbally. It is important to develop your communicative intention.
5. Tell him stories. If possible with large drawings, plates, sounds, 3D.
6. Encourage symbolic play. With objects that provide opportunities for creativity such as legos, blocks.
7. Encourage role-playing: puppets, casitas, professions, trades. 8. Encourage the use of onomatopoeia games through concrete objects.
9. Listen to songs and repeat them. The children enjoy music very much.
10. Try not to encode or "guess" what the child is trying to communicate with gestures, instead construct the correct statement and try to get the child to reproduce it but without creating pressure.
11. Try not to correct the child when he or she makes a mistake, but instead repeat the phrase in the correct way.
12. Do not try to correct errors in the different sounds of language because each sound is acquired at different ages.
Remember that if you notice a delay in language development contact a specialist, do not try to correct the errors yourself. the earlier the intervention starts the better the prognosis of recovery.
