Product Spotlight: Preschool Make A Book

As you know we are always looking for quality materials we can use in speech therapy. We love this idea from Mojo Publications:

Preschool Make A Book is an activity program geared to clients in the developing phase of language who present with delay or disorder. The book is composed of ten units, each containing  a 4-episode picture sequence. You can use the pictures to make beautiful and versatile mini books by cutting/gluing or folding the pictures. At the bottom of each picture, write your target (based on your goals). 

There are three steps: 1. Choose your pictures 2. Choose your targets 3. Make a book. Here is a finished one that I made by cutting and gluing.

You can write just about anything under these pictures. They can be simple (single vocabulary) or more complex (complete sentences with pronouns, verb tense, etc). You can even use these pictures with your clients who have autism and need more of a social story.

I developed this product when I saw a need for speech therapy products to look a little more modern and fun. I wanted to create something that look distinctive but approachable, to be open and versatile yet simple to execute in therapy and at home. Preschool Make A Book is based on an activity I often chose when working with preschoolers, and I am very proud of how it turned out.

Please check out my website www.mojopublications.ca You can download an ebook or purchase a hard copy (which comes with the free ebook). For a limited time, there is a 15% discount. Just type 15%PMAB at checkout. 

Elissa Benjamin

What to expect from your first speech therapy visit

The other day I was approached by a parent whose daughter had been referred by their Health Visitor to Speech and Language Therapy. This parent came across very anxious as she did not know what to expect, or exactly why her daughter had been referred. It then occurred to me that health professionals i.e.  a  SLT, Health Visitor, Audiologist, GP etc; need to bear in mind what it must be like for parents coming to our appointments.

With this in mind I would like to take the opportunity to let you know what to typically expect from your SLT appointment. However, it must be noted that SLT services vary across the UK, and between independent and NHS services. For instance, we at Small Talk SLT Ltd; prefer to see children in their homes as this is where they are most comfortable and relaxed.

A referral may have been made by your Health Visitor, GP or Teacher; or in some instances parents themselves may request a referral through their GP or Health Visitor due to concerns regarding their child’s speech, language and communication. You may have to wait some time for your initial appointment; however if seen by an Independent Therapist children are typically seen very quickly.

So what happens at this initial appointment?

Case History: typically a SLT will take a thorough case history of your child’s development e.g. when they first sat upright, crawled, walked etc; the ages they were when they first said their first word. They may enquire about any eating or swallowing difficulties, hearing tests or any difficulties encountered during pregnancy or birth etc. All of which provides an SLT with a holistic view of your child’s development.

Listen to parents concerns: a SLT will typically allow you time to explain any concerns you may have about your child. Or, explain why your child has received this referral e.g. his teacher is concerned about the production of his speech sounds; ‘k’ and ‘g’. Etc.

Assessment: the SLT will then carry out a range of assessments. Some of which may be informal, and can appear as though they are playing games with your child; or they may be more formal e.g. sitting at a table with a book and score sheet. The approach taken all depends on what your concerns are, what the child’s difficulty is, and their age and level of attention. Often, the SLT may need to further observe your child in another setting e.g. school, or home.

So for example, at Small Talk SLT Ltd, if we receive a referral for a child under the age of Five Years. We will make an appointment to see them at home, take a case history from the parents then spend time with your child to build a rapport and observe them in their home setting. We will then carry out any necessary assessments. The areas we are typically looking at are illustrated in the diagram; building blocks to language....

Attention & listening skills are the foundation blocks to your child’s language development. The ability to ‘listen’ and ‘look’ appropriately, and learn to focus their attention will form the basis of all learning. A child’s development of attention is sequential, a SLT will typically use a framework developed by Reynell (1977) to describe a child’s stage of development of attention control.

Play is a good indicator of a child’s general development e.g. physically, cognitively and sensory. It also provides an SLT with an indication of what symbolic level the child is at. Play is also an excellent way to assess and build a rapport with a child; then play can be used during therapy especially with under fives. How else would you motivate them?

Understanding (receptive language) is the ability to understand what someone communicates, either through sound (auditory), or visually (reading and interpretation of sign). A child’s receptive language skills can be affected by poor attention and listening skills. A child with difficulties in this area may have poor auditory memory, poor concept development, poor vocabulary, poor reasoning skills, difficulties with auditory discrimination, difficulty with interpreting complex grammar communicated by others, poor sequencing skills; and so on.

Talking (expressive language) is the ability to formulate a message into words and sentences; which can be spoken, written or signed. A child’s expressive language skills can be affected by their level of understanding e.g. poor vocabulary and concept development can affect how a child expresses what they did at school today. Speech production difficulties, a limited opportunity to communicate, lack of confidence, and motivation can also effect a child’s expressive language.

Speech Sounds, the physical production of sounds e.g. p, t k, d etc. are the ‘cherry on the cake’. The child’s ability to produce speech sounds are affected by the previous language levels; and, or physical difficulties e.g. cleft palate.

An assessment at each level will determine where a child’s therapy needs to target. For example, a child may be refereed due to poor intelligibility. However, assessment reveals that he has a very poor level of understanding. Therefore this area would be targeted first.

If you are worried about your child please see www.private-speech-therapy.co.uk

Georgina White

Been busy

We've not posted in a while as we've been so busy this month that we haven't had time to write about it! What have we been doing? Well........

• Weekly Targeted sessions in nurseries and children's centres in Stafford, South Staffs, Lichfield, Burntwood, East Staffs and Tamworth areas
• Universal sessions in Children's Centres in Lichfield, Burntwood, East Staffs and Tamworth including Chatter Tots, Stories and Songs and Baby Talkers
• Bookstart in Stafford for families of toddlers 12m to 3 years
• Early Words Together in South Staffs, Lichfield and Burntwood. This is a new project from the National Literacy Trust for families of children aged 2 -5 years
• The Transition project in Tamworth: a really exciting initiative to help children and families plus network with nurseries and schools
• Various specialist assessments and reports for second opinions and tribunals
• Assessing children for a new channel 4 programme by Maverick TV called 'Born this way?'
• Specialist assessment and therapy in a secure mental health unit
• Individual and group therapy sessions in schools, children's homes and nurseries
• Therapy sessions for the LEA
• Training including Elklan 'working with under 3s' ideal for think two staff. It's accredited at level 2 or 3. We've also been running signing workshops and practical sessions on developing language through play in local nurseries.
• Plus taken on 20 new referrals in March

Erm... I think that's all!

Thank you very much to the team for all their hard work and dedication

We'll update progress on each shortly!

The confusing terminology used by speech and language therapists, hopefully will become clear.....

I am always conscious of the terminology we, as speech and language therapists use when talking to other professionals and parents, and those terms that we use in our reports. To us, after 3-4 years of training these terms become second nature; and sometimes we can forget that the words we use can seem a little confusing to say the least. So I thought I would define some commonly used words and terms used by speech and language therapists. But first, maybe it would be useful to know what speech and language therapy is, what we do, where we work, with whom we work etc.

Speech and Language Therapy is used to help people that have speech, language, and communication difficulties; it can also be used to help people who have difficulties swallowing, eating and drinking.

The role of a Speech and Language Therapist, or commonly used term SLT, or even SALT within a hospital environment, is to assess and treat speech, language and communication problems in adults and children. With the desired outcome that individuals will communicate to the best of their ability. They may also work with people who have eating and swallowing difficulties.

What type of difficulties will a SLT come across?

•       difficulty in producing and using speech

•       difficulty understanding language

•       difficulty using language

•       difficulty with feeding, chewing or swallowing

•       a stammer

•       a voice problem

Where do SLT’s work?

•       Schools (mainstream & special schools)

•       Hospitals (inpatients & outpatients)

•       Clinics/community health centers

•       Clients homes

•       Hospices

•       Sheltered accommodation

•       Prisons, young offenders institutes

•       Courts, as a intermediary

•       Mental healthcare settings

•       Private/independent practice

•       Assessment units & day centers

What type of work does an SLT do?

•       work directly with children & adults e.g. using games and interactive learning; carrying out exercises e.g. speech exercises, breathing exercises etc.

•       provide clients with work to carry out at home

•       work with children & adults with similar difficulties in a small group

•       provide clients with relevant resources & information

•       provide clients with relevant contacts and support with other professionals, co-workers, support groups etc.

•       an SLT will also endeavor to provide clients and their parents or carers with emotional support and appropriate skills to help them on a daily basis.

•       a large part of a SLT’s role involves working closely with others e.g. teachers, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, doctors, nurses, GP’s, psychologists, health visitors, social workers , orthodontists/dentists, dieticians,  audiologists, politicians/government, other SLT’s i.e. team work.

Ok, so what about some of those terms we use, what do they mean?

Attention and Listening is the foundation to all learning. Children must practice, and learn to ‘listen’ and ‘look’ appropriately to control their own focus of attention. The ability to listen and concentrate is an important part of all children’s speech, language and communication development. It is so important to encourage and develop ‘good’ attention and listening skills for all children; especially those that have difficulties in speech and/or language development.

Communication is the exchange of information between two or more people; using verbal and non-verbal means.

Language takes the form of two parts; receptive language is the ability to understand what someone communicates, either through sound (auditory), or visually (reading and interpretation of sign). Expressive language is the ability to formulate a message into words and sentences; which can be spoken, written or signed.

Non-verbal communication (NVC) is the process of communication through sending and receiving wordless messages. For example, your facial expressions, gestures, tone of voice etc. can all convey meaning to our listeners i.e. about how we are feeling; without actually using words. NVC, is influenced by culture and society, and is shaped by experience, observation and practice.

Phonology is the sound system of a language, and the rules for combining these sounds to produce meaningful units of speech.

Play, why do SLT’s look at this? Symbolic play skills are important for language development. It is a lovely way for children to learn about communication, language and other people. A child’s play skills can help to aid a diagnosis, and is the best way to implement therapy as it is fun and interactive!

Pragmatics/social skills refer to the ‘rules’ of language in social situations. It includes the speaker-listener relationship, the context, and the intentions of the communication. Therefore, speech and language are not the only components important for effective communication.

Social interaction skills include:

·         appropriate eye contact,

·         ability to listen,

·          ability to express ourselves,

·          ability to take turns,

·         ability to process what others are saying,

·         ability to initiate a conversation,

·         ability to maintain a conversation

·         ability to close a conversation appropriately,

·         awareness of a listeners feelings,

·         an awareness of the impact of what you are saying on others

·         the use of appropriate gesture, and the ability to understand it

·         the use of appropriate facial expressions, and the ability to understand them

·         ability to understand the intent of the communication, not just the literal interpretation

·         ability to be flexible in using and adapting language in a particular context

Phew, amazing isn’t it? All these things we do all day everyday; and we quite often take it for granted! So how do we do it? Well, all these social interaction skills are culturally determined, and learned through observation, trial and error, and life experience!!

Semantics is the meaning behind the language that is transmitted by words, phrases and sentences.

Speech is the physical production of sounds e.g. p, t k, d etc.

There may be more terms that you have probably heard used by professionals but I hope this clarifies some things for you. My advice would be, if you’re with a professional i.e. doctor, dentist, teacher, SLT etc; and they are using words you find confusing don’t be afraid to stop and ask them what they mean. Sometimes we can forget how ambiguous we can be!

Georgina White

Speech Therapy transforms lives

We  need to be shouting about this. No-one else can do what we do. Have a look at this from some de Montford students who are saying that their way....

Do you want to win an ipad?

www.slworldbulletin.com Closing date midnight 31/10/12

Double competition time!!

   

Be in with a chance of winning a year's subscription to S &  L World: the global bulletin from SLT/P by commenting below.


The August issue is out and is full of news, articles and features all about our favourite topic!The on-line magazine comes out 4 times a year. It's an excellent CPD opportunity.

We are happy to include any of your news, examples of good practice, things you found useful (or those you would never repeat!), articles, success stories and features. I am always looking for interesting personal stories or people to interview too.

It's the best job in the world so let's come together to share what we are doing!

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Speech Therapists/Pathologists: Have you got something to share?

S & L World:the global bulletin for our profession is a forum for sharing news, good practise, reviews, success stories, 'I wouldn't do that again in a million years' tales or anything else you think would be of interest to fellow professionals.


We are such a small profession we need to come together. We are a dynamic, fantastic group of professionals but it's often easy to forget that.


If you have anything you'd like to share please get in touch either editor@slworldbulletin.com or info@smalltalk-ltd.co.uk.


The dead line for the next issue is 15th July (I do have some room for manoeuvre if you need it) so please let me know. 

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What does a speech and language therapist do?

I've just read a post on Netmums asking for advice about a 2 year old. He has been referred to speech therapy but she doesn't think it's a good move because he doesn't talk. There were similar stories on there with many replies from well meaning mums trying to make her feel better but with a  recurrent theme of total misconception of the role of a speech and language therapist. Unfortunately, when I tried to post to explain the moderator removed my post as 'advertising'.

The consensus of opinion was that Speech and language (SLTs to help my typing rate!) DID speech work in a session, a bit like a physio session where they work your muscles maybe. They didn't seem to think they had any role apart from taking the child along. So..... let's see what we can briefly do to explain.

We work with children and adults who have problems communicating. That may be a speech difficulty so that just the person's sounds are the problem, a language issue so that the person's understanding or ability to say words, phrases or sentences is affected or it may be an interaction difficulty. We do not just work with speech sound problems.

When your young child has a problem the SLT will always want to see what the foundation skills are like. The diagram below shows what I mean:

The SLT will look at all these things before deciding on a course of action.

Whatever the problem, the parent is the key in helping the child so that helping the parent fully understand the issues involved and then showing them HOW they can work on the issues in everyday, real situations is the crux of any therapy.

We have designed a 10 week programme with Chuckle Productions to demonstrate what they can do at home to help their children's communication. Parents often say they are too busy but we aim to show them how they can turn every activity into a communication activity. How many times a day do we change a nappy? 5,6 more? So that's 6 potential communication opportunities! We have been commissioned by the adult education dept and will pilot it and write it up.

Functional communication will always be the aim for children who are not talking. This is to help the child understand situations and to be able to tell us what they want etc. This may be to encourage pointing, using pictures/symbols or signing. Usually, if you give a child an alternative way to communicate it relieves the pressure and they often make progress with spoken language.

So if your SLT seems to be asking a lot of questions and then just 'playing' with your child in the first session, don't worry she is using all her training, expertise and professional judgement to work out what best for your little one.

If you are worried about your child, have a look at this progress checker http://www.talkingpoint.org.uk/Parent/Directory/Progress-Checker.aspx
and if you are still worried seek advice from your local SLT. For NHS services use google, for private www.helpwithtalking.com

www.private-speech-therapy.co.uk

Is my child with ASD too young for therapy?

This is a contentious issue with many Speech Therapy Departments not seeing youngsters until 3 years of age. I came across the report of an American study which  shows that children with autistic spectrum disorder appear to benefit from early, intensive therapy to improve their social and communication skills.

"It's important for children with autism to begin treatment as soon as possible," Micah Mazurek, assistant professor in the School of Health Professions and the Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders at the University of Missouri. said, "The more intense or comprehensive the therapy, the better it is in terms of helping children improve social and communication skills."

People with an autism spectrum disorder have problems understanding, interacting and relating to others. For the study, researchers measured 15 social-communication skills of more than 1,000 autistic children and teenagers, including facial expressions, gestures, language comprehension, sharing enjoyment and appropriate social responses.

Although 95 percent of the kids showed improvement in these skills over time, the study found that those who received behavioral, speech and occupational therapy had better results.

Moreover, the children who received more intensive treatment at a younger age showed the most improvement in their social-communication abilities, the researchers said. Those with higher nonverbal IQs had the best response to therapy, they found.

"With regard to social-communicative symptom severity, our study reveals that it is not IQ alone that contributes to improvements over time," said Mazurek. "Instead, having a higher IQ may allow children to make greater gains in various types of treatments." The results also indicate a need to develop alternative treatment approaches for children with intellectual impairments, Mazurek added. The study concluded that targeted, intensive treatments may be most successful in improving specific skills among autistic children.

The study will be published in the next issue of Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders .

Related articles

• Children with autism benefit from early, intensive therapy (esciencenews.com)
• Children with autism benefit from early, intensive therapy (eurekalert.org)
• Early, Intensive Therapy Helps Children With Autism (medicalnewstoday.com)

Keep your speech therapy/pathology CPD up to date: Sign up today to receive the second edition of S & L World: the global bulletin for Speech Therapy/Pathology

We have just finished the April issue of the quarterly on-line magazine and it is jam packed with interesting news, articles, reports and information. We could call it the 'technology issue' as several of the entries are to do with ipads, social media and use of the internet. Never has speech and language therapy been so involved with the world of technology or had to keep up with its advances as today.

Rebecca Bright gives an overview of available apps while Barbara Fernandez looks at using apps for articulation therapy. Regarding social media, we have an article by Deb Taylor Tomarakos about the use of Facebook by SLT/SLP, an interesting piece about using Twitter as essential to CPD: the key to continued professional success by Tanya Coyle and Shareka Bentham and I have written a short insert about blogging.

Moving away from the techno advancements are contributions by Vladan Plecevic and Igor Buzganovic   about verbal memory deficiencies of children with speech - language disorders, coping with difficult patients or co-workers by Stephanie Staples,  a telepractic model By Kimberly Murphy and Cued Articulation by Adrienne Bamberger.

We also have an interview with Helen Barrett, currently working in Uganda and a thought provoking quote from Chad Turingan  in a new section called  ‘Have your say....’

We’ve also got book reviews this month including Caroline Bowen’s latest and Frances 
Evesham’s new kindle book.

To read the April edition you have to subscribe http://www.slworldbulletin.com/order.php 

You can still read issue 1 free from the website.

We welcome contributions for the July edition, guidelines are available to registered users on the website. Closing date is June 15^th. All advertising and reviews must be in by then. News items will be accepted until July 1^st.

I hope you enjoy reading about our exciting and fascinating international world of speech &  language! I’d appreciate any feedback you may have.

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Guidelines for contributors to S & L World:the global bulletin for SLT/SLP

S & L World welcomes letters, news items and features/articles

How to submit your contribution:  E-mail articles to editor@slworldbulletin.com Please  submit email as Word attachments, together with a brief biography and suggestions for visuals. If you are using quotations, identify the sources and give full information for references.

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Half of boys aren't ready for school and they're not catching up

This article caught my eye today, the research featured backs up another London University study which showed that poor language skills at aged 7 was a good predictor of later socio-economic well being... a very scary but real link! This one associates it with an even more blighted future too:

By Stephen Adams 6:30AM GMT 11 Feb 2011 The Daily Telegraph

Statistics from the Department for Education show that 53 per cent of boys have not reached a "good level of development" by five, compared to 35 per cent of girls. Combined, the figure is 44 per cent.

Children are assessed by teachers to see if they can carry out basic skills like writing their name and reciting letters of the alphabet.

Yesterday, a leading public health adviser warned that the life-long impact of failing to reach this earliest of grades was "horrendous".

Sir Michael Marmot, professor of public health at University College London, said: "Only about 50 per cent of children are rated by their teachers as having achieved a good level of development by the age of five.

"You know what that means? Poorer level of early school development; poorer performance at every school stage; lower status; living in a poor area.

"It all starts at the beginning of life and works through the life course. This is horrendous really."

Those who failed at school also tend to live shorter lives that are blighted earlier by disability.

A year ago Sir Michael unveiled a review, called Fair Society, Healthy Lives, into how to even out the differences in people's health across geographical areas and social classes.

Giving pre-school children "the best start in life" was the highest priority recommendation, as targeting them has the biggest effect.

Sir Michael proposed increasing spending on this age group with measures such as "more parenting support programmes, a well-trained early years work force and high quality early years care".

The work we are doing at Small Talk Speech & Language Therapy and Smart Talkers pre-school groups is all aimed to address these issues.  We have a comprehensive package of programmes and activities to train staff by demonstration, help parents and above all share examples of good practise to benefit the children. For more about us www.private-speech-therapy.co.uk and www.smarttalkers.org.uk.

or ring 0844 704 5888

Related articles

• Half of boys failing at school by five (telegraph.co.uk)
• Pre-schoolers 'still ahead at 15' (bbc.co.uk)
• Almost half of boys falling behind in school at five, research reveals (dailymail.co.uk)
• Child development concerns raised (bbc.co.uk)
• 60% of poorest children fail to reach good level of behaviour, says study (guardian.co.uk)

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