Building blocks to language

A recent post about last month's Hello campaign, looked at the hidden parts of language learning, the building blocks to successful communication. Sometimes when a child has been referred because he's not talking, a parent can't understand why we're not working on their speech. We play posting games, sing songs, blow bubbles, maybe use the parachute and have snack-time to work on the foundations for language. The diagram above illustrates the 'pyramid' and the priority order.




I have others who are desperate for the therapists to work on their sounds but the level of the child's language and communication isn't sufficient to be able to do this, as their understanding and expressive language needs to develop first. A student recently asked me why, when the child's speech sounds were so bad was I not working on them and again, I showed her the pyramid to help explain.


There is much more on this for parents looking for ideas in Frances Evesham's kindle book,'How to help your child talk and grow smarter', available at Amazon.

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Teachers... is your voice strong enough?

As children's attention levels are deteriorating, class teachers have to spend more time re-directing and refocusing..... how? By talking louder than the hum of the noise generated by children who are also talking. To be able to do this they need to be able to project their voices rather than shout. When I was at University the lecturer on voice problems taught us rapidly and simply to be able to do this. Consequently, I can talk all day and didn't need a mike when I used to teach aerobics. The techniques she showed us were easy and took 3 sessions.


Speech & Language therapists, however, don't actually have to project their voices over noise all day like teachers do, yet how many teacher training courses include voice projection or how to look after your voice? Their voice IS the tool of their trade. Last year a teacher received thousands in compensation for losing her voice, and thereby her source of income, but I don't now any schools who have invested money into training so it doesn't happen in their school. There will be at least one teacher in every school who has trouble with their 'throat' or voice and all would benefit from being shown good practise.


The Speech & Language Therapists at Kerry PCT have put together a short video which you may find helpful http://youtube/jExkenbRm2c

For further details of good practise or to arrange training for your school info@smalltalk-ltd.co.uk
www.private-speech-therapy.co.uk

How much TV should my pre-schooler watch?

The Hello campaign to mark 2011 national year of communication aims to help educate parents to optimise their children's speech, language and communication skills. They aim to dispel some of the myths and clarify what we should be doing. TV is a topic that's often discussed but how much should they watch, what should we be letting them watch and how should they be watching? These are all questions to which parents need the answers.


To help parents plan their involvement the Hello Campaign advises:
1. If you let your child watch TV, watch it with them (as much as possible). It would be unrealistic to say always as there will be times when you can't.
2. It is really important to always remember that children need quiet time where you turn off background noise and have time just to play. This is really important for listening and language development.
3. When you do watch programmes make sure they are at the right level for your child – not too  complicated or aimed at older children. There's no point them watching adult programmes such as soaps or day-time TV. (CBeebies for example is good for 2-4 year olds)
4. Have fun and encourage your child to really engage with the programme.  Join in with your child if there are familiar songs or rhymes– each episode of Raa Raa The Noisy Lion includes the 4 R’s (Rhyme, Rhythm, Repetition and Retelling), which provides a good opportunity for you to participate with your child.
5. Make TV time ‘communication’ time. Briefly comment on what is happening in a programme to spark off a conversation or highlight something that is happening i.e. ‘Look at Raa Raa – he’s hiding’.
6. Be sure to answer any questions children may ask – they might have lots! And talk about the programme afterwards – which bit they liked best and why. Tell them what you think.
7. Pretend games are fantastic for children’s language and communication development. Why not make believe you are in a Jungle - make a den with an old blanket across a couple of chairs, use soft toys as the animals. You could even act out one of the adventures from shows like Raa Raa The Noisy Lion that you have just watched with your child adding in their imagination to create a whole new story.
8. Remember not to put pressure on your children and give them the opportunity to communicate with you. Get down to their level and give them time to listen as well as talk.
9. The most important thing for children is adults who listen and talk with them, alongside stimulating experiences and materials that give them opportunities to interact and play. Too much TV can get in the way of this, so it is important to try and get the right balance.
10. If you at all concerned about your child’s communication development, log onto www.talkingpoint.org.uk or www.private-speech-therapy.co.uk

Remember there so many more important things you can do with your child: play, sings songs and rhymes, read together, rough and tumble, run around in the garden, go for a walk, visit the park.... the list is endless. When you look back at your own childhood these are the things you remember, not sitting alone watching TV I bet! Give your child their own happy memories of time with you! No one on their death bed says 'I wish I had let my child watch more TV' but countless might regret not spending quality time with their them. They grow up so fast and you only get one chance!

Related articles

• Appropriate TV Viewing for Young Children (telewatcher.com)
• Parents 'using TV as babysitter' (bbc.co.uk)
• Noisy homes hinder 'language' development: Ofsted report (arabizi.wordpress.com)

Versatile Blogger

My good friend Kim Nash has passed me the Versatile Blogger badge which means I have to tell you 7 things about me that you might not know: I'm not going to spend ages working out clever, contrived, unusual quips (I'm not any of those things) so off the top of my head, here goes.......


1. I'm almost always cheerful (irritating I know!)
2. I think everything I've ever done  has been a worthwhile experience which has later come in handy (well... apart from cleaning pub toilets in Tottenham)
3. I used to sell sheds for a living!
4. I have 2 children and 4 step children
5. I am a qualified exercise to music and gym teacher
6. I moved to the Midlands in 1988 for a job thinking I'd stay 3 years... I'm still here
7. My partner is my first boyfriend who I first went out with aged 11 years!


I'm passing it on to the following inspirational ladies:


Helen Jessop at http://jessiescrazykitchen.blogspot.com/

Frances Evesham http://speechcontacts.blogspot.com/

Kate Beddow http://katebeddow.wordpress.com/2011/05/03/hello-world/

Jessica Charles http://stressolutions1.blogspot.com/

Are children being mis-diagnosed with ASD?

Anyone who knows me well will acknowledge that I get very cross when children are labelled as 'autistic' without a thorough multi-disciplinary assessment. One of the reasons for this, is that there are other issues which lead to children not communicating or not wanting to interact. A language related problem may be the reason or even a delay in all the child's abilities. It was with interest, therefore, that I read about an American study which showed a high incidence of mis-diagnosis in children who were born prematurely as it backs up my idea of gaining ALL the facts before giving the child what is after all, a label for life.


Researchers, led by pediatrician Bonnie E. Stephens, MD, FAAP, and assistant professor of pediatrics at Brown University’s Alpert School of Medicine, hypothesised that many formerly premature infants who screen positive for ASD at 18 months do not have ASD but are having failing scores due to a cognitive or language delay, which is common in 18-month-olds who have been born very prematurely.


For the study, researchers sought to determine the rate of false-positive screens for ASD taken at 18 and 30 months of age and to determine the connection between a positive screen and cognitive and language delay.Stephens and her colleagues are hoping to get funding to support a multi centre study that would include more than 500 children. “This will allow us to determine the true rate of ASD in this population, the rate of false-positive screens at 18 and 30 months, the optimal time to screen, and the optimal ASD screening tool for the extremely preterm population".


Hopefully, this will persuade professionals here to look at the wider factors involved. I want early diagnosis but I want accurate labelling!

Related articles

• Vital Signs: Screening: An Autism Questionnaire at Checkup Time (nytimes.com)
• Screening very preterm infants for autism at 18 months often inaccurate (scienceblog.com)
• Screening very preterm infants for autism at 18 months often inaccurate (medicalxpress.com)
• Screening very preterm infants for autism at 18 months often inaccurate (worldscientists.wordpress.com)
• Autism Tests for Preemies May Be Faulty, Study Suggests (nlm.nih.gov)
• Autism checklist spots warning signs in infants (cbc.ca)
• New Autism Screen for Babies (blogs.wsj.com)
• Autism checklist: What every parent must know (cbsnews.com)
• Screening very preterm infants for autism at 18 months often inaccurate (eurekalert.org)

25% of parents admit to using TV as a babysitter... I'd say that's a gross under-admission, what do you think??

The most recent Hello press release looks at TV watching survey with interesting results. The poll was carried out to mark the launch of a new programme which started yesterday for children of pre-school age – Raa Raa the Noisy Lion  – and a new ten point plan for parents on TV Time, devised by experts to mark the Hello campaign, 2011 national year of communication. We'll look at the 10 point plan in another blog post. As with any survey, people will give the answer they think they should give or the one they think you want, rather than whole-hearted truthfulness and I believe that there is an element of this which sways the results. 1000 parents of 2 - 6 year olds were approached:


Almost all of the parents (93%) let their young children watch television and contrary to popular belief, seven out of ten parents do not feel guilty about allowing their children to watch TV. Of those parents, 42% think TV is a great way for kids to learn but only 16% always watch with their kids for ‘bonding time’, with 25% using TV as a ‘babysitter’. 


I would say that the TV is used as a babysitter by a huge number as we've ALL done that at some point or other including me! As for it being educational.... it depends on the programme. It needs to be age-appropriate and meaningful and should be shared with an adult. The 54% who allow their children to watch ‘adult’ programmes, (with  Eastenders,  The X Factor and  Coronation Street  being voted the most common) surely can't believe that they are teaching the child anything?? Plus, nearly  78% of  parents’ claim the two hours their children spend watching TV each day is done alone.... 2 hours??? Most pre-schoolers I know watch far more than that!! 66% of parents don’t know the characters or storylines from the shows their kids are watching and when parents do co-view approximately  20% sit in silence with their children. Very few (15%) are using TV  programmes as a ‘conversation starter’ when the TV is turned off.


It hi-lights that parents need more information and advice on suitable TV programmes  and how to co-view with their child.  


Smart Talkers Pre-school Communication groups and Small Talk Speech & Language Therapy are supporting The Hello campaign, which aims to make children and young people’s communication development a national priority. We would recommend Raa Raa the Noisy Lion, as a quality television programme for 2-4 year olds. The new series explores children’s communication skills through the use of  Raa Raa’s 4 Rs – repetition, rhyme, rhythm and retelling.  

For more information go to www.raaraathenoisylion.com and to find out about the Hello campaign visit www.hello.org.uk.   

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I am delighted to report that we now have a readership of between 4000 and 4500 page views a month! If you have a child related educational toy, product, book or activity you would like to promote, please get in touch for advertising rates. The readership is world-wide and over the past 4 weeks is as follows:

United States 1,250 United Kingdom 1,130 France 925 Canada 105 Australia 80 India 55 Russia 51 Netherlands 50 Iran 40 Germany 36

Rest of world with less
than 30 each                                              920


We also have a team of fellow bloggers, parents, speech and language therapists /pathologists and assistants who would be happy to review books, products and materials, just get in touch!


info@smalltalk-ltd.co.uk

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