The Powers of Play In Speech Therapy: How child led speech therapy can benefit your child!
At Bud to Bloom Play Therapy, we know that communicating with your little one can be challenging! You may ask yourself “why is my child having a tantrum?” or “Is my child hitting the right stages of early childhood development?” If your child is neurodivergent or nonspeaking, things can be even more challenging to interpret.
We teamed up with speech and language pathologist, Lindsey Schucker to discuss communication, speech and language therapy for children and how it can help!
Let’s dive in!
How do children communicate?
While children are growing, they learn many ways to communicate. Beyond spoken language, children communicate using gestures, actions, vocalizations, eye contact, and facial expressions. For children who are nonspeaking, not always able to access their voice, and/or who are learning language, there are many forms of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) available today that can provide access to language!
How can parents support communication?
Play is the perfect way to support children who are developing communication, because children are motivated to play, and it is a "whole brain" activity. When children work on learning language through play, they are able to connect real-world objects, actions, and emotions to the words that symbolize them. This makes language meaningful and easier to use in situations outside of therapy.
Parents can support their child's communication development by responding to ALL forms of communication, not just spoken words. When we acknowledge a child's communication, we are letting them know that we understand them and that they matter. Additionally, when children see the value of their communication, they are motivated to communicate more frequently.
Demonstrating language is also a strong tool for children to observe and engage with. If your child uses an AAC, modeling communication with it helps your child too!
How can language development impact behavior?
Without words, behavior speaks. If your child is still learning how to communicate with words, their behavior is their best tool to get their point across. When a child does not feel understood, they are more likely to become frustrated and act out in an attempt to get their message across.
If you notice this happening, and you are unsure what your child is upset about, make an educated guess about what they are trying to say and respond by acknowledging and helping to solve the problem that is causing frustration.
Demonstrate the language for the child using whatever modality works best for them (spoken language, sign language, or AAC). Something like, “Your body language and loud voice are telling me you are frustrated. It’s ok to feel this way! Let me see if I can help.” This gives the child an opportunity to learn the language they can use to communicate about their problem in the future.
What should parents know about nonverbal and alternative communication cues?
It is important to respond to ALL communication signals, no matter how subtle. If you are not sure exactly what your child is trying to communicate, or if they are trying to communicate at all, it is best to assume the child has something to share. Make an educated guess about what they are trying to say, and respond as if you are correct.
If you really have no clue what they are trying to say, even a simple "Ok" or "I see," or 'Mmm hmm, tell me more" is helpful to show that you are listening and that their communication matters. It is important that you respect a child's right to communicate independently. Do not ask them to communicate in a specific way before you respond. This devalues the child's communication, and can make them depend on your communication in order to respond. It could also delay language development.
How can parents help kids express their emotions at home?
One of the best ways to encourage emotional expression is through play, especially pretend play. While playing, a child will often create characters to explore the themes and emotions that they are currently trying to understand.
When you follow their lead and join in their play, you can figure out what emotions they are managing and help give them the language to talk. You can add your own characters, ideas, and emotions to play to introduce new themes for your child to experience.
Parents can work on building emotional vocabulary throughout a child's day by talking about their own emotions, and asking questions or making observations about the child's emotions.
Visuals can be useful to help children match a visual representation of a feeling to the word that describes it. However, for a child to develop a deep understanding of an emotion, the language must be tied to an experience, not just learned in isolation.
“When is speech delay a concern?” and how to know you should consider extra support?
Any time a parent has a concern about their child's development, they should seek support. Your first line of defense is your pediatrician, who can help guide you to determine whether or not there may be a need for further evaluation.
If a child is not saying single words by around 1 year old, or combining 2-3 words by around 2 years old, it is time to seek an evaluation with a speech-language pathologist. Additionally, if you notice that a child has difficulty engaging with other people, either adults or other children, you may want to consider having your child evaluated.
In terms of speech - the physical production of words - if your child is particularly difficult to understand, or sounds like they "have an accent" compared to their peers, you should have them evaluated by a speech-language pathologist.
How can play therapy and speech therapy work together?
Play and language therapy work beautifully together! Play-based interactions can help the child to develop skills that typically come before language like engagement, attention, and sustained back and forth interactions.
As the child progresses, child-led, play-based therapy also allows the child to develop their own ideas, figure out how to carry out their ideas, think logically, and problem-solve. In this way, language, cognition, and emotional wellbeing can grow together.
All therapies rely on motivation. With developmental, play-based therapy, the motivation is intrinsic, or within the child, and comes from allowing the child to explore their own interests. These activities create shared pleasurable experiences that provide the context for learning.
When language is learned through meaningful contexts and authentic connection, the child is making true developmental progress, and the skills they learn will transfer to other settings effortlessly.
A bit more about Lindsey!
Lindsey has been a speech-language pathologist for 17 years. She specializes in Autism and play-based, child-led developmental therapy. When she started out, she was using traditional therapy methods, but not seeing the progress she’d hoped for. Her clients had trouble utilizing the skills they were building outside of the therapeutic space. When she discovered child-led, play based therapy, that changed. Her clients began to make authentic growth because this is a therapy that supports child development from the foundation up.
She then began her company, Child-Led Language, to educate parents and other therapists about developmental, child-led therapy. She has written a book, called "Games to Connect," that outlines the foundations for language development and is packed with strategies and activities that both parents and therapists can use to build these skills.
Wanting to learn more about the benefits of play-based speech therapy in St. Louis?
If you want to learn more about our incredible co-author Lindsey, you can follow her on Facebook at Child-Led Language, you can check out her free quick-start guide at www.childledlanguage.com, or you can send her an email at lindsey@childledlanguage.com. She would love to connect with you!
She is also preparing to launch a 6-week online parent coaching program that includes:
*Weekly on-demand webinars
*Weekly homework
*Weekly online group coaching sessions
*Private Facebook Community
*Option to purchase additional 1:1 coaching sessions tailored to individual needs
*Rolling enrollment
Learn more at her website!
