By Jacqueline Kellner-Hiczewski, M.S., CCC-SLP/NYSL, TSHH

Becoming a new parent can be overwhelming but at the same time you have now become your child’s first “teacher”.  Communication between infant and parent begins the day he/she is born.  Infants communicate their needs through cries, eye contact, and moving their little bodies (even kicking for excitement and tongue movement to practice getting ready to eat!).   As a parent myself, I have used these strategies with my son from birth and he was verbal earlier than the norm.  Many commented on his extensive vocabulary.  In saying that, each child develops at a different rate and norms are “ranges” not guarantees for development. Your child may be ahead of his/her milestones in physical development but may be below milestones in social development.  As parents, we all know this or are currently educating ourselves by reading updated materials.  This is our full time job and we know our child best.  So I am here as a “full-time” parent with my “full-time” speech-language knowledge and therapy experience to easily communicate to you, how to be your own child’s speech and language “teacher”.

In saying that, as a Speech-Language Pathologist, it should be noted that if you are at all concerned about your child’s development in any area then you should talk to your pediatrician and ask for a developmental evaluation which can be in the areas of speech-language, gross motor (large muscle movements), fine motor (small muscle movements), psycho-educational development (overall learning abilities), social development (emotional development), and/or behavioral development.

Here, I am going to provide some simple everyday activities that really revolve around your day (such as chores) and allow for natural interactions you can have with your infant that will get that little brain thinking and understanding new words from day 1!  These are simple ideas and strategies that every parent can do! Let’s face it, we need to get our work done too, so why not have your infant be a part of your activities. They are organized by direct(infant activity) contact- meaning, you do these activities with your child or indirect(your activity) contact meaning – the parent is completing their activity while the infant is within listening range.

~direct contact~

• Activity:  Bathing

Why do this? Your child will learn (understand) new words such as body parts and  textures.

What you could say:

*talk about which body part you are washing out-loud.  You can even make a silly song to it!

*talk about toys in the tub and use the words “squishy, soft, hard, rough, etc….

• Activity:  Diaper changes

Why do this?  Your child will learn words associated with diaper changes, and the order of how things are done (first, then, next, last).

What you could say:

*”First I am going to take your dirty diaper off, then use the wipes…they may feel cold….brrrr…”

*Create a diaper change song! Start with the same cue (a special phrase or even a something simple such as “diaper time”(sing this J) each time so baby begins to know it is time for a change.

• Activity:  Getting dressed

Why do this?  Your child will learn about clothing and seasonal clothes (spring, summer, fall, winter), the order of putting them on and how they are put on (on, off,  over, under).

What you could say:

· “It’s time to get you dressed, you will need a onsie, pants, and a long sleeve shirt.  It is

very cold out!  First let’s put your onsie on (take this opportunity to play peek-a-boo, especially if the infant does not enjoy something over his/her head), great job…we did it!, Now for your pants, one foot, now the other foot, up to your tummy…..  etc….”

These are just some ideas to have that “direct contact” using your language skills to “teach” your infant about language.

~indirect contact~

• Activity:  Cooking dinner ( I always placed my child in their bouncy seat,” bumbo” chair)

Why do this?  Your child will learn about food names, kitchen items, where things go (in/out, etc.)

What you could say:

· “Time to make dinner!  Hmmm, what should I make?”  I think we should make chicken, broccoli which is a vegetable, some cheesy noodles, and maybe some fruit like pears”.  Let’s get the pans out so we can cook!  I need to turn on the stove first and remember it is really hot, so never touch it!! I am going to put the broccoli in the pan with a little water to steam it.  Let’s name some veggies!!!!”

• Activity:  Dusting the living room

Why do this?  Your child will learn about things and names of the items you dust, action words (reaching, dusting, moving, dancing, lifting, etc.).

What you could say:

· “Time to do some dusting to keep the house clean! I am going to spray some cleaner on the cloth.  Listen, it makes a sound (which you can also make).  Let’s start with the TV, dusting over the screen, on top of the TV.  Now I have to move these great pictures of your cousins! See, this is cousin Ben.  He is a little boy too!, (Show your infant the picture), now I need to dust the coffee table, wow is it dirty, but look!! now it’s clean!!”  etc…

· Of course to make this more interesting and get exercise for yourself you could also dance around the room which will give you a workout and keep the attention of your infant J

• Activity:  Doing the dishes (well, placing the dishes in the dishwasher).

Why do this? Your child will learn about using eye contact and how important it is when communicating, what you are doing and why you are cleaning the dishes.  Making silly sounds will also keep your infant’s attention!

What you can do:

While doing the dishes, place your child in his/her bouncer on the floor, explain what you are doing and why.  ‘I am putting the dirty dishes in the dish washer to make them clean.” Make up some silly dishwasher sounds. After turning on the dishwasher, put your hand up to your ear, “do you hear that________?”  It’s the sound of the dishwasher….  Then make the sound with your mouth.  This will keep the baby entertained and you will get your dishes done!

By Karin Howard, M.A., CCC-SLP

As parents there are lots of little extra efforts we can make to be supportive of our young children's communication growth. There are many skills involved when children are developing their speech and language. Children learn the ability to make the outward effort to express themselves; they form  a way to understand once they have made the effort; and they develop the ability to understand the information taken in from their surroundings. As we are all individuals with unique strengths and challenges, these amazing accomplishments are carried out in different ways and at different times.

By the same token, there are common threads to this process which present opportunities for you to be proactive. The use of sign language with hearing children is one excellent way to help our little ones along with their development. To get you started, here is a list several signs that are appropriate for children 1-3 years of age - eat, drink, play, good, happy, sad, mom and dad. The following procedures will be a good guideline to use when working with your children.

1. First, practice these signs by yourself so that you become consistent with the signs you use with your child. Don't worry if they are not exact according to American Sign Language (ASL), just make sure that you use the same sign for play each time you use it. The most important thing is that you are consistent. Remember, your child will replace these signs with accurate verbal productions when he is ready and his use of the signs will then fade.

2. Begin to introduce these signs to your child. Use the signs when it is appropriate, for example, when your child is looking for food and you know it's time to eat, sign "eat" as you say, "Let's find you something to eat."  Always use verbal productions along with your signed attempts, as this article is addressing hearing children. The verbal and signed communication will allow your child to take in the auditory as well as the visual modality for a multi-sensory and enriched experience.

3. After continued use of signing your child may use some of these signs expressively. Give enthusiastic verbal and signed praise. Their use of expressive signs may be with or without a verbal attempt. Either way is great. Remember also to follow up by supporting your child's communication attempt. For example, if your child signs "play", then play with them, or at least let them know you understand what they were trying to communicate by saying something like "How great you told me you want to play, okay Mommy will play with you soon".

4. As stated earlier, when your child achieves a close enough approximation of the verbal production and they are being understood they will usually drop the signed production and move on with only verbal attempts to communicate, which is appropriate.

By Karin Howard, M.A., CCC-SLP

The communication skills of a newbon are astonishing. In fact, speech and language development visibly occurs immediately after birth. Moments after the birth of my daughter, I looked into her eyes and said "Welcome, Rebekah. We have all been waiting for you." Then, through body language, she communicated back to me. Searching with her little mouth she instantly and non-verbally expressed that she was hungry. As she began to nurse, I knew that we had begun to communicate.

Research in Speech and Hearing Sciences recognizes the communication skills of newborns and even the developing fetus during the last trimester of pregnancy. Nonetheless, parents tend to concentrate on the physical growth of their young child as he or she develops. While physical development is very important, communication skills are equally important. In fact, these two areas of development are interdependent for a healthy child.

The following are ten ways you can nurture the five different areas of speech and language development in typically developing infants and toddlers.

Social Language

1) Eye contact. When communicating with your child, look at his or her face and eyes as often as possible. This helps your child learn that it is appropriate to look at people during communication. Children learn a lot about you through facial expressions and acquire articulation skills by watching the movement of your mouth.

2) Taking turns. Talk to your child and then pause to give them a moment to verbalize. This teaches them the art of turn taking. This skill can also be accomplished during play, using objects and toys.

Expressive Language

3) Give your child space. When your child is trying to communicate with you and you know what they want, give them a few seconds before you instantly meet their needs. This will give them the opportunity to vocalize (coo and babble), point, or attempt a word.

4) Give your child choices and then let them express their choice by pointing, vocalizing, or attempting words. The feelings of confidence a child gains by expressing their own choice are building blocks for further exploration of expressive language.

Receptive Language

5) Get your child to follow instructions. Start with simple requests that only involve one element, such as "smile" or "kiss." Then increase to two elements when one element becomes easy for your child (i.e. "Hand up," or "Touch your nose," and so on).

6) Read simple books to your child with one or two pictures on each page. Ask them questions that can be answered verbally or by pointing to the correct picture. Try not to put too much pressure on them. If your child does not respond after about 10 or 15 seconds, model the answer for them with a positive tone of voice.

Vocabulary Development

7) Reinforce and demonstrate. If your child produces a verbal attempt that resembles a word, praise them with a pleasant tone of voice and then model the word that you think they attempted. For example, if the child says "ba" for ball, say "You said ball. Yes, it is a ball!"

Explore. There are wonderful opportunities to model vocabulary out in the community. A simple trip to the market can be a great chance to name items for your child.

Articulation

9) Observe how often other people understand your child's speech. This will give you an idea of how clear his or her articulation really is (parents usually understand their children more than an outside listener). Don't worry if your toddler is not producing all the sounds in the English language. Many sounds may not develop until four years of age or later. However, you should consider consulting a speech pathologist if it is extremely hard to understand your child's speech at 3 years of age.

10) Articulate your words clearly when you communicate withh your child. Speak slowly and remember to look directly at your child's face.

While speech and language development varies with each child, there is no question that positive daily involvement from a parent and/or a loving caregiver makes the process much smoother. You, the parent, are the "super model" for your child's speech and language development. Taking time to put these tips into action can give you a thoughtful approach as you interact with your amazing little communicator.

Karin Howard is a practicing speech/language pathologist in Los Angeles. She has taught "Mommy and Me" classes that emphasize speech and language to aid parents of typically developing infants and toddlers. She is also the creator of "Exploring Language through Song and Play," a CD set with an accompanying lyric and activity book. You can learn more about this CD set here. There is also a Buy Now button on the upper right side bar of this website if you wish to purchase this CD set.

Being able to understand question forms and being able to ask questions is an essential part of language development. It's the way we give and get information about our world. Questions lay the foundation for children to participate in conversations, demonstrate their knowledge and gather information.

Children with language delays generally have difficulty asking questions as well as answering questions and giving information. Below you will find some tips on how you can help your child learn to both understand and answer questions and also how to ask questions to gain information.

First, however it is important for you as a parent or caregiver to understand basic age guidelines for both asking and answering questions so that you guide your expectations accordingly. Please understand that if your child has a language delay these age guidelines will be lower depending on the severity of the language impairment.

Age Guidelines for Understanding/Answering Questions:

1-2 years understands "What's this?" and simple "Yes/No"
2-3 years understands "What doing?" ("What are you doing?")
understands simple "Who?" ("Who's that?")
understands simple "Where?" ("Where is daddy?")
understands simple "What" (function)? ("What do you do with a toothbrush?")
3-4 years understands simple "How?" ("How did you do that?")
understands simple "Why?" ("Why is he crying?")
understands simple "What…if?", "How many/much?" and "which?"
4-5 years understands "When?"
5-6 years understands most questions, but will still have trouble with complex and abstract questions.

A child's ability to understand and answer questions appropriately develops gradually. By including your child in conversation as much as possible you are providing a good model for your child of rich language including question forms. Is it not necessary for an adult however, to dominate the conversation with questions - both questions and comments are important. Modeling the answer is important as well, especially if you're not sure your child is understanding the question.

Here are some tips for helping your child answer questions:

• Make sure you have your child's attention before asking a question
• Include your child in as many conversations as possible
• Use as many comments as questions during your conversation
• Allow time for your child to think and respond to your question
• Make your child feel successful by asking the types of questions you know he can answer
• Model the answer if you think your child doesn't understand
• Ask simple questions while reading to your child ("What is that?", "Who is crying?", "What is she doing?", "Why did he do that?"…)
• Relate questions from a story back to your child's day ("She went to the store." "Where did you go today?")
• Ask questions by recapping events from your child's day
• Use visual cues if necessary to help your child understand

Age Guidelines for Asking Questions:

2 years        yes/no        "Johnny go?"
2 years        What           "What's that?"
3 years        Where          "Where's daddy?"
3 years        Who            "Who's that?"
4-5 yrs       Why             "Why is she crying?"
4-5 yrs       How            "How does that go in there?"
5-6 yrs       When           "When is daddy coming home?"

Asking questions is a way for us to gain information. Some children have difficulty asking questions. This could be because 1) they don't have the thinking skills to successfully request information, 2) they don't know how to put words together to form questions, or 3) they don't know how to ask questions to get the right information from their listener.

Here are some tips for helping your child ask questions:

• Give your child your full attention when he is trying to ask a question
• Be patient if your child is struggling putting thoughts into word
• If your child's word order is not correct for asking a question, model the correct word order
• As you're doing activities with your child, talk about what you're doing as you do it and "think" out loud asking and answering your own questions ("Where does this piece go?" - "Oh, it goes right here.")
• Engaging with your child in interesting activities will stimulate your child wanting to learn more
• Play games with your child where you ask him a question and then he has to ask you a similar question

Your child’s understanding and formulation of questions lays a foundation for developing skills in all areas of communication and processing information in his environment. Parents and caregivers have endless opportunities to give children practice in questioning and answering techniques. The mastery of answering and asking questions is invaluable to the early learner.

I want to introduce a wonderful CD and activity book set designed to listen to and engage your child in order to help enhance speech and language skills in a very indirect way. This CD and activity book set was created by Karin Howard, MA, CCC-SLP, a fellow speech/language pathologist, along with Alan Riva (Captain Al).

This is a 2 CD set with songs and play activities divided into 6 different areas or parts of speech and language development. As Karin puts it…"it takes all the parts working together to function well. For example, in order for a child to have good articulation (sound production), they need to have at least a core vocabulary. Likewise, children need to understand the information that they hear, see, feel, and smell (receptive language) in order to use expressive language proficiently". Therefore, this CD set was designed with that in mind and focuses on the six major parts or areas which are: articulation, vocabulary, expressive language, receptive language, voice, and social language.

These CD's are meant to be listened to with your child and they can be listened to with or without the accompanying activity books. Feel free to come up with your own activities too.

These CD's are:

• great for children ages 6 months to 5 years
• great for parents, grandparents, preschool classrooms and early childhood educators
• great to listen to in the car with your child/grandchild
• great opportunities for creative movement that promote quality time with children
• great for enhancing the 6 essential areas of speech and language development
• great for educating parents on how to facilitate emerging speech, language and cognitive development in their child
• great for preschool and kindergarten readiness skills
• great for inspiring your child to want to sing along!

To purchase your own CD and activity book set click on this Buy Now button and you will be taken to Paypal where you can pay just $23.95 using any major credit card.

Are you concerned that your child isn't talking as much as you think he should be by his age? Are other children in your playgroup talking a lot more and putting words together more easily and following directions better? There might be more going on than just "he's not picking up words" or "he's just a late talker." A receptive language delay/disorder may be an underlying factor in why your child is not picking up words as easily as other children around him.

Late talkers often have a receptive language disorder that is overlooked. It makes sense that a chid can't use words that he doesn't understand. Words don't make sense to a child who is not understanding fully the meaning behind the words.

Children who have difficulty understanding language or processing language have difficulty following directions. This can easily be mis-diagnosed as a behavior problem both at home and at preschool or day care. You might think that your child understands just fine because he understands many words. The breakdown typically occurs, however, when it's all put together in longer utterances and when simple nouns that your child may know individually are combined with adjectives and verbs and prepositional phrases.

Some characteristics of children with comprehension or processing problems include the following:

• repeating the last couple words of a question instead of answering it
• ignoring questions
• not following more than a single step direction
• giving off target (unrelated) responses to questions
• shaking head  for yes or no instead of answering
• may understand the individual words and vocabulary, but not when it's all put together in a longer direction or question

If this sounds like your child, I strongly encourage you to have your child evaluated by a speech/language pathologist or early intervention specialist. Click here to learn more about this process. The earlier your child receives intervention for this, the better off he'll be and the chances of overcoming this specific delay with be greater.

Ways you as parents can help at home:

• teach your child how to use words and what they mean - instead of just teaching them to say words
• teach words in context and generalize across many contexts (if you're talking about the word "shoe", use the word when you are tying his shoes and when you are putting your shoes on and when you go to a shoe store and see shoes or when you look at a book with your child and come across shoes, etc.)
• exaggerate words and actions while teaching meaning
• exaggerate vowels instead of consonants (b-a-a-a-l instead of b-b-bal)
• when giving a direction, break it way down if necessary
• shorten your sentences when giving directions and asking questions
• model the answer to help them learn how to respond and what you're expecting
• tell your child to do something - if he doesn't do it or doesn't understand, show him and then if necessary physically assist him
• don't just teach your child nouns, also teach verbs (action words), adjectives (descriptive words) and prepositions (location words)

In a subsequent post, I will address asking and answering questions with your child and what types of questions should be mastered by what ages.

I hope this article has been helpful. Please fill in below with any comments or questions you may have on this topic.

Thank you

A while back I discovered a website that can be a great support for mom's in all types of situations. The site is http://www.cafemom.com. They have groups you can join on all sorts of topics. You can use forums to ask questions and get support that way or you can read questions and answers that have already been posted.

If you are reading this blog, here are some groups that you might find helpful: "Mother's of Toddlers with Speech Delays", "Mom's Helping Mom's with Special Needs Children", "babysign", "Making Sense of Sensory Processing Disorder", "Children with Speech Delays", "Raising Children with Down Syndrome", "Developmental Delays", "Children with Apraxia". There are of course many, many more groups and it's a great place to get support.

So check it out!!!

I recently attended a very interesting and eye opening training and thought it would be helpful to share some of the information. The training was on Crisis Prevention (http://www.crisisprevention.com) in the classroom (I work in preschool with special education children). The majority of the emphasis, however, was on how to identify anxiety in order to prevent a potential 'crisis' in the classroom.  The information I am sharing here is relevant for both parents and teachers of young children.

Anxiety is a normal part of development and tends to follow a developmental sequence. Infants may show anxiety (fearfulness) when a loud noise occurs or a sudden loss of physical support occurs. Young children between the ages of 9 months and 2 years often exhibit separation anxiety which is an indication of the development of a healthy attachment to caregivers.

This type of anxiety is worse for young children who have had either too few or too frequent separations from caregivers. Young children who experience this anxiety will be clingy and usually cry at the time of separation - and some may even become more tearful and upset when their parent comes back to pick them up even if they have had a good day in the meantime. Separation anxiety usually decreases between the ages of 2 and 3 years.

5 factors that may contribute to increased separation anxiety:

• change in child's routine
• change in family (new baby, divorce, etc.)
• child being sick
• change in caregiver or daycare or preschool
• child being tired

7 ways to support your child and possibly reduce separation anxiety:

• acknowledge how your child is feeling (i.e., "I get sad too when…")
• by saying "it'll be okay - I'll be back soon" - you are not validating your child's feelings
• try to be cheerful when you leave
• don't prolong your departure
• never sneak out - always say goodbye
• focus on the positive things that will happen when you are gone
• plan something special (even a yummy treat) for when you pick him up

Another anxiety seen in children is school anxiety. This is seen from young preschoolers on up.  Many young children have a fear of school and will resist going to school especially in the beginning of the year. For many this goes away as the fear of the unknown dissipates, but for some this fear persists and even gets worse. What confounds the problem is that young children are unable to put these fears into words and so they will often "act out" instead.

At home, this can look many different ways. Your child may not sleep well or be slow and apprehensive about getting dressed in the morning. He may be extra clingy and complain of stomachaches or headaches. His behavior may seem oppositional, but in actuality he is really fearful and anxious about going to school.

As parents, it's so easy and natural to want to take away the problem and the fear by saying something like "don't worry, you'll have fun today." How comforting is that to hear? Not very. This of a situation that you encountered that made you somewhat or very anxious. Does hearing "don't worry" help or is it more comforting to hear empathetic and understanding words? Of course the latter.

At school & daycare, it's important for teachers and caregivers to also know what anxiety in children looks like. If not identified and addressed, this behavior can escalate and turn disruptive and undesirable in the classroom.  On the other hand, a child's anxieties about school can cause uncomfortable shyness and this needs to be correctly identified as well.

8 behaviors to look for that may indicate anxiety in a child:

• fidgeting excessively
• excessive silliness
• fast rate of speech
• agitation
• avoidance and escape behaviors
• trembling
• looking away
• excessive crying / yelling / screaming

Empathetic Listening is the active process of accepting and confirming your child's/student's fears and it involves the following:

• give undivided attention
• always acknowledge the problem
• be non-judgmental & sensitive
• listen for feelings behind the behavior
• allow silence for reflection
• restate to help clarify their message (this helps them to communicate their feelings)
• an empathetic statement like "I get that funny feeling in my tummy too sometimes" can go a long way

For more reading on anxiety in young children, please refer to these two articles:
http://specialchildren.about.com/od/specialeducation/ht/anxiety.htm
http://school.familyeducation.com/back-to-school/anxiety/37623.html

I found a book that you may find helpful if you are dealing with separation or school anxiety with you child.

As a speech therapist who works with kids, I've been asked this question on more than one occasion so I thought I would address this issue here on this blog. From my own experience, I think this is not true and maybe just one of those things that you heard from your mother and she heard from her mother and so on.

I have found a great article on this exact subject and she also think this is a myth. She talks about the pros and cons of your baby/toddler using a pacifier and she does give suggestions for finding other ways to help your toddler self soothe.

In the first part of her article Laura addresses using sippy cups and how this can effect your child's speech and even more so cause dental problems if used too much. Laura's article is worth reading if you are concerned about your toddler using a sippy cup or a pacifier. Her website is teachmetotalk.com and if you follow this link it will take you straight to this article. I'm sure you'll find this article as informative as I did.

When your child is in the midst of a great jump in his language skills (between ages 30 months and 5 years) it's natural that putting sentences together in a fluent way might be difficult. Her brain is like a computer, working to pull up the right words in the right order and at the right time. While the computer is "searching," her mouth may go into a "pause" (translated: repeat) mode. So it may sound like this: "Mom … I-Mom … I-I-want-uh-I want you-gimme dat teddy bear!" The whole word or first syllable is often repeated, not usually the first sound. This is a normal developmental phase that most children go through. You may notice it more when your child is tired, excited, or upset.

Below, please find blog posts I found from other speech/language pathologists that help to differentiate between normal developmental dysfluency and the speech pattern of a child who may develop into a school age child who stutters.

Stuttering or Normal Dysfluency?

Occasional easy repetitions of whole words or phrases at this age can be typical and is referred to as “normal dysfluency,” not stuttering, by a speech-language pathologist. Often it occurs when a child is experiencing a surge in his …

Therapy Thursday: 4 Facts about Stuttering

On a personal note, The Flash had some of the WORST preschool stuttering I have heard. He could easily stutter on a sound for 20 seconds. They were always "easy, loose" stutters but this went on for about 2 years. …

Stuck on Words? Is My Child Stuttering?

… phrases at this age can be typical and is referred to as “normal dysfluency,” not stuttering, by a speech-language pathologist. Often it occurs when a child is experiencing a surge in his language development. Tips for responding: …

Additionally, an excellent resource for parents is the Stuttering Foundation's page entitled "If You Think Your Child Is Stuttering". This article also breaks down the difference between normal, age-appropriate dysfluency, mild dysfluency, and more serious dysfluency. From this page, you can follow a link to frequently asked questions from parents about stuttering, view a list of risk factors and a list of ways you can help your child who is exhibiting stuttering behaviors.

I found a book that breaks down communication development from birth to five years. This book really touches on all aspects of language development and has a section devoted to stuttering and normal dysfluency. Children's Communication Skills: From Birth to Five Years