Mom is unable to allow her to go to friends houses as it ends in a terrible fit when mom says its time to go.  Mom is unable to attend woship services as well which mom states is much needed.  The girl will ask random questions in which she knows the answer is no, resulting in fits of rage.  I gave mom some suggestions, however, it would be great to get additional perspectives.  For suggestions, comment on this post or email me directly at becky@everydayrehab.com

Phonological awareness is the knowledge of sounds in our language and how those sounds blend together to form words, phrases and sentences.  Activities included in a phonological awareness program include rhyming, identifying beginning and ending sounds in words, segmenting and blending syllables and sounds, changing sounds in words and associating sounds with letters.  These skills are important in learning how to read and spell.

How Do I Know If My Child Is Reaching the Milestones?
Here is a checklist that you can follow to determine if your child’s speech and language skills are developing on schedule. You should talk to your child’s doctor about anything that is checked “no.”

Birth to 5 months

Reacts to loud sounds.

Turns head toward a source of sound.

Watches your face when you speak.

Vocalizes pleasure and displeasure sounds (laughs, giggles, cries, or fusses).

Makes noise when talked to.

6-11 months

Understands “no-no.”

Babbles (says “ba-ba-ba” or “ma-ma-ma”).

Tries to communicate by actions or gestures.

Tries to repeat your sounds.

12 – 17 months

Attends to a book or toy for about two minutes.

Follows simple directions accompanied by gestures.

Answers simple questions nonverbally.

Points to objects, pictures, and family members.

Says two to three words to label a person or object (pronunciation may not be clear).

Tries to imitate simple words.

18 – 23 months

Enjoys being read to.

Follows simple commands without gestures.

Points to simple body parts such as “nose.”

Understands simple verbs such as “eat,” “sleep.”

Correctly pronounces most vowels and n , m , p , h , especially in the beginning of syllables and short words. Also begins to use other speech sounds.

Says 8 to 10 words (pronunciation may still be unclear).

Asks for common foods by name.

Makes animal sounds such as “moo.”

Starting to combine words such as “more milk.”

Begins to use pronouns such as “mine.”

2 – 3 years

Knows about 50 words at 24 months.

Knows some spatial concepts such as “in,” “on.”

Knows pronouns such as “you,” “me,” “her.”

Knows descriptive words such as “big,” “happy.”

Says around 40 words at 24 months.

Speech is becoming more accurate but may still leave off ending sounds. Strangers may not be able to understand much of what is said.

Answers simple questions.

Begins to use more pronouns such as “you,” “I.”

Speaks in two to three word phrases.

Uses question inflection to ask for something (e.g., “My ball?”).

Begins to use plurals such as “shoes” or “socks” and regular past tense verbs such as “jumped.”

3 – 4 years

Groups objects such as foods, clothes, etc.

Identifies colors.

Uses most speech sounds but may distort some of the more difficult sounds such as l, r, s, sh, ch, y, v, z, th . These sounds may not be fully mastered until age 7 or 8.

Uses consonants in the beginning, middle, and ends of words. Some of the more difficult consonants may be distorted, but attempts to say them.

Strangers are able to understand much of what is said.

Able to describe the use of objects such as “fork,” “car,” etc.

Has fun with language. Enjoys poems and recognizes language absurdities such as, “Is that an elephant on your head?”

Expresses ideas and feelings rather than just talking about the world around him or her.

Uses verbs that end in “ing,” such as “walking,” “talking.”

Answers simple questions such as “What do you do when you are hungry?”

4 – 5 years

Understands spatial concepts such as “behind,” “next to.”

Understands complex questions.

Speech is understandable but makes mistakes pronouncing long, difficult, or complex words such as “hippopotamus.”

Says about 200 – 300 different words.

Uses some irregular past tense verbs such as “ran,” “fell.”

Describes how to do things such as painting a picture.

Defines words.

Lists items that belong in a category such as animals, vehicles, etc.

Answers “why” questions.

5 years

Understands more than 2,000 words.

Understands time sequences (what happened first, second, third, etc.).

Carries out a series of three directions.

Understands rhyming.

Engages in conversation.

Sentences can be 8 or more words in length.

Uses compound and complex sentences.

Describes objects.

Uses imagination to create stories.

All information on this page excerpted from April 2000 NIH Publication No. 00-4781

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders

National Institutes of Health

31 Center Drive, MSC 2320

Bethesda,MDUSA20892-2320

2. Point out in your speech words that contain a sound Your child needs help with.  For example, if you say, “***,” you can then add a statement such as, “Did you hear that word ***?  It has your *** sound in it."

 3.  As you are speaking, try to emphasize the sounds that are difficult for Your child. For example, you could say, ” ***” (with emphasis on the *** sound.)

4. Pay attention to facial expression, gestures, and body language as all of these may help you better understand what Your child is trying to communicate.

5.  If you are not sure what Your child has said, you can:

                       Take your best guess at what you think it was that he said and say it back to him.

                      Ask Your child to show you what he is talking about.

                     Ask for a repetition of what was said.

                    Ask for more information. For example, he asks: Are we doin to the pot?  Adult:  Pot?  I don’t understand.  Can you tell me more?      He responds:  Doin to the pot to swing and slide.  You now understand that he is asking about the park.

                       If you cannot understand what Your child has said using the above strategies you can make a comment that is appropriate to the  situation. 

6. Have important conversations in a room with reduced noise.

7. Give Your child your complete attention.  Speech that is unclear requires concentration.

8.  Choose a good time for conversation.  Talking can be very difficult and energy draining when speech is difficult to produce.  Avoid important conversations when time is short, while eating, or when tired.

9.  Support alternative efforts at communication such as gestures, pictures, picture boards, or an electronic communication device; research and clinical experience indicate that use of augmentative alternative strategies encourage verbal development and do not slow down or hamper it.

‘Just for Kids: Apraxia’ is a program developed by Martha Drake, MA, CCC-SLP, for children ages 4-8 with apraxia of speech.  The approach is based on the alphabet.  The child learns to produce sounds in increasingly more complex contexts (i.e., sounds in isolation, consonant-vowel-consonant words, multisyllabic words, sentences and expressions).  The sign language alphabet is used to cue sound production.

The Kaufman Speech Praxis Treatment program is a systematic method of teaching children how to simplify words so that at least the ‘shell of the word’ can be successfully articulated.  The pictures/words in the program are ordered from simple to complex motor-speech movements.  The child advances from a simple core vocabulary to phrases and eventually to sentences and conversational levels.

Do we have the courage to step out like Isaiah did?

Hosea 14:9b “The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them”

Question to Ponder…

How can praying to God help you follow His direction?

Trusting in Him

Becky Doidge

QUESTIONS FOR MOMS AND DADS:  Love is an easy word to say but very difficult to truly live on a daily basis. 
I believe what makes love so difficult are our selfish desires that stir within us. (James 4:1)  To truly love another we must first put off all of our desires and see what the other person needs, sacrificing our desires and sometimes our needs.   Jesus demonstrated His love for us, while we were yet sinners He died for us. (Romans 5:8)  That is the biggest challenge, loving others that do not love you. 

PARENT IDEAS: 

1.  Guard your words this week.  Try to incorporate love into each thing you say.  What tone are you using?  What is your motivation?  Everything we do can be
done through love (teaching, discipline, playing, joking).  Pray that God would show you how your words can align with I Cor 13: 4-7. (Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking., it is not easily angers, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil,
but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts always hopes, always perseveres.)

2.  Have love surprises for your child this week.  Not that they earned it; just because you choose to love them.  Hide treats under their pillow, write a love note to them, write a message on their mirror, send them a flower or balloon, anything that you think would make them feel special.

KIDS PRACTICE:

1. Make homemade cards for the special people in your children’s life.  Make a few extra to give out randomly to people that your child may not
   know well (store clerk, neighbor) or bring some to a shelter.
2. Play the love/like game.  Help put love into perspective by finding several things and finding out the things we like and what we should love.  (bag of random items: food, toys, candy, pictures of people, animals, places, dirty socks)
3. Get silly and put the word love on the end of every sentence during meal time.  End with a prayer thanking God for the love He showed us through Christ and the love He chooses to show us each and everyday.
4. Write a love poem to grandparents or parent. Use LOVE as an acronym to describe what your child loves about that person.