Let me please begin this article by first saying that we all must remember that every child is undeniably different, so please use caution when comparing your child with other children.  I understand it is hard to ignore when other children are doing far more than your own child is doing, however children progress at different rates developmentally.

Now that that has been said, I also don’t want the wrong message to be sent to anyone reading this.  I do believe that if you have your doubts that your child is not reaching developmental milestones and has some delays that you reach out to find the “correct” professional to determine if there truly is a delay present and if intervention is recommended.   I no longer can even count how many times I have heard parents share that their doctor has recommended the “watch & see” approach with children with delayed speech and language.   So when in doubt, follow your instincts and persist in being proactive.  Ask your doctor for a referral for a speech-language pathologist to do a consult and/or an evaluation for your child.  Perhaps word it like this “I am interested in ruling out a speech and language disorder with a speech-language pathologist who is specially trained and/or highly qualified in this area”.  This does not sound demanding, but rather as if you are reaching out for help.

I feel parents need to always be their child’s best advocate and parents should be aware of potential reasons why your toddler may be delayed in speech and language development.   Here is a list of some reasons I have had first-hand experience witnessing over the last decade of my practice that contributed to toddler delayed talkers:   (more…)

Articulation disorders effects how children produce speech sounds, but it often times also results in struggles with distinguishing speech sounds. Auditory discrimination is the ability to distinguish or recognize the differences between sounds. Auditory discrimination is an extremely important in step in articulation therapy and is also crucial for language and reading development skills. (more…)

Happy Free App Friday!  Please remember to take advantage of Momswithapps.com for Free Friday.

I wanted to share about another resource for finding even more great apps for children. It is The Digital Media Diet. Their website is www.digitalmediadiet.com

They share a very long list of apps and resources to find even more apps on top of that!

Enjoy!

All the Best,

~The Speech Wizard

I recently presented a training “Apps for Communication” for parents.  After reading the feedback sheets, I am inspired to write this post and many more just like it.   The comment was “I would really like more time spent on how to actually use the recommended apps you suggested”.  So here it is…I am going to provide in great detail how I use one of my favorite apps for remediating speech & language disorders/delays.  The beauty of this app is that it is super fun and great for all kids! The app is My Play Home Store.  I first loved My Play Home, then this came about and I absolutely love this app too!  Oh and I better mention that this app only costs $1.99.

The app includes a variety of scenes: Ice Cream Parlor, Grocery Store, Produce Market, and a Clothing Store.  I use this app for vocabulary, following directions, articulation, sentence formulation, auditory discrimination, and pragmatics (social language) just to name a few.  I will give examples of what I do to work on each of these skills. (more…)

I really want to share a rather new Augmentative & Alternative Communication (AAC) App that I like and that I have had great success with in my private practice.  It is called AutisMate.   Some of the things I like on the app are the scenes (instead of layered grid-displays), fantastic visual schedules, and most of all, the price!  It is only $149.99.  Also, to make things even better they have a Lite Version so you can get a feel for it and see if it will work for you before buying it!  (more…)

It is easy to wonder and doubt if an app is appropriate or not to use as a speech therapy tool, especially now that there are over 1 million apps available.  With a commonly heard motto “there’s an app for that”, you almost need to have a filtering system to help decide which apps to get and which apps to skip loading on your device.  (more…)

One App that I use for many speech therapy skills is My PlayHome.  There is a Lite version which is great so you can “try it before you buy it”.
This app can be used for so many skills including: Spatial Concepts, Following Directions, Articulation, Receptive and Expressive Language Skills…And More!!! (more…)

Have you ever had a child hit the “home button” while you are using your iPad and it closes out what you were doing?  Or maybe you have found yourself twisting and turning your device so that it is displaying the screen orientation to the way you want it and it just does not stay that way?  If this has happened to you and you would like to know how to solve it, this article is for you! (more…)

As children mature they do not always gain the control to produce speech sounds in a clear concise manner. Actually, along the way of mastering speech production, children often tend to make several mistakes. Depending on their age at which they are still making these mistakes and/or the amount of their mistakes they are making helps determine if it is truly a disorder or not. Each individual speech sound has a different age range as to when the child should make a particular sound correctly. (more…)