A series of handouts from the American Speech-Language Hearing Association that outline typical communication development from birth to 5 years old and provide suggestions on how to support communication development at each stage.
https://identifythesigns.org/communicating-with-baby-toolkit/
This handout outlines speech characteristics that are more or less indicative of a persistent stutter that may merit treatment.
A Brief Guide to Early Stuttering
This article provides facts about bilingualism, describes the benefits of being bilingual and demystifies common misconceptions about bilingualism.
http://www.hanen.org/helpful-info/articles/bilingualism-in-young-children--separating-fact-fr.aspx
American Sign Language (ASL) is commonly associated with deaf or hard-of-hearing children, but it can have benefits for children without hearing impairment, as well. This article takes a glance at the relationship between ASL and spoken language, highlighting the positive benefits ASL can have on children’s
Toddlers learn by doing. They learn about their world and how to interact with others by exploring and participating in activities around them. This article provides everyday activities that can build on speech and language development within the home setting.
https://firstwordsproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Everyday_Activities_02.pdf
Why is Social Communication Development Important? Good communication development starts in the first year of life and goes far beyond learning how to talk.
https://firstwordsproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Support_Communication_Development_02.pdf
Children start developing language from the day they’re born, primed by their relationships and play with other people. This is more difficult for children with autism, who tend to show less interest in other people during their first 12 months of life. However, you can create
Most children undergo a hearing screening at birth, but hearing loss can occur at any age. Thankfully, there are behaviors you can look out for that may indicate the need to have your child’s hearing tested and, if a hearing loss is present, get the help
Motor development doesn’t cause language to emerge, but motor skills are one of several sets of abilities that are involved in language development. New motor skills, such as sitting upright, crawling and walking, can provide lots of opportunities for a child to practice and refine skills
Many parents have questions about raising their children in a bilingual environment. What are the benefits? Are there any risks? How can parents help children get the most out of learning two languages? This guide gives an overview of some of the most common questions parents
Utilize this visual checklist to maximize your child's success with remote learning.
This article offers alternatives to sippy cups to promote optimal speech and swallowing development.
https://blog.asha.org/2017/02/28/sippy-cups-3-reasons-to-skip-them-and-what-to-offer-instead/
These resources list all speech sounds and when they are typically mastered.
This handout describes the differences between “speech” and “language” with definitions and examples of each term.
This article debunks 5 myths about screen time and highlights some recent findings regarding the impact of screen time on children.
Use these 10 tips from the Hanen Centre with your children who have just started saying single words or have started to form two-word phrases.
10 Tips for Parents of Young Children who Have Just Started Talking
This handout explains why using a variety of comment and question types with your toddler is important for their language development and provides strategies for how to incorporate different types of comments and questions into daily interactions.
Comments and Questions Handout
As parents, we want to provide our children with fun and engaging toys, but sometimes we just don’t know which toys to choose. This is a great article with excellent tips for choosing toys to support communication development. There is also a link in the article to some of
Social-emotional development is important because it helps children to build healthy relationships, manage their emotions, and feel empathy. Social-emotional development also supports communication because it helps children listen and follow directions, as well as communicate their needs and emotions. This poster by Pathway 2 Success shares some
A series of handouts from the American Speech-Language Hearing Association that outline typical communication development from birth to 5 years old and provide suggestions on how to support communication development at each stage.
https://identifythesigns.org/communicating-with-baby-toolkit/
This infographic provides 10 strategies that parents and caregivers can use at home to maximize communication and embed intervention into daily routines with their child who has apraxia of speech.
Apraxia Strategies Parents Can Use at Home
This offers six practical and easy tips to help parents emphasize speech sounds in order to improve articulation skills.
Articulation-Making-Speech-Sounds-more-obvious-to-your-Child
Did you know that children typically master pronunciation of individual consonant sounds in the middle of words last? The reason is simple - it’s complicated! Word-medial consonants are surrounded by other speech sounds, being influenced by both those that precede and proceed them. Watch this video
This site provides very practical Monday-Sunday theme-based calendars with specific activities to encourage communication in preschoolers. Many tips are also listed.
https://connectability.ca/2010/09/28/communicating-for-fun-calendars/
This link provides handouts which include 10 communication tips for various developmental levels (children who communicate without words, children who have just started talking, and children who talk in sentences).
http://www.hanen.org/Helpful-Info/Parent-Tips.aspx
This article provides in-depth suggestions for how to encourage language growth through reading picture books with your child.
Dialogic Reading
This Super Duper Handy Handout explains how reading helps children develop their speech sounds. It also provides a list of books for particular speech sounds.
https://www.superduperinc.com/handouts/pdf/74_childrensbooks.pdf
This video explains why speaking to your child face to face and on their level is important for developing speech and language skills.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Lyn3XW40Kb1tIvWhngLzS8Vy7mnZ9Xnu/view?usp=sharing
This visual guide shows hand gestures and corresponding mouth postures that can be used to cue children to produce specific vowels during speech, as well as illustrate the difference between words like “pick” and “peek,” “net” and “nut,” and “eye” and “A.”
Sometimes preschoolers’ ears need a little help to identify the right sounds in words, particularly when we are trying to correct pronunciation. Gestures are an excellent supplement to help children hear the difference between words like “sit” and “sick,” “big” and “pig,” and “E” and “eat.”
Use these tips to help improve how your child produces sounds, plus a handy list of books for specific sounds.
How Parents Can Help Their Children with Articulation
When teaching a new skill we often start at the beginning. This can be challenging for children who are struggling to master a skill. One way of learning a new task while giving your child a sense of achievement is to use the backward chaining technique.
Need a visual way to highlight the difference between how your child says a word and the “correct” way to say it (and make progress towards the latter)? Minimal pairs and speech sound hand gestures are a winning combination! Watch this video to find out what
This article, published by the American Speech-Language Hearing Association, provides simple suggestions for optimizing communication with kids with developmental language disorders.
Shareable Strategies for Working With Preschool Children With DLD
View this 3-minute video to discover how to build on what your child says by adding one or two words to your child’s spontaneous speech.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jIAKeGegDSe09GfkXFgYIYXl0oxBRrjG/view?usp=sharing
Watch this 5-minute video to learn how to expand language and improve communication skills by offering your child choices throughout the day.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o4_tqhAEOaozICxEXp3yWfnL8J_lDq-b/view?usp=sharing
This provides a word list, daily routines, activities, games and toys, songs, books, and conversational phrases for each speech sound.
This video demonstrates the speech sound hand gestures shown in the handout linked here.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1trnjhalYpox3LJ5Nz6ZSSC4BDKax_E4J/view?usp=sharing
This handout outlines five simple strategies that can be used in the home to support language development.
Supporting Language Development at Home
This video explains why it is important for speech and language development to take turns with your child when talking and playing with them.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KEqGsSP21tDk9AVAGW1PlU41QfFDYEQS/view?usp=sharing
Here’s a comprehensive resource to aid in providing a language-rich environment with conversations, asking questions, expanding on language, enriching vocabulary, reading, etc.
Talk, Read, & Sing Together Everyday
Children with communication disorders can be successful in following directions and answering questions, but they often need more time to process what we say to them. Frequent repetitions and pressure for a response can interrupt processing and overwhelm a child. Give your child at least 3-5
This article, published by the American Speech-Language Hearing Association, provides a list of some language skills that preschool-aged children should be able to demonstrate. It also provides suggestions for supporting growth in these areas.
https://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/34/
Repeating what others say, also known as echolalia, is just one of the many ways that children acquire language. The question is what differentiates typical echolalia from echolalia that is part of a broader delay or disorder? This article defines both types of echolalia while also
A bilingual site for educators and families of English language learners. The “for families” tab includes a list of articles and a resource library.
http://www.colorincolorado.org/families
DLTK's Crafts for Kids features a variety of printable children's crafts, coloring pages, worksheets and activities including projects for holidays, educational themes and some of our children's favorite cartoon characters. The mini-books are quite simple with images that should appeal to young children and simple, repetitive
This website provides guidelines for teaching literacy skills to learners with special needs, especially learners with complex communication needs. This website provides information on: What skills to teach, How to teach these skills, Videotaped examples of instruction with learners with special needs
Research is beginning to emerge about the effects of screen time on child development. This is an interesting article from Psychology Today outlining five ways that screen time impacts a child.
This website provides suggestions for sound-loaded books, snacks, activities, and sensory table ideas to provide exposure to different letters and speech sounds your child may be working on learning.
http://www.literacyspeaks.com/Alphabet_Pages/Alphabet-Page.html
This website provides an endless list of articles on topics such as: “How to Help Your Child Use Early Sentences,” “Why Interaction Must Come Before Language,” and “E-Book or Paper Book: What’s Best for Young Children?” and many more!
http://www.hanen.org/Helpful-Info/Articles.aspx
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