Today I want to share 7 signs of autism in toddlers. Watch the video.

Parents… these are the things speech-language pathologists and other professionals look for when we’re screening late talking toddlers for autism. Here we’ll be talking about things that kids with autism do that are different than kids with typically developing language skills and kids with other kinds of language delays.

(From ASHA Practice Portal… Autism Spectrum Disorders)

1. Kids with autism will have differences in eye contact and eye gaze.

The first difference is in how kids with autism use their eyes, particularly how they use their eyes when you are communicating with them.

This looks like kids who have:

•  difficulty paying attention to your face when you talk to them. They look away or seem to avoid eye contact.
• difficulty following your point. They aren’t very interested in what you’re pointing at and talking about, or they may be intensely focused on what they’re doing and miss that you’re pointing in the first place!

The classic way to assess for this is to dramatically point to something across the room as you say, “Look!”

If a child over 12 months of age doesn’t consistently look at what you’ve pointed to, he’s having difficulty developing joint attention.

Kids who have weaker joint attention skills have difficulty learning to talk because they are not interacting and attending well enough to link meaning with your words.

For example, when you and your child are together and you say, “Look! It’s a cat! See? The cat!” we want a child to look and listen as you give him words for what he’s seeing. When you do this, over time, a child learns to first understand that “cat” means the furry animal who says “meow,” and eventually, he begins to say “Cat.” It all begins with him watching you, paying attention to what you’re showing him, and listening to your words as you talk.

Watching you and listening to what you’re talking about is how kids learn what words mean and eventually, to say those words.

We want to see kids maintain eye contact and look at what you’re talking about consistently by 12 months.

If they’re not doing that, it’s a red flag for autism.

2. Kids with autism have difficulty responding to their own names.

By 12 months old, kids with typical development and kids with other kinds of language delays consistently respond to their own names.

When a child doesn’t look at you when you call his or her name, it’s a huge red flag for autism.

In fact, in my nearly 30 year career, it’s the first thing I look for within 30 seconds of meeting a child!

Many times parents will try to compensate or justify by saying things like, “He’s super busy,” or “He’s ignoring me,” or “He’s just stubborn.” While those things may seem true, it’s not the real reason a child isn’t responding.

Not responding to your own name is a classic sign of autism in toddlers.

(For tips for teaching a child to respond to his own name, watch this video!)

3. Kids with autism don’t point to and show you objects of interest.

The third difference is in how kids with autism interact with and communicate with you.

How does this look?

They don’t use very many gestures or body movements to request your attention or show you what they want. They don’t try to show you things that are interesting to them.

When a child hasn’t learned to point by 15 months and isn’t taking things to his parents or other adults to show them and listen to them talk about the object by 12 to 15 months, it’s a red flag for autism.

 4. Kids with autism have difficulty learning to play with toys.

By 15 months most toddlers – even those with language delays – can demonstrate how a familiar object is used. For example, you give them a cup and they try to drink. Or you give them a hair brush and they brush their hair. They see sunglasses, and they put them on their eyes.

A child with autism may explore the object without using it correctly – look at it, hold it up to the light, spin it on the floor, or any other kind of repetitive movement – rather than playing with the toy.

Another big marker is that kids with autism don’t have lots of pretend play.

By 24 months, we want kids to do things like pretend to feed a baby doll and put it to bed.

Or take one object and use it as something else. For example, pretending a block is a telephone or a car.

This marker is easy to see but is often dismissed by parents who say, “My child doesn’t like toys.”

That’s not the case. It would be more accurate to say they can’t play with toys rather they don’t like toys.

Toys are the tools of childhood – so when a child doesn’t know how to play with toys, he misses hundreds of opportunities to learn every day. Play is how little kids learn everything including:

• early cognitive concepts like cause and effect and simple problem solving
• early quantity and math skills
• how to share and make friends
• language as they talk and play with other people.

When we don’t see a child playing with a variety of familiar toys and pretending, it’s a red flag for autism.

5. Children with autism will have difficulty learning to imitate. 

Imitating is how kids learn everything!

They watch you and then do what you do…and they listen and say what you say.

Usually by 12 months, babies copy body movements such as waving bye-bye and can complete hand motions in a song like clapping to “Patty Cake.” He’s watched you do those things, and then he begins to do them too.

After a child has had practice imitating nonverbally with actions, he begins to imitate verbally with sounds and words.

Researchers have found there’s a neurological disruption in kids with autism. They’re wired differently from the beginning and imitating is so hard for them! IT’s yet another reason kids with autism have difficulty learning to talk!

When a child is not copying actions and words by 16 months, it’s a red flag for autism.

6. Toddler and preschoolers with autism have difficulty with nonverbal communication.

Kids with autism don’t always understand or use nonverbal ways to communicate message.

They may have a “flat affect” or limited facial expressions or body language. It may take them a while to laugh during a game with you or to respond with “twinkly” eyes when they’re excited about something you’ve said. You may not see a true social smile. They may smile, but many times it’s not a social smile. It’s very self-directed – so a child smiles  in response to something that’s happened, but not directly at people.

Kids may have difficulty reading your body language or gestures too! They don’t “get” what the stern look on your face means or may by irritated by new baby brothers or sisters who are crying.

Nonverbal communication, particularly gestures, are so important for language development. Gestures are a huge predictor for late language skills and always develop just before words in children with typically developing language and kids with other kinds of language delays.

Actually, using gestures is a strength of many kids with other kinds of language delays. They often make up their own elaborate gestures to compensate for their lack of words.

When a child isn’t learning to understand what gestures mean or to use gestures themselves to communicate specific message to other people, they’re not learning to be symbolic thinkers. If they can’t use symbols nonverbally – meaning a wave means bye – shaking my head like this means no – they won’t be able to use symbols verbally. What do I mean by that? Just like gestures, words are symbols too. When we don’t see gestures, we probably don’t hear words.

Variety matters too! We don’t want to see just one act of nonverbal communication – like leading parents to another room by the hand. we need to see lots of gestures like pointing, waving, giving high 5, clapping, shaking head for yes or no, etc…

When a child isn’t using 16 different gestures by 16 months, it’s a red flag for autism.

7. The last red flag is differences in language development in kids with autism.

Many kids with autism do not learn to talk on time. Generally, first words appear between 12 and 15 months when a child’s language skills are typically developing. By 18 months, typically developing kids have 50 words and are starting to combine words to use phrases. The outer limit for that language milestone is 24 months.

But there are other differences we see in kids with autism beyond vocabulary size.

Differences are also noted in not only what a child can say, but in what he understands. By 18 months we expect children to understand and follow many simple directions during their everyday routines. When a 2 or 3 year old child does not follow directions, there’s more going on than late talking.

Some children with autism may talk but not communicate with others. They may quote lines from a movie or show or book. This is called echolalia and it’s prevalent in many verbal kids with autism. Typically developing kids also learn to quote lines from shows or to sing songs or recite books, but they are performing when they’re doing it. There’s eye contact and interaction with the listener.

Lastly, and this is a big one, in some kids with autism, expressive skills may be at a higher developmental level than receptive skills in autism on a formal speech-language assessment. That means that a child says more than he can understand. This pattern is OPPOSITE of how test results compare to typically developing kids and late talkers who understand more than they can say. When you see these results, it’s a red flag for autism.

That’s the list – all 7 signs of autism in toddlers.

If you’re a therapist, I challenge you to memorize these so you can spot these differences.

For parents… if you’re seeing several of these signs in your own child, I’d encourage you to talk with your child’s pediatrician who will also probably complete a set of questions with you about your child’s development and talk about your next course of action. You may go ahead and opt a full developmental evaluation to rule out autism. At the very least, you’ll want to begin speech therapy to help a child learn to understand and use words. This is actually a very positive step for you and your child because early intervention works!

The biggest regret parents have shared with me over the years is waiting. They knew something was wrong – yet they waited to do anything about it. I don’t want that to happen to you! If you suspect autism in your child, make those calls and get into action now. You don’t want to waste any time.

I can help with that too!

Excellent resources here at teachmetotalk.com for you are…

The Autism Podcast series – a series of one hour videos for parents and professionals discussing the differences we see in children with autism and more importantly, what to do about it. Podcasts beginning at 401… through the newest episode this week.

The Autism Workbook is my newest treatment manual with a comprehensive plan outlined for you to help you determine what your child needs help learning. Parents are telling me it’s getting them back on track with therapy – especially in this age of virtual services. Therapists are telling me it’s helping them with new ideas and information to share with families. Take a look at that today and get the child you love moving in the right direction!

For therapists – this was just a brief review of those characteristics. If you’d like more in-depth information, take my 1.5 hour CE course called Characteristics that Differentiate Autism from Other Language Delays.

Check out our library of over 30 hours of continuing education videos available for early intervention SLPs and other therapists who treat toddlers and preschoolers with communication delays and disorders. Watching is always FREE – information is available for parents, teachers, or anyone else who would like to access quality clinical information specifically for working with toddlers and preschoolers. Therapists can obtain an hour of CE credit for only $5 with a certificate that’s generated and delivered via email. For SLPs, ASHA credit is also available.

The post 7 Signs of Autism in Toddlers and Preschoolers appeared first on teachmetotalk.com.

Every year I try to add one or two new Christmas-themed toys to my inventory.

Here’s my favorite new one this year – a Christmas puzzle from Melissa and Doug. (Scroll to the bottom of this page for an Amazon link for this puzzle!) The colorful artwork and chunky pieces make this great for toddlers who are learning to talk and use their little hands! It’s a fabulous toy for working on both language and fine motor development during speech therapy, whether that’s at home with mom or in a clinical setting!

Watch for ideas:

Written Summary

Two Common Problems with Puzzles:

·        Difficulty matching or knowing where the right piece belongs!

·        Difficulty making the pieces fit.

My best tips for these issues:

1.     Help a toddler learn to match by teaching them to think through the process. Narrate what they should do. For example, pick up the angel puzzle piece and say, “LOOK! It’s an angel. Let’s find the angel down here. (Pointing to the puzzle.)  Where’s angel?”

2.     Limit a child’s options. Use your hands, or even your leg if you’re sitting on the floor with a child, to block some of the spaces so that the correct space and one to two other slots are available.

3.     Once matching improves, you may still need to provide some visual cues like pointing or tapping your finger to help them find the correct spot.

4.     When a child has trouble making the piece fit, provide enough physical assistance to help them, but not so much help that they resent your intrusion!  That usually means that you’ll move their little hands or give the puzzle piece a nudge to get it in the right spot.

Some toddlers have a super low frustration tolerance level and get upset when a piece won’t fit. Don’t let them get so frustrated that they give up and move on, but at the same time, don’t irritate them even more by providing too much help. Find that “just right balance” between giving them a little help when they really need it and letting them become more independent.

Teaching Language

Beyond matching and fine motor practice, you can use this puzzle (and any other puzzle!) to improve a toddler’s language skills.

Of course, for kids who are already talking, you can use this puzzle to teach new vocabulary. That’s fine if a child is already imitating single words, but what about kids who aren’t repeating words yet?

Let me teach you my best ways to getting imitation going with some cute play routines that will become natural to you – with some practice! You’ll also be able to use this same strategy all the time – with every toy and during daily routines.

Teach a Child to Imitate Actions

To help a child begin to learn to imitate words, you don’t begin with real words – which is a big surprise to parents!

Begin by helping a toddler learn to imitate actions. With a puzzle, we model actions as we play with the puzzle pieces. For example, if a child picks up the angel, you might say, “Oh… let’s kiss that angel.” You should kiss the angel a couple of times making it super fun and then wait for the child to copy kissing the angel. If she doesn’t, help her by moving the angel to her lips.

For the next piece, try kissing again to see if the child will imitate you with less help. Once the child imitates that action, or if you seem to be losing his attention, change your action. Other ideas for this puzzle:

·        Pat horsie

·        Make the angel fly

·        Shake that tree

·        Tickle reindeer

·        Ring the bell

·        Hug Santa

Try an action that’s unexpected and funny. Pretend the deer’s horns have poked your finger and dramatically say “Ouch!” Even if a child can’t say “ouch” yet, he can still pretend he’s hurt. If a toddler understands early pretending, he’ll usually try to imitate your overreaction, especially if you make it dramatic and silly.

Try other kinds of actions that look like gestures or beginning sign language. Pick up the snowman, shiver as if you’re freezing, and say, “Snowman is cold! Brrrrr! Cold! Brrrr!” Other fun signs I’ve introduced with this puzzle:

·        Candy

·        Horse

·        Deer

·        Tree

·        General signs for requesting such as “more” or “please”

Songs and finger plays are a great way to get this kind of imitation going! Try:

·        Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

·        Jingle Bells – lifting your arms on “Hey!”

·        Make up your own song! In the video, I shared a play routine I use for bells.

Teach a Child to Imitate Mouth Movements

When kids are ready to move on and try something that’s a little harder (and closer to talking since they’re now using their mouths), try getting them to imitate specific mouth movements. Ideas for this puzzle include:

·        Blowing the candle

·        Pretending to eat the gingerbread cookie

·        Pretending to lick the candy cane

·        Blowing kisses to the angel or Santa

·        Clicking your tongue to sound like a horse’s hoof

**If we’re strictly following this hierarchy, the example I provided first, kissing the angel, would fall here at this level. AND… please know that your only goal here is to help a child learn to imitate you. Blowing, licking, and clicking aren’t ‘required’ to help a child learn to talk!**

Teach a Child Play Sounds

Next move on to play sounds and exclamatory words. This puzzle is fantastic for this! Try:

·        “Wow” for the star

·        “Ooo” and “Ah” for the angel or Christmas tree

·        “Neigh” for the horse

·        “Mmmm” for the candy or cookie

·        “Ho Ho Ho” for Santa

These kinds of play sounds are so much fun for all toddlers and “in – between steps” for toddlers who aren’t yet talking as well as you’d hope. By introducing speech-language skills in this very systematic way, you’ll be able to move a child from being non-verbal to saying real words and then finally talking in phrases and short sentences.

If you’d like more specific instructions for how to do that, I’ve done all the work for you! My book Building Verbal Imitation in Toddlers walks you through that entire process. You’ll get a chart to remind you of this progression and TONS of practical ideas and advice for helping a late talker begin to imitate you.

Until next time…

Laura

Get the puzzle for yourself!

The post Christmas Puzzle…Therapy Tip of the Week…12.7.16 appeared first on teachmetotalk.com.

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Are you trying to work with a late talker who has a super short attention span? You’re probably thinking… how is he ever going to learn to talk if he won’t listen and pay attention?

This can be super frustrating for us as therapists and as parents because we are trying everything we can to help a child learn to communicate, yet we’re met with lots of resistance or indifference by a child who doesn’t seem to want to stay with us and play together, or to listen as we try to teach them to say new words.

In this post and video, I want to share with you my best tips for helping a late talker learn to pay attention.

Tip #1… Change your approach!

The first issue we should tackle in this situation isn’t the child…it’s us!

We should do everything we can to make a child want to pay attention. By doing these things, we’ll be addressing a child’s underlying motivation and providing reasons for them to interact with us.

To begin, we need to think about how to woo late talkers to entice them to want to pay attention to us. The best way to do this is to change our own starting point when we interact with a child. We need to think about our own demeanor. Most of what we communicate to a toddler is nonverbally with our body language – meaning our facial expressions and tone of voice.

Look at yourself. Listen to yourself. Would you want to be with you right now? Do you look and sound happy and cheerful or are you too serious? Are you loving and playful or strict and demanding?

If it’s the latter, lighten up! Now is the time to have fun!

Remember, you want to capture a child’s attention and keep him with you, not drive her away with a bad attitude! Who wants to stick around with an adult who is mean? No one… and certainly not a language-delayed toddler or preschooler!

Tip #2… Avoid behavioral directives and commands.

As parents and therapists this advice can be so difficult to follow! Instinctively we tell our children and clients what to do. But here’s the truth…

You can’t make a busy toddler stick with an activity simply by saying things like ‘Listen to me,” or “Sit down and pay attention!” You’ve probably already tried that too! It doesn’t work.

With super young kids, you also can’t punish them enough to make them cooperative. That always backfires and leaves a child so upset and emotionally dysregulated that they can’t pay attention to you or learn from you.

We should learn to turn off our “bossy” selves and try something different. No commands. No “do this or else.” Focus on having fun and enjoying yourself as you play together.

Tip #3… Offer a “WOW” factor!

For toddlers and preschoolers with fleeting attention spans, it’s best to begin with a toy or activity that includes a big visual “wow” factor and makes it virtually impossible for a child to continue to ignore you!

In this Therapy Tip of the Week video, I want to show you a toy that satisfies this requirement.

It’s this cool sphere ball! (An Amazon link is at the bottom of the post if you’d like to get one for yourself.)

Most toddlers naturally gravitate toward these kinds of toys because they’re novel, but sometimes we meet kids who don’t seem to like much of anything at first. You’ll have to show them how fun the toy is and teach them how to play.

But sometimes we make lots of mistakes when we work with a child like this. Let me show you how in tip #4…

Tip #4… Avoid Common Mistakes with Toys

Some adults begin by showing a child a cool toy and saying something like..

“Look… a cool ball…”

That rarely works because you’ve not given him any real reason to stop what he’s already doing.

Instead, like I’ve already mentioned, you’ve got to make yourself fun to listen to and to watch. Now is not the time to sound flat or be expressionless! Use an animated tone of voice and facial expressions to give a child a reason to notice you and your cool toy. Say something like,

“Wow!! Look! My ball! See! Watch!”

Let’s look at another common mistake…

Some adults think they should just hand the a cool toy over to the child and see what happens. Don’t do that – it virtually guarantees you’ll be left out! Instead, keep full control of the ball so that a child doesn’t take it and turn his back on you. Play with the ball yourself and act like you are having the time of your life. Open and close the ball several times so that she can see how it works.

Tip #5… Introduce Cute, Interactive Games

Once you have a child’s attention, quickly move on to a cute interactive game. Make up your own or use one of the ones in the video. Here are the words for my favorite song for this ball I learned from another therapist years ago:

A little ball

A bigger ball

A great big ball I see.

Ooooh!

Let’s make it big again!

1…2…3!

Remember to use your voice here to sound as fun as possible which will go a long way in helping him notice you and stay with you to check out what you’re doing.

Tip #6… If the child still isn’t interested, try a simpler game.

That song will be not be as effective for some toddlers with language delays because you’re using too many words. If the child is still not paying attention, go simpler. Quickly open and close the ball as you say:

Open…. Shut!

Open… Shut!

Tip #7… Use the games to teach a child to talk.

For late talkers who are a little further along developmentally, you can certainly work on teaching early words. Do this with the little song and verbal routine we just discussed. Your goal is for the child to say the word that comes last in your song.

For example, in the previous “Little Ball” song, your goal would be for the child to say the last word in the line of the song which is “three.” Look at the words again. You’ll say:

A little ball

A bigger ball

A great big ball I see.

Ooooh!

Let’s make it big again!

Before you say the last line, lean in toward the child, use an anticipatory tone of voice and facial expression as you slowly count… “1…2…” and then look at him expectantly and wait for him to say 3. Read more about this technique here.

You can also use this same strategy for the simple version of the game “Open… Shut!” After you’ve played “Open… shut… open… shut” a dozen or so times, pause and look expectantly at the child when it’s his turn to say “shut.”

This method is called “The Close Method” and it often sets the stage for a late talker to fill in the word. Once he’s heard the routine enough to remember it, it’s a highly effective strategy for many toddlers and preschoolers.

Tip #8… If that’s not working, back up and try early sound imitation games.

Another fantastic way to use this toy is to elicit any kind of early sound imitation. Here’s my best trick for this strategy. Place the ball over the child’s head if she’ll tolerate it without getting scared or mad. Then gradually close the ball while you say something like,

“Uh oh… uh oh… uh oh… “

When it’s very near her little head, playfully scream or squeal!

As you yell, quickly open the ball — that’s the exciting part for toddlers.

Repeat the routine and expectantly wait for her to scream.

This is an easy way to help a child begin to imitate your sounds. You may think screaming isn’t the best way to teach a child to talk, but you’ll have to begin with sounds that are easy to imitate. For more information about this approach, read this post.

Tip #9… Teach Size Words

I also like using this toy to teach size words such as little and big. You can do that both receptively – meaning the child understands the words little and big – and expressively meaning he says the words too. Say the words “big” and “little” as you open and close the ball. Be sure to keep it fun and playful!

Tip #10… Work on Improving Eye Contact

When you’re playing together, if a child is super hard to engage and has some visual preferences, capture his attention by looking through the ball at him from different angles. This has been a super effective way for me to get a child to make and maintain eye contact with me for even a few seconds as we play together.

Wrap Up

There you have it… several ways to use this cool sphere ball with late talkers to target your goals of improving attention and participation, increasing social interaction with more eye contact, and of course, saying some new words.

All these goals begin with sustained attention. Helping a busy toddler improve his attention span is a key skill many late talkers must improve before we can begin to successfully teach them to talk. Many times, parents overlook the importance of these skills that must come first. Speech-language pathologists call these things prelinguistic skills. Don’t let that word intimidate you. “Pre” simply means skills that come before or first and linguistics just means language.

There are 11 different prelinguistic skills all kids learn before they begin to use words to communicate. My therapy manual Let’s Talk About Talking walks you through each of those 11 skills in a very logical, sequential manner that’s easy to understand and follow. It’s super useful for parents who are working with late talkers at home and for professionals who see kids at home, clinical, and school-based programs. The book is FULL of ideas like this ball idea to target each of those all-important skills.

Since its release, I’ve been flooded with emails about how successful the activities have been for both parents and therapists. If you’re working with a late talker, this manual will be the resource you reach for time and time again to give you more ideas and guide your efforts so that you can maximize your own effectiveness. Why bother doing something if it doesn’t work? The activities in Let’s Talk About Talking do work and I know you’re going to have as much success with them as I have.

Amazon Links

If you like the cool toy, get one yourself from this link:

The bigger size I use in the video —

A smaller size —

The post Help Late Talkers with a Short Attention Span… Therapy Tip of the Week Video 6.1.2018 appeared first on teachmetotalk.com.

Try CHOICES!

Especially motivating choices!

As soon as a kid can (try to) imitate words, get choices going! You’ll significantly increase the frequency of vocalizations with this ONE CHANGE in how YOU interact with a late talker.

Watch instructions for successfully implementing this powerful strategy in the video below:

In case you’re wondering…

the FANTASTIC toy is from Walmart and is called Kid Connection Rollin’ Ramp. It’s the BEST $19.99 I’ve spent in a long, long time : )

If you need more ideas for using strategies and toys like this one, get my new therapy manual Let’s Talk About Talking… Ways to Strengthen the 11 Skills Toddlers Master Before Words Emerge. On sale through December – big price increase is coming January 1, 2018. Get your copy now and save!

The post Can’t Get a Toddler to Talk Consistently? Try CHOICES! Therapy Tip of the Week 12.9.17 appeared first on teachmetotalk.com.

If you’ve picked up any parenting book or studied anything related to educating children for at least 5 minutes, you know that you should be reading to a young child pretty much from the time he exits the womb…

That’s fantastic advice for all parents and books are certainly a wonderful choice for speech-language pathologists who work with young children.

There’s no wrong way or right way to go about reading to a young child who is meeting all of her developmental milestones. You read. She listens. She understands. She talks. End of story. That’s typical development.

BUT using a few special strategies with toddlers with speech-language, cognitive, and other developmental delays can make books exponentially better teaching tools!

By changing HOW we read to a toddler who is having difficulty learning to understand and use words, we can help him link meaning to words and eventually begin to use those words to talk.

I’ve also had incredible success using books to teach young children to play with toys. Most toddlers, even some who aren’t yet talking, have no difficulty learning to play. However, many of our little friends with developmental delays don’t instinctively understand what to do with toys until we teach them. Young children who are on the autism spectrum or who are at risk for autism really struggle with developing and expanding their play skills. They may prefer to line up or spin a toy or hoard a group of toys rather than play. Toddlers with cognitive delays may chew, throw, or ignore a toy, much like a younger baby would, rather than play purposefully.

This fall I’ve worked with several families who have desperately needed these strategies since each of these kids have had HUGE visual interests and strengths, but also have had significant language delays…. in other words, these little guys love books and videos, but they’re not talking, following directions consistently, or playing with many toys. Each of these kids had also plateaued in therapy sessions and needed some new ideas to jump start their progress.

Earlier this month I filmed a video specifically for one child’s therapy team and extended family to provide concrete instructions for using books more effectively during therapy.

After watching, I realized how beneficial it would be to share something like this here at teachmetotalk.com to reach many, many, many more families.

Let me highlight a few of the goals for reading books with toddlers so you don’t miss them when you’re watching! Some of these things may be pretty subtle to you as an adult, but each can be a BIG step for a young child with a speech-language delay or disorder. As we read books in this way, we help a child learn to:

1. Pay attention.

2. Share an experience.

3. Understand new words.

4. Follow simple directions.

5. Play with toys purposefully.

6. Use early gestures such as pointing, waving, and clapping.

7. Imitate early vocalizations and play sounds.

8. Repeat familiar words.

Let me remind you that this entire list, ALL of these skills, are a part of learning to talk and are necessary steps for every young child before he or she begins to use words. Toddlers who are verbal pick up these skills pretty quickly. Our friends who are late talkers will need some help mastering some (or all) of these important milestones.

And just so you know, I could probably expand this list to 25+ goals for reading books with toddlers, but I don’t want to overwhelm you!

If  you’re a parent, I don’t want to scare you either. If your own child isn’t doing these things yet, THAT’S OKAY. You can play a big, big part in helping him!

If you’re a therapist, these are the same strategies we should teach parents so that they too can continue to work with a child long after a therapy session ends. I believe the best way to teach moms, dads, and everyone else involved (including preschool and daycare teachers, grandparents, and older siblings who are eager to help!) is to model or SHOW them all of the things they can do with a book! Explain what you’re doing as you read so that a parent or teacher understands your purpose and more importantly, knows that he or she can successfully use these same techniques. If your program isn’t set up for you to work with parents and other caregivers, or if you’re uncomfortable with direct teaching, sending them a link for this post is much, much better than doing nothing : ) If you’re looking for information to share with larger groups of families within your agency, program or school, here it is! As long as you credit me and link back to this article, please feel free to share this post on your websites and social media pages.

So no matter what your role is, whether you’re a concerned parent or a therapist perusing the internet, my purpose is to give you some different things to try. I want you to SEE and HEAR examples of reading a cute and fun book and hopefully, work in at least a couple of new ideas, for you and for that sweet little one who’s listening!

In this video I’m using a book from one of my all-time favorite series for toddlers… Little Blue Truck. This version is Christmas-themed, but the strategies can be adapted for ANY children’s book. All you need is the book, the kid, and you! If you’re working on play skills too, gather some toys or props similar to the ones in your book.

Although the video was not filmed with a child, it’s EXACTLY how I and other effective pediatric speech-language pathologists use books to target a multitude of goals during speech therapy with toddlers.

As you watch, think about how you can adapt these strategies. Sometimes a few tweaks here and there are all you need to make reading books much, much better! I wish you fantastic success as you read to your little ones!

One more thing… I hope you notice a predominant strategy is REPETITION! Toddlers need to hear things over and over and over in order to learn how to understand and then say a new word!

Finally…. you can watch now : )

Link for the book in case you want to get it:

Until next time –

Laura

—————————————————————————–
My therapy manuals are SO helpful for therapists who work with toddlers birth to 3. Click the links for more info!

Teach Me To Play WITH You

Teach Me To Talk: The Therapy Manual

Building Verbal Imitation in Toddlers

The post Using Books to Teach Toddlers Language and Play… VIDEO from teachmetotalk.com appeared first on teachmetotalk.com.

Christmas Speech Therapy Ideas for Toddlers

It’s time to start planning the therapy activities you’ll use for your little friends during the month of December.

Here’s one of my all-time favorite holiday speech therapy games to play with toddlers:

Matching Christmas Bows and Paper

I’ve used this game year after year for the last 15 years or so. I’ve even introduced this game to daycare and preschool teachers who always report that it’s a hit with all kinds of young children from toddlers who are just beginning to play a structured game to preschoolers as old as 4 or 5 who like to “race.”

All you’ll need is a package of solid color bows and matching pieces of poster board. With single children or a child and her siblings at home, I use pieces of construction paper for smaller spaces.

Watch the video for more details and for additional ways to modify the game to target both expressive and receptive language goals.

I hope it’s as fun for you and your little friends as it has been for mine!

Happy playing!

Laura

The post Christmas Therapy Tip of the Week appeared first on teachmetotalk.com.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday!

The post Teaching Gestures…Thanksgiving Therapy Tip of the Week 11.16.17 appeared first on teachmetotalk.com.

• social interaction,
• developing an attention span,
• participating in a small group activity,
• receptive language,
• imitation, and
• expressive language?

​Have I got a game (or two!) for you!!

Even though Halloween is over, you may still have some pumpkins hanging around. If so, I have two super cute social games for toddlers! Both activities are more fun with groups of toddlers in daycare or preschool settings or even with a mom, a therapist, and a child.

Your primary goal is to help a toddler who has difficulty with social interaction and sharing experiences (or toys!) with other children. I’ve also used these little games to teach toddlers to participate in a circle time routine when they usually don’t show much interest or have any “staying power.”

(If you’re more of a reader, a written summary is below the video.)

Pass the Pumpkin…Fall Therapy Ideas for Toddlers

Everyone should sit on the floor in a circle. Be sure kids are spaced closely enough to easily pass the pumpkin from person to person.

Introduce the game by enthusiastically telling the group that you’re going to play a fun game by saying, “Look! I have a pumpkin! Pumpkin!”

Explain the rules by saying something like, “Let’s play a game! Our game is called “Pass the Pumpkin!” Here’s how we play… pass the pumpkin around our circle while we sing the pumpkin song! When it’s your turn, take the pumpkin from your friend, and then give it to the next friend beside you. Are you ready? Let’s play!”

Begin the game as you sing these words to the tune of “Frere Jacques” or “Are You Sleeping?”

Pass the pumpkin. Pass the pumpkin.

All around. All around.

Fall is coming. Fall is coming.

To our town. To our town.

Be prepared to step in to provide quick physical assistance if a child doesn’t want to pass the pumpkin to the next child. Place these kinds of kids beside you or another adult so that the game moves along like it should without too many verbal disruptions. Don’t ruin it for everyone by constantly stopping to cue (or reprimand!) a child who hoards the pumpkin. Expect it and have your plan ready! If you’re really desperate, hold that child in your lap as you play so that you can teach him to take the pumpkin and then pass it to the next person.

When you begin to sense that a child’s attention and interest is waning, move on to the next variation…

Roll the Pumpkin

In this game, a child rolls the pumpkin to someone seated across from him.

To begin, hold the pumpkin and excitedly say, “Let’s play a new game. Let’s roll pumpkins to our friends.” (Or to our family if you’re at home.)

Say something like, “I roll the pumpkin to ____!” or even something simpler like, “Roll to Mommy.”

Initially, choose the child who is most likely to play appropriately. If the child you’re working with needs to see a few turns before he will understand the game, roll the pumpkin between two adults to model how to play. Again, if necessary, be prepared to provide physical assistance so the child catches the pumpkin and then rolls the pumpkin to someone else.

If you’re working on gestures, have a child point to the person he will roll the pumpkin to next. Ask, “Who will you roll to? Mommy? Where’s Mommy?” Model pointing and help him point if he doesn’t.

If a child is already talking, ask him the question and wait for him to say a person’s name. Calling family members and little friends by name is a HUGE milestone for late talkers!

If a child likes verbal routines or is working on early words, add “Ready, Set, Go!” to create anticipation as you roll the pumpkin. Encourage a toddler to complete the verbal routine by saying, “Ready…… Set……” and expectantly waiting for him to say, “Go!’

Don’t get too wordy in the beginning or add too many steps to the game at once. Your initial goal should be to encourage the child to participate and play with others. When a toddler wants to leave the game, it’s usually because you’re trying to accomplish too many things. Select what she’s most likely to like (and do!) and stick with that one goal at first. Add new goals only when she is successful.

Imitating Actions

Other variations include modeling actions for a child to imitate or verbal directions for him to follow. Try pat the pumpkin, kiss the pumpkin, rub the pumpkin, sit on the pumpkin, hide the pumpkin, etc…

Imitating any action is a big step for many late talking toddlers!

Goals

Therapists email me often (as in every day!) with questions about documentation for games like this. Include goals like…

• participating in a structured activity. (Did he sit through several rounds or did he leave? Will he come back with verbal cues or did you have to go get him and bring him back? What cues did you use?)
• following directions during a group activity. (Did he receive/pass the pumpkin on command? Does he roll the pumpkin? Did he complete other requests?)
• social interaction skills like joint attention and eye contact. (Did he “follow” the pumpkin as it moves around the circle? Does she make and maintain eye contact with other kids/adults as she takes and gives the pumpkin?)
• gestures. (Did he point to the people he picked when playing the rolling game? Can he imitate waving to the pumpkin? Did he nod or shake his head to answer yes/no questions?)
• imitating actions. (Does she copy your actions on request?)

These areas are prelinguistic skills that all toddlers learn before they begin to communicate. When a child isn’t talking yet, you can trace it back to one of these 11 areas.

Let me help you!

I’ll teach you these 11 skills in my new therapy manual Let’s Talk About Talking…Ways to Strengthen the 11 Skills All Toddlers Master Before Words Emerge. 

It’s filled with TONS of great therapy activities tied to those prelinguistic skills. There’s no more guessing what your goals should be or how to work on them in fun, developmentally appropriate activities! I’ve done the hard work for you! All you have to do is read! : )

If you’d like more information, check out details in this link.

See other fall therapy ideas for toddlers:

All the Leaves

Brown Squirrel

Hello Mr. Turkey

The post Pass The Pumpkin…Fall Therapy Ideas for Toddlers…Therapy Tip of the Week 11.13.17 appeared first on teachmetotalk.com.

I am continuing my series of fall songs and this is the second segment.

Most young children love music activities and singing songs.

But occasionally, a toddler will cover his ears or act uncomfortable when you sing, but his negative responses are due to his own auditory sensitivities, not your ability! When this happens, we should find a way to adjust to see if singing differently makes it more tolerable for a kid who hates singing!

Don’t sing…chant!

My favorite strategy when I run across a child like this is to try chanting – which is what we’ll be doing in this activity today. Speaking I this rhythmic, almost whispery way, can be very enticing for children who don’t like singing.

Music resets the vibe (for all of us!)

Music is important strategy for pediatric therapists because it can set (or reset!) the emotional vibe for all of us. It works well for adults who are feeling at a loss for what to try when things are falling apart. When all else fails, SING!

It works even better for toddlers with developmental delays who are dysregulated. Music can redirect or shift their focus away from external factors that have triggered a negative response. The right song can be calming for kids who are overstimulated. If you don’t want to be quite so technical about it, music can help a kid who’s in a plain old bad mood start to feel a little happier!

We should always have a song or two ready to go for these situations. Traditional songs are fine, of course, but today I want to teach you a super cute song for fall. This one is about squirrels.

Brown Squirrel

“Squirrel” will likely be a HARD word for lots of toddlers to say – especially for late talkers who are struggling to acquire speech-language skills. Now is not the time to be picky about articulation! Accept any approximation of this phonetically complex word!

Anytime a concept is new, it helps to have a visual representation to help kids link meaning. Since squirrel will be new for most toddlers, I sing this song when I’m outside with a kid or looking out the window and we’ve seen a squirrel. Otherwise, get yourself some kind of squirrel to use to make this word come to life.

My current favorite “squirrel” to use with toddlers is from a super cute board game called Sneaky Snacky Squirrel. I sing this song to extend the game with kids during sessions. Read this post for more ways to use this game with late talkers.

This song has fun hand motions, too, (watch the video!) which is a tip for helping redirect a child’s attention and reset his emotional response. I get a better response from toddlers when we sing this song standing. You may know this song as Grey Squirrel, but I sing it as brown squirrel since all of my props are brown!

The words are…

Brown Squirrel, Brown Squirrel

Shake your bushy tail.

Brown Squirrel, Brown Squirrel

Shake your bushy tail.

Wrinkle up your little nose,

Put a nut between your toes,

Brown Squirrel, Brown Squirrel,

Shake your bushy tail.

Variations

For variations, change the color word if you’d like to add more verses. When you’re working with a child who is obsessed with color words, you could certainly draw him in by changing the colors in this song.

Lots of adults may think about using this song to teaching or reinforcing color words for toddlers, but I’m not a fan of using my therapy time to teach these words to late talkers who have limited vocabularies. They need more functional words! Read about that here.

However, I do love this song for teaching body parts! In this song, you’ll work on “nose” and “toes,” very important words for toddlers!

More Resources

If you’d like more therapy ideas like this, especially to target receptive language, let me direct your attention to my newest resource for parents and professionals. It’s called Let’s Talk About Talking…Ways to Strengthen the 11 Skills All Toddlers Master Before Words Emerge. You’ll find 300+ pages of ways to work with late talkers! It’s filled with tons and tons of great therapy activities tied to prelinguistic skills that ALL kids must master before they begin to talk. Get more information at this link!

The post Brown Squirrel…Fall Songs for Toddlers…Therapy Tip of the Week 11.11.17 appeared first on teachmetotalk.com.

Over the next few Therapy Tip of the Week segments, I’m going to teach you my favorite songs for fall for late talking toddlers.

Lots of us know Christmas carols or songs for other holidays, but sometimes we’re at a loss for songs for fall. When we don’t sing, we’re missing a real opportunity here because singing is a fabulous strategy to use to get and keep a busy toddler’s attention.

Many times, when a child is constantly on the go, music will stop him in his tracks!

When you add hand motions too, you’re making it even more likely he will listen and pay attention. Anytime we’re involving more than one sense (listening and watching), we’re more likely to be successful in our attempts to engage a child. Hand/body motions also give late talkers a way to participate and “do their part,” even when they can’t sing along.

Today’s little song is about leaves. To make this song make sense for toddlers, be sure that you’re pointing out the leaves falling off the trees outside.

The best way to do this is to sing the song when you’re outside and you can show a child the leaves on the ground and then point up to the leaves in the trees as you talk about how they fall to the ground.

If that’s impractical for you, you can look out the window and talk about the leaves on the trees and on the ground, or bring some leaves inside to discuss.

This year I found some fantastic artificial leaves at WalMart and Hobby Lobby that are perfect for this song. You can always do an extension of this activity by using these leaves to make sensory bins. I’ll be doing another therapy tip of the week about that soon – so stay tuned for that!

Here are the words for this song. Sing it to the tune of London Bridge and wiggle your fingers as you move your hands in a downward motion:

All the leaves are falling down,

Falling down, falling down.

All the leaves are falling down

On the ground.

The second verse includes a whole body movement – pretend like you’re raking leaves as you sing:

Take a rake and rake them up

Rake them up, Rake them up.

Take a rake and rake them up.

On the ground.

If you want to use a real prop and can find a child-sized rake, it’s perfect for this song. Otherwise, use the pretend motion for raking. This helps a child become symbolic thinkers (and language users!) as they learn to pretend.

The last verse has another whole body movement – jumping in place. Of course, you’ll want to include this fun part for toddlers!

Make a pile and jump right in,

Jump right in, jump right in.

Make a pile and jump right in,

On the ground.

This song has been a big hit for me for years now, and I know it will be for you too!

Little kids love, love, love these kinds of songs! If you need resources for help you increase your own song bank, I have 2 great recommendations for you!

Check out my book Teach Me To Play with You. It’s filled with songs and hand motions along with step by step instructions with goals for working with late talking toddlers during speech therapy sessions

The second one is my new therapy manual Let’s Talk About Taking…Ways to Strengthen the 11 Skills All Toddlers Master Before Words Emerge. In it you’ll find 300+ pages of information to target prelinguistic skills that all kids learn before they begin to talk. Check it out here.

That’s all for today! I’m Laura Mize, pediatric speech-language pathologist and thanks for watching teachmetotalk.com’s Therapy Tip of the Week.

The post Fall Songs for Toddlers… All the Leaves… Therapy Tip of the Week 11.8.17 appeared first on teachmetotalk.com.

TALK IN A BUCKET

In this activity, a child learns to vocalize with early, easy sounds.

How to Play and What to Say:
Select a container such as a plastic bucket, a metal bowl, or a large pot. My favorite container for this activity is a plastic jack-o-lantern or pumpkin that children use to collect Halloween candy. Many stores sell these little buckets and plastic containers for other holidays too like Valentine’s Day and Easter.

Sit on the floor or anywhere that’s eye level and face-to-face with a toddler. Call her name to get her attention and then say something like, “Look!”

Lean over and place your mouth just above the opening of the container and model a sound.

In the beginning, make this as easy as possible for her. Think of something you hear her say regularly. It could be a sound effect like an animal sound or a car noise. If she’s a frequent crier, pretend to cry into the container. Or try babbling or using a syllable or word attempt she tries to say. For example, if she says “da” for that or for Daddy, model that sound in the bucket a few more times. Elongated vowels like “ah” and “ooo” work well for this too.

Try to maintain eye contact with her as you produce the sound so that she’s focused on you and paying attention.

If you liked this activity, you’ll find over 100+ more therapy ideas just like this one in my new book Let’s Talk About Talking…Ways to Strengthen the 11 Skills All Toddlers Master Before Words Emerge. 

Watch a Therapy Tip of the Week with this strategy:

The post Teach a Child to Vocalize…Therapy Tip of the Week 10.27.19 appeared first on teachmetotalk.com.

In this Therapy Tip of the Week video (at the bottom of the page), we’re discussing the last little book in this Halloween series, Room on the Broom. This is a super cute book appropriate for children at the upper end of the developmental range for those of us who work in birth to 3 programs. Kids with receptive language delays may not enjoy this book since it contains very rich vocabulary that may be beyond what they can process, but older preschoolers will certainly love it.

In the previous 2 videos about books (Spookie Pookie and It’s Pumpkin Day, Mouse), we talked about 3 components for making book reading successful with toddlers.

1. Set Up The preparation piece including what you’ll do to make this book exciting and meaningful for a child.
2. Reading the Book Planning how you’ll read and what you will do to specifically target language for each child.
3. Play activity Designing a real-life activity that makes book come to life! This is especially important for toddlers with receptive language and cognitive delays. They need experience to help the words in the book make sense AND to give them a reason to stay with you as you read.

Set Up…MANIPULATIVES can make a book more appealing.

One way to help a child stay with you as you read is to provide MANIPULATIVES or objects a child can hold and handle as they listen.

You may think it’s counter-intuitive to give a child something else to do rather than focus on the book, but I promise, manipulatives work well to keep busy toddlers engaged (and still!) as you read. Essentially, you’re giving them something relevant to do so that they don’t have to get up and move around to fill their internal drive to explore.

For this activity, I Googled the book title Room on the Broom and found a set of pictures with characters from the book on this blog. After I downloaded, printed, and laminated each character, I attached clothes pins so kids can easily make the witch and her friends play. I found sets of small brooms too (from Hobby Lobby and WalMart) to make recreating the story more fun.

Reading the book together…Focus on receptive language too!

I plan to use this book for targeting lots of receptive language goals, depending on where a child is functioning. Here are some ideas for different developmental levels:

You can begin with the obvious by asking a child to identify objects by pointing such as:

• Where’s the cat?
• Find the witch.
• Show me the hat.

What’s even more fun is to have a toddler follow simple, interactive directions like:

• Pat the dog.
• Kiss the owl.
• Look – that witch’s hat blew off. Show me how to blow!

Reading the book together…Choose correct expressive language goals.

Kids who are further along developmentally may be able to answer simple questions about the book, but most toddlers and preschoolers won’t be able to do that until you’ve read the book many, many times.

Many toddlers will be able to name the pictures as you talk about them. If you’ll use the “close” method, it will make this task even easier. Begin a sentence and wait for a child to fill-in-the-blank. For example, “The witch wears a _____,” and wait for the child to say “hat.” If a child doesn’t respond, use lots of visual cues too – either with your manipulatives or pictures in the book.

For toddlers who aren’t talking very much yet, try easier options with play sounds and exclamatory words. The book is full of those opportunities for animal sounds and words like “Uh oh” and “Oh no!”

Playing…My Favorite!

The most fun part of the book for most toddlers (and me!) is your follow-up activity. Ideas for this story include using your manipulatives to retell the story. Be careful about trying to elicit any book word for word! You want a child’s responses to be spontaneous and not echolalic!

Another fantastic play idea for active (any!) toddler is pretending to fly on the broom like the witch and her friends. Use a small one from a pretend housekeeping set or mom’s broom. Either way will be tons of fun!

One last idea is also take-off from the plot. In this book, the witch’s hat blows off and the characters must look to find it. Get your own witch’s hat and hide it in various places around the room while the child closes his eyes. Help a child follow directions to find the hat based on his language level. At the most basic level, say things like, “Look! The hat’s in the chair!” or “The hat is on the table. Look!” Point to help direct a child’s focus and you’ll be targeting joint attention. For kids who are much further along with language, you’ll be able to target directions with functions like, “Look where you take a bath.”

Wrap Up

With this book, we talked about strengthening 3 different areas:

1. Developing a longer attention span by using manipulatives
2. Receptive language by following simple and more complex directions
3. Imitating at various levels with actions, play sounds and exclamatory words, all valuable in-between steps before a child is able to imitate words

Each of these is prerequisite skill for talking. Sometimes we forget about just how important these skills are for late talkers. You can find out more great ideas for working on these areas in my new therapy manual Let’s Talk About Talking. Pre-order your copy now!

Get the book on Amazon with this link:

**Amazon affiliates earn a very small commission on purchases.

The post Room on the Broom…Halloween Speech Therapy Ideas for Toddlers appeared first on teachmetotalk.com.

(I wish I could pick the thumbnail…)

Halloween Speech Therapy Ideas for Toddlers and Preschoolers

I’m continuing my Halloween series with another terrific book idea for speech therapy for toddlers and preschoolers. To make book reading an effective language-teaching activity, think about 3 components before you get started:

Set Up  What materials will you need?

Reading Together  Plan when, what, and how you’ll read.

Play Activity  Bring the book to life!

Today we’re using It’s Pumpkin Day, Mouse from the If You Give a Mouse a Cookie series. In this one, the mouse is painting pumpkins for Halloween, a much easier and safer option than carving for little kids!

Painting is always fun for toddlers and preschoolers!

If you use washable paint, it’s even better. Wash it off to do it over and over! Although the paint is washable, don’t forget about planning for the mess. Gather paper towels or a cloth for the inevitable spills.

Even then, spills provide reasons to help children learn to solve problems. When something spills say, “Uh oh! Look! Oh no! Paint! On the table…what should we do?” Give them a chance to come up with a solution. If they don’t, walk them through it for valuable and practical teaching time.

If painting is not your thing, try these alternatives…

Draw on the pumpkins with markers instead. Toddlers LOVE this idea! It’s super novel for them and super easy for you!

If you hate those messy ideas, you can always use Potato Head parts to decorate the pumpkins.

For set up, get yourself a pumpkin or 2 and pick a way to decorate it.

The second part is thinking about reading the book together and what your focus will be as you do that. On each page in the book, the mouse paints different facial expressions on the pumpkins. If you’re an SLP, you already realize what a great activity this is for all toddlers, but especially for our little friends who struggle with social referencing.

What is Social Referencing?

Social referencing means noticing others. Typically developing kids naturally look at other people. All this watching teaches them very early to read someone else’s facial expressions. This experience leads to making inferences or predictions about how someone feels by noting their faces – mostly their eyes and mouths.

Our little friends with decreased social engagement do not benefit from this same learning history. They are not drawn to looking at faces so naturally, they’re not going to understand emotion words because they lack that natural drive to watch other people. Their little systems are wired differently so we should guide them through obtaining this experience.

Rather than nagging them, it’s best to practice this behavior in naturalistic, non-confrontational activities like these. We should give a child a REASON TO MAKE EYE CONTACT!

This kind of activity is a much better way to do this than by looking at flashcards with face after face. No wonder toddlers don’t love that! It’s not fun! In this cute book, we’ll do something different.

Make this book interactive!

Model the facial expressions that mouse paints on the pumpkin as you read together. For example, when you see the sad face, pretend to cry.

When you’re modeling facial expressions, now is not the time to hold back! Go for it! Exaggerate. Get super animated! Your goal is for the child to look at you…and keep looking at you. Ham it up! Add sound effects too! Make yourself fun to listen to and watch. Remember, this gives a child a REASON to look at you.

Some toddlers may try to copy you during this activity by making the same facial expression, and that is fabulous! Imitating others is an important prerequisite for talking.

Even if a child can’t imitate the expression just yet, it’s not a big deal. Just help him learn to watch your face and eyes.

If a child doesn’t seem to notice you, try a little harder. Get within his line of vision. Hold your face close to his.

Don’t worry about being too over-the-top during this activity. Get into it. Little kids love this… I promise!

Don’t stop at reading! It’s time to play!

After you’ve read the book a few times, now it’s time to paint your pumpkins! Even though it can be messy, or even a little frustrating for you, prepare, put on your happy pants, and paint!

Toddlers benefit from new experiences like these to help their little brains develop. I’ve written lots about that lately in my post “Did You Know? Facts about Language Development” at teachmetotalk.com. Check that out if you have not seen that already.

Wrap Up

In this video, I mentioned two very important areas we should be strengthening in late talkers in preparation for helping them learn to talk and communicate:

1. Social referencing which is a vital part of responding to people.
2. Imitation skills which means copying someone else’s actions, gestures, sounds, or words.

Both are part of the 11 skills all toddlers must master before words emerge. Sometimes when we work with late talkers, we skip all of the things that must come first. We think, “This kid’s not talking so I’m going to teach him to speak.”

It’s often not that easy, as you may already know! But, I can help you with that!! My new book Let’s Talk About Talking tells you exactly what all those prerequisite skills are and how to strengthen those that are weaker in toddlers with language delays. The book will be released in November of 2018, but you can pre-order now here.

I hope you’re enjoying my Halloween speech therapy ideas for toddlers! More to come…

Laura

If you want to get yourself a copy of this cute book and can’t get to the store (I picked up mine at Walmart!), here’s a link from Amazon:

*Amazon affiliates earn a small commission from purchases.

The post It’s Pumpkin Day, Mouse…Therapy Tip of the Week 10.19.17 appeared first on teachmetotalk.com.

I’m continuing my Halloween series with another terrific book idea for speech therapy for toddlers and preschoolers. To make book reading an effective language-teaching activity, think about 3 components before you get started:

Set Up  What materials will you need?

Reading Together  Plan when, what, and how you’ll read.

Play Activity  Bring the book to life!

Today we’re using It’s Pumpkin Day, Mouse from the If You Give a Mouse a Cookie series. In this one, the mouse is painting pumpkins for Halloween, a much easier and safer option than carving for little kids!

Painting is always fun for toddlers and preschoolers!

If you use washable paint, it’s even better. Wash it off to do it over and over! Although the paint is washable, don’t forget about planning for the mess. Gather paper towels or a cloth for the inevitable spills.

Even then, spills provide reasons to help children learn to solve problems. When something spills say, “Uh oh! Look! Oh no! Paint! On the table…what should we do?” Give them a chance to come up with a solution. If they don’t, walk them through it for valuable and practical teaching time.

If painting is not your thing, try these alternatives…

Draw on the pumpkins with markers instead. Toddlers LOVE this idea! It’s super novel for them and super easy for you!

If you hate those messy ideas, you can always use Potato Head parts to decorate the pumpkins.

For set up, get yourself a pumpkin or 2 and pick a way to decorate it.

The second part is thinking about reading the book together and what your focus will be as you do that. On each page in the book, the mouse paints different facial expressions on the pumpkins. If you’re an SLP, you already realize what a great activity this is for all toddlers, but especially for our little friends who struggle with social referencing.

What is Social Referencing?

Social referencing means noticing others. Typically developing kids naturally look at other people. All this watching teaches them very early to read someone else’s facial expressions. This experience leads to making inferences or predictions about how someone feels by noting their faces – mostly their eyes and mouths.

Our little friends with decreased social engagement do not benefit from this same learning history. They are not drawn to looking at faces so naturally, they’re not going to understand emotion words because they lack that natural drive to watch other people. Their little systems are wired differently so we should guide them through obtaining this experience.

Rather than nagging them, it’s best to practice this behavior in naturalistic, non-confrontational activities like these. We should give a child a REASON TO MAKE EYE CONTACT!

This kind of activity is a much better way to do this than by looking at flashcards with face after face. No wonder toddlers don’t love that! It’s not fun! In this cute book, we’ll do something different.

Make this book interactive!

Model the facial expressions that mouse paints on the pumpkin as you read together. For example, when you see the sad face, pretend to cry.

When you’re modeling facial expressions, now is not the time to hold back! Go for it! Exaggerate. Get super animated! Your goal is for the child to look at you…and keep looking at you. Ham it up! Add sound effects too! Make yourself fun to listen to and watch. Remember, this gives a child a REASON to look at you.

Some toddlers may try to copy you during this activity by making the same facial expression, and that is fabulous! Imitating others is an important prerequisite for talking.

Even if a child can’t imitate the expression just yet, it’s not a big deal. Just help him learn to watch your face and eyes.

If a child doesn’t seem to notice you, try a little harder. Get within his line of vision. Hold your face close to his.

Don’t worry about being too over-the-top during this activity. Get into it. Little kids love this… I promise!

Don’t stop at reading! It’s time to play!

After you’ve read the book a few times, now it’s time to paint your pumpkins! Even though it can be messy, or even a little frustrating for you, prepare, put on your happy pants, and paint!

Toddlers benefit from new experiences like these to help their little brains develop. I’ve written lots about that lately in my post “Did You Know? Facts about Language Development” at teachmetotalk.com. Check that out if you have not seen that already.

Wrap Up

In this video, I mentioned two very important areas we should be strengthening in late talkers in preparation for helping them learn to talk and communicate:

1. Social referencing which is a vital part of responding to people.
2. Imitation skills which means copying someone else’s actions, gestures, sounds, or words.

Both are part of the 11 skills all toddlers must master before words emerge. Sometimes when we work with late talkers, we skip all of the things that must come first. We think, “This kid’s not talking so I’m going to teach him to speak.”

It’s often not that easy, as you may already know! But, I can help you with that!! My new book Let’s Talk About Talking tells you exactly what all those prerequisite skills are and how to strengthen those that are weaker in toddlers with language delays. The book will be released in November of 2018, but you can pre-order now here.

I hope you’re enjoying my Halloween speech therapy ideas for toddlers! More to come…

Laura

If you want to get yourself a copy of this cute book and can’t get to the store (I picked up mine at Walmart!), here’s a link from Amazon:

*Amazon affiliates earn a small commission from purchases.

The post It’s Pumpkin Day, Mouse…Halloween Speech Therapy Ideas for Toddlers and Preschoolers appeared first on teachmetotalk.com.

Don’t think that it’s too late this season to begin this activity! You won’t be using the calendar in the traditional sense of “counting down to Christmas,” so it’s okay to use this activity ANY DAY in December, or frankly, any other day of the year too with a child whose well-established interest is recognizing numbers.

Watch here:

Written Summary

Traditionally, an Advent Calendar is a tool to help count-down the days and weeks until Christmas day. Of course, toddlers aren’t yet developmentally ready to comprehend concepts like time – especially days and weeks. Kids won’t understand those kinds of things until they are around kindergarten-age, so don’t worry about trying to teach those kinds of things to a late talking 1, 2 or 3 year-old! We have more important priorities!

However, some young children, particularly those with autism, can become obsessed with numbers, even when they’re saying few other words. When a child is demonstrating this kind of clear interest and activity preference, we can use that to help them learn other things that aren’t coming so easily for them, such as understanding and saying new words.

This is where an Advent Calendar can be a fantastic speech therapy tool! We can use a child’s interest in numbers to hook his or her attention and then increase participation with us for a language-learning task. (Remember – you’re not using the calendar to teach numbers to a toddler with no interest or developmental readiness!)

Watch the video for 3 different Advent Calendars and several ideas for therapy activities.

Fisher Price Advent Calendar

This version is a musical calendar with Velcro-backed ornaments for sticking on the Christmas tree. About half of the words/pictures on the ornaments are familiar words young children hear every day; the other half are holiday-related. Be sure to modify the vocabulary to make it more functional. For example, instead of poinsettia, you’d say “flower,” and rather than “cocoa” you’d say “cup.”

For new vocabulary, you’ll focus on teaching what the new words mean. Late talkers need to hear a new word over and over before we can expect them to remember it, understand what the word means, and eventually learn to say the word.

You can also use this kind of toy for helping a child learn to follow simple commands or select the correct ornament when you say things like, “Where’s the snowman?” or “Find the puppy.” Or set out several choices and ask a child “Get the _____.” When he finds the correct choice, he can put it on the tree. When a child makes a mistake, don’t emphasize it. Watch the video for how to redirect a child’s wrong responses.

I purchased this toy from fisher-price.mattel.com a year or two ago. Even if you can’t find this version of an Advent Calendar, you can use the ideas with ANY toy with several “parts.” Target a child’s receptive goals of following directions or identifying objects or her expressive goals by requesting the next piece before she performs the next action during play.

Advent Calendar with Pockets

This calendar is fabulous for using with young children because of the pockets! Fill the pockets with small toys. Some SLPs may like to use picture cards or flashcards for this kind of activity, but I prefer real life objects – especially for young children.

For kids who love numbers, you’ll make a big deal about asking, “Where’s number 5? Let’s see what’s in 5?” You’ll let them find the correct pocket and then pull out the item. For children who aren’t talking yet, name the object in a super fun way using your voice and your facial expressions.

Some adults resist changing the way they talk to young children, but this is especially important for toddlers with language delays. They need a reason to look at you, pay attention, and learn to listen to what you say so that they can begin to understand what words mean and certainly begin to imitate what you say. A child is much more likely to attend to a grown-up who looks and sounds fun! Many times that’s the one change I encourage parents to make during our very first visit together.

Remember that you can use the ideas in this video with ANY toy with pockets!

(The calendar used in the video was purchased this year at a Hallmark store in my local mall.)

Homemade Advent Calendar

Previously, I mentioned that I made a version of this calendar several years ago. It’s easy! Cut out a tree using green poster paper and add pockets using extra poster paper or even envelopes. For kids who love numbers, write numbers on the pockets to increase interest. If you’re super crafty, you could also make an Advent calendar from felt and then use it year after year.

Eric Carle’s Pop Up Advent Calendar

I love this book! It’s gorgeous, but fragile, which means that you won’t be able to use it with all toddlers and preschoolers. However, for kids who love numbers, it will be mesmerizing! There are numbered flaps and puzzle-like pictures which attach to the beautiful, pop up tree. To use this book in therapy, ask a child who already knows numbers something like, “What’s in number 3?” Implement the same kinds of strategies we’ve already discussed to target receptive and expressive language.

Links to other versions of Advent calendars are included below. Use the same activity ideas from the video, no matter what calendar you’re using! I’ve also included a few NEW additional ideas specific to these calendars (not in the video!)

I found this calendar after I shot this video and I adore it! Magnets… how fun!! My plan for this toy is to combine a few of the magnetic ornaments that come with the calendar along with my other magnet sets. I may even throw in a few magnetic letters if that’s what a kid really loves. I’m including a link for my favorite magnet sets below if you don’t have any of those. I’ve used these magnet setes everywhere – from in my office on a cool magnet wall I made from oil drip trays (thanks for the idea Pinterest!) to taking them for visits in children’s homes on their own refrigerators!

Magnet Sets

The post Advent Calendar Adaptations for Toddlers in Speech Therapy…Therapy Tip of the Week for 12.10.2016 appeared first on teachmetotalk.com.

In this Therapy  Tip of the  Week I’ll show you my favorite NEW fishing game and explains various ways for using this kind of game to help late talking toddlers.

If you want the instructions for more therapy ideas like this, check out my best resource for SLPs (and committed parents!)… Teach Me To Talk: The Therapy Manual.

Get this toy here:

Similar Magnetic Toys You Can Use With These Same Strategies

Magnetic Puzzles:

Expand your play by using the fishing pole with other magnet toys. These are my favorites!

This set has been in my office and contains TONS of functional vocabulary:

Magnetic Building Sets

I have an older version of this set and love it!

Several of my little friends own and play with this set:

The post FUN Fishing Game…teachmetotalk.com’s Therapy Tip of the Week 5.6.16 appeared first on teachmetotalk.com.

It’s a strategy called DECONSTRUCTION and it’s a powerful way to help a toddler begin to play with toys. You can use it with virtually any toy or activity as a starting point when play isn’t coming naturally for a child.

Links I mentioned in the video:

MY PODCAST

#283 – Developing Early Play Skills – FREE Podcast that explains the strategy of deconstruction in detail AND takes you on to the next step for a child who is learning to play with toys

Toys PERFECT for Deconstruction

RING STACKERS

Here’s the one I showed in the video. It’s wooden and durable – a winner!

Here’s the Fisher Price original:

My FAVORITE stacker because it lights up and plays music. It’s a GREAT option for teaching object permanence too – cover the toy after you’ve activated the music. The lights and music teach a child to look for the toy even if they can’t readily see it – the foundation of developing cognitive skills.

BLOCKS

Wooden blocks are a classic toy with so many possibilities for early play and advancing to pretend play when a child is developmentally ready.

PUZZLES

I own an embarrassing number of wooden puzzles, but they are GOLD when it comes to teaching language. They’re also a PERFECT place to start to help a child by using deconstruction. Here are a few of my favorites with great vocabulary choices for late talking toddlers and preschoolers.

Mr. Potato Head

I collect these sets and use them every single day. Here are a couple of choices for you from basic (if you’re just getting this for your child) or a bigger set if you too want more options for vocabulary development.

THERAPY TIP OF THE WEEK – BOOKS – How to modify a book like the one I used in the video

My FAVORITE board books for modifying are below. Remember – this works best with cardboard books! Paper pages will tear…save yourself the heartache and frustration : )

I love this one, but don’t use it to teach colors. Focus on the WORDS to name the pictures.

I’m ordering this one TODAY!

Last one – a favorite for toddlers who like to push buttons! Help them move toward looking at books with this one.

The post When A Toddler Doesn’t Play With Toys…teachmetotalk.com’s Therapy Tip of the Week 4.9.16 appeared first on teachmetotalk.com.

This week I spent a huge chunk of time planning and shooting new Therapy Tip of the Week videos! The first one will be released this weekend. Here’s the link!

The post Highlight of the Week 4.8.16 appeared first on teachmetotalk.com.

Jingle Bells

My Favorite Christmas Book 

Cute Bow Matching Games

Better Ideas for Flashcards

Christmas Playdoh Ideas

One more option is letting your child watch a youtube video with the book Little Blue Truck’s Christmas. Parents have emailed me all year long to let me know how much they learned by watching me read (and play!) with a book in this way AND to say how much their little one likes it!

Even if celebrating Christmas isn’t your thing, let me take this moment to wish you a spectacular last few weeks of December!

Laura

The post All of My Best Christmas Ideas for Toddlers appeared first on teachmetotalk.com.

The post Easy Easter Therapy Ideas with Paint appeared first on teachmetotalk.com.

Receptive Language – Follow familiar directions

Cognitive – Sequence activities like cleaning up, matching colors, understanding size words with grouping by size

Expressive Language – New words including:

Exclamatory words like “Wow” and “Ooh!”

Nouns like egg, basket, bunny, carrot, grass, playdoh, scissors, roller

Verbs such as cut, cook, clean (up), roll, help, open, close, pound, play, pull, push, pat, squeeze, wash

Descriptive words like cold, wet, squishy or “ooh,” big/little

Sabotage so he requests the next item he needs.

Social Language – Use proximity so children have to ask each other for what they need verbally and nonverbally. Teach trading (which promotes turn taking).

Fine Motor – Working on isolating index finger, bilateral work to use 2 hands together

Verbs – cut, cook, clean (up), roll, help, open, close, pound, play, pull, push, pat, squeeze, wash

The post Easter Therapy Tip of the Week… April 2014 appeared first on teachmetotalk.com.

I don’t like recreating the wheel, do you?

So…

I’m digging in to the Therapy Tip of the Week vault to bring you FABULOUS ideas for activities for toddlers and young preschoolers in a lead up to Easter and SPRING!

The video includes ideas for:

• Wind Up Toys – fantastic because it gives a child a reason to INCLUDE you during play for early requesting
• Easter eggs – ideas for using Easter eggs for teaching labeling/naming small objects or pictures, learning prepositions/location words, or incorporating a child’s “quirks”
• Sensory Boxes – what to include and how to use several ideas to address your speech-language goals and promote ‘tool use’ with toddlers. Using tools is not only a fine motor task, but an important COGNITIVE milestone for toddlers. Many toddlers who don’t have good pretend play skills really should begin with learning to combine toys during play. A very ‘functional’ or practical way to start is by using a tool during play such as a shovel or tongs.

I’ll be posting (re-posting) several Easter-themed videos over the next couple of weeks, so keep checking back for those.

The post Easter Therapy Tip of the Week appeared first on teachmetotalk.com.

Imagine my surprise today when I found a Therapy Tip of the Week we’ve never published!

It’s from the vault… so to speak…

Ideas for Toddlers Who Hate Books

In this teachmetotalk.com Therapy Tip of the Week video, I’ll share a strategy I often use to ‘make books better’ for toddlers with attention challenges who need an extra incentive to stay with me as I read a book.

Even though it takes some time to put together, once you’ve done your prep work, you’ll have the book and materials to use for years to come.

The modifications I’ll show you really, really work to help a toddler who HATES books learn to sit through a short and fun book since you’re giving them something to DO which makes reading not so boring after all : )

Click the arrow over my picture below to play the video.

For even more ideas for making books better, check out my series of podcasts posted in this link:
Make Books Come to Life

Making Books Better

Part One
Part Two
Part Three

The post Ideas for Toddlers Who Hate Books…teachmetotalk.com’s Therapy Tip of the Week 1.10.15 appeared first on teachmetotalk.com.