Speech and Language Therapy Strategies at Home

by Aine Gannon
Speech and Language Therapist at Meadow High School

 

Use positive language 

  

 

Make it visual     

      

To reinforce good behaviour and provide specific praise e.g. “That’s good sharing with your brother” and “kind hands” instead of “no hitting”.

Spoken is easier understand when there is a visual support. Gesture objects, pictures and /or symbols can be used alongside talking. E.g. show them their coat when you are going out. Use hand gesture along with spoken instructions to ‘sit down’

Be Direct 

Use your child’s name  to get this attention and use key words when giving instructions. E.g. “Jack coat on” instead of “Jack please can you go and get your coat and put it on”. 

Say what you mean

Your child may understand language literally. Try to keep your language clear and simple. E.g. if you tell your child that you’ll be leaving in ‘in one minute’ hey may expect to leave within that time. Avoid using idioms, e.g. “Pull your socks up”, “It’s raining cats and dogs”. 

Explain emotions  

To develop your child’s understanding of different emotions, talk about how your child and others feel in different situations, and discuss reasons why. E.g. “Sarah is feeling excited today because it’s her birthday’, ‘she is smiling”. Explain how your facial expressions and body language many change when feeling different emotions. 

Practice Conversation skills

Your child may have difficulties starting maintaining, and finishing conversations. Support your child to have conversations about different topics. E.g. share news about your day and ask each other questions. provide your child with specific praise on what they did well, e.g. ‘that was a good question’.

Speak your native language 

Speaking your native language at home. This can also help develop their use of English. 

Read 

Read to or with your child. This is good to build language and interactions skills.