The holidays are fast approaching and we know it’s a busy time for everyone. Between family events, your children’s school events, holiday shopping, and everything else going on, you may be tempted to put a pause on your child’s speech therapy sessions. At Lil’ Chit-Chat, we’re here to encourage you to not take a break from speech therapy during this time.
If you’re like most of our pediatric speech therapy clients in Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, and Torrance, your child likely just began receiving speech therapy at the beginning of the school year. With only a couple of months of therapy behind them, they are just now starting to gain some serious momentum toward their speech and language goals. Taking a break from speech therapy now can put a halt to all of that momentum.
You may be thinking: “Our family gets so busy over the holidays. We won’t have much time to work with our child in between therapy sessions anyway, so why even bother with therapy right now?” However, there is plenty you can do with your child to further their speech and language development, even with a hectic schedule. The holidays in particular offer some great opportunities to work with your child in the areas of speech and language. There are new things to see and more people to interact with, giving you a chance to incorporate new words into your child’s vocabulary. In addition, your child may also receive some new toys that will open up new opportunities for play-based learning.
If you’ve been thinking of starting your child in speech therapy, but have decided to wait until the new year begins to have your child evaluated by a speech therapist, we’d like to ask you to reconsider. If your child is delayed in their speech or language development, there is no better time to start them in therapy than now! We say it all the time, but it bears repeating: early intervention is key when it comes to speech and language development! If you’re not sure if your child actually needs therapy, we’d love to talk with you, answer any initial questions you have, and schedule a consultation with one of our licensed speech therapists in the South Bay.
We know it’s a busy time, or if it’s not busy for you yet, it will be soon! But don’t put off something as important as speech therapy for your child. You’d be surprised at the progress your child may be able to make in just a few short months, and you won’t ever regret the time you invested in your child’s speech and language development.
If you’re ready to get started, contact Lil’ Chit-Chat today. We hope to hear from you soon!
My daughter has been having a hard time learning how to speak. It makes sense that speech pathology would be a good idea, even during the holidays! That way she can get early and consistent help with this.
Thank you for the post on if you should start or continue speech therapy during the holidays. I would have to agree that stopping speech therapy, if anything, sets your child back some by not having it going on during the holidays. Especially if you only have been going for a few months you want to keep the momentum going and keep your child doing speech therapy so they don’t fall out of habit so to speak. Thank you again for the post, I will pass this on to my friend who currently has his little girl in speech therapy.
I like how you mentioned that speech therapy during the holidays would be better as there would be more chances for a child to practice their skills with the visitors while learning some new vocabulary as well. That is lovely for I am planning to schedule my nephew to a regular consultation with a specialist so that he can overcome his speech impediment. I’ll be sure to do my best to support his treatments if there would be any and practice conversing with him more. Thanks!
Thanks a lot for mentioning how you should avoid putting off speech therapy. It makes sense to think that considering this early enough can help your child avoid having a hard time speaking as they grow up. I can see how anyone looking into this would also want to consult with a professional that has experience with speech pathology in order to find the best way to help your child speak.
Wow, I never took into account that the holiday season is a perfect time to get a child to a speech therapy session. As you mentioned, it gives them more things to share because there are a lot of new things to see and people to talk to. My best friend has a child who still won’t talk even if he is 4 years old already. So they plan to get him a speech therapist. Thanks for the information. I will gladly share this with her.
Thanks for helping me understand that there is no right or wrong time for taking the child to a speech pathologist. Like you said, it is better to start the therapy right then and there when you notice that your child has speech problems. I will share this information with a friend of mine whose son hasn’t started speaking even if he is 4 years old already.
Thank you for explaining why you should continue speech therapy over the holidays. I’ve been wondering about this for my son this summer. I’ll be sure to keep scheduling appointments with his speech therapist.