Recently, Lil’ Chit-Chat founder and licensed Speech-Language Pathologist Sabrina Conway completed the “It Takes Two to Talk” workshop put on by The Hanen Centre, and is now a Hanen Certified Speech-Language Pathologist.

The Hanen Centre is a Canadian-based organization dedicated to helping parents, caregivers, educators, and speech-language pathologists become better equipped to develop language, social, and literacy skills in young children with developmental challenges. Their approach of putting parents first as a way to best help children is very much in line with our philosophy of speech therapy at Lil’ Chit-Chat. We have always found therapy to be most effective when parents and caregivers are involved in the speech therapy sessions and work with their children in between sessions.

As a Hanen Certified speech therapist in the “It Takes Two to Talk” program, Sabrina Conway is now able to offer training to parents in the Hanen methods on a one-on-one basis, or in group settings.

In an “It Takes Two to Talk” parent training session, Sabrina will cover topics such as:

• Adapting the way in which you play and read with your child to better facilitate language development
• Changing the way you speak with your child so he or she will learn new words more quickly
• Helping your child build confidence in his or her ability to communicate
• Identifying what motivates your child

Overall, the “It Takes Two to Talk” program focuses on practical strategies that parents can use in everyday situations to help their children develop their language skills. The methods are easy to understand and implement, and are designed specifically for parents of children ages five and younger who have been identified as having speech delays.

Lil’ Chit-Chat is offering “It Takes Two to Talk” training sessions as part of our parent enrichment program.

If you’d like more information about parent training and enrichment, or if you would like to schedule an “It Takes Two to Talk” training session in Manhattan Beach or the surrounding areas with a speech therapist from Lil’ Chit-Chat, give us a call or contact us through our website form.

We work with great families, many of whom are asking for additional information and resources to help their children achieve their speech therapy goals. Because of this, Lil’ Chit-Chat has decided to launch a Parent Enrichment Program. This customized educational program is designed to empower parents in the areas of speech and language development.

Parent Enrichment can apply to four different types of parents:

1. Parents who are not certain whether or not their child is in need of speech therapy services

Often, these parents have concerns about their child’s speech and language development, but their pediatrician has told them to “wait it out and see what happens.”

As speech therapists, we can’t stress strongly enough the importance of early intervention when it comes to a child’s speech and language development, so if a parent has concerns, they should schedule a Parent Enrichment session with one of our licensed Temecula Speech Language Pathologists. The therapist can provide strategies that the parent can implement into their child’s daily activities to facilitate speech and language development. They can also tell you if further professional intervention is necessary.

2. Parents with children enrolled in school speech therapy

Many children receive speech therapy services in public schools, which means that the parents aren’t present during (or even before and after) the therapy sessions. They may get regular reports from the school speech therapist, but some parents desire more “face time” and specific recommendations from a Temecula speech therapist. Through our Parent Enrichment Program, a Speech Language Pathologist from Lil’ Chit-Chat can meet with parents and give them insights and sound recommendations that can help their child’s progress.

3. Parents with children who recently exited speech therapy or who are about to exit

When a child exits speech therapy, it is important that the progress they have made is maintained. Our speech therapists can give parents specific recommendations to ensure that children don’t fall back into old habits and patterns.

4. Parents of children with typical speech and language development

Sometimes we get requests from parents looking for ways to enrich their child’s cognition, speech, or language development, even if their child doesn’t have a need for formal speech therapy sessions. Through our Parent Enrichment Program, our Speech Language Pathologists can work with parents throughout Temecula to develop programs that they can implement in their homes to further their children’s development in these areas.

Schedule a Parent Enrichment Session

Currently, our Parent Enrichment Program consists of private sessions in the homes of Temecula families. If you are a parent looking to work with one of our licensed Speech Language Pathologists in your home to help further your child’s speech and language development, please contact us to schedule a session.

We are also looking to expand this program and offer group sessions for parents of children with similar speech therapy needs. If you are part of a group that would like to have a Lil’ Chit-Chat speech therapist offer parent enrichment, please contact Sabrina Conway through our contact page. We would be happy to give a customized presentation to your group of parents in Temecula or any of the nearby surrounding cities. Contact us for more details.