A speech therapist might only see a child for an hour every week. And while a lot can be accomplished in an hour-long speech therapy session, you, as a parent, have many opportunities to positively influence your child’s speech and language progression during the rest of the week. Here are three specific things you can do to help your child become a better communicator.

Ask Questions

Often, as parents, we try to anticipate what our child wants and give it to them. While it’s good to be in tune with your child, you should also give them the opportunity to express what they want or need by asking them specific questions.

For most young children, especially ones with speech and language issues, answering open-ended questions can be difficult. It is better to provide them with choices. If you sense they are hungry and want a snack, instead of asking, “What do you want to eat?” ask, “Would you like a banana or an apple?” That way, they can mimic your words to express what they want rather than having to come up with the vocabulary on their own.

Read to Them

Reading with your child is another great way to teach them new vocabulary and also to bond with your child. Put him or her on your lap and have fun with it! You don’t just have to read straight through a book—ask your child questions as you go along. Model new vocabulary and point out the corresponding picture (“Do you see the boy’s blue shirt?”).

If your child is a preschooler, talk to him or her about what the characters in the story might be feeling. Again, don’t ask open-ended questions that are hard for young children to answer. Give them choices. (“Do you think the boy was happy or sad when he fell down?”)

Get Down on Their Level

When you speak or interact with your children, get down on their level whenever possible. Physically bring your body down, so you are eye level with them. Get down on the floor to play with them. This shows that you are interested and engaged. When children sense that you are engaged, they will be more likely to willingly engage in conversation with you, at whatever level they are able.

Keep playtime fun, but also use it as an opportunity to introduce new vocabulary when you can.

Contact Lil’ Chit-Chat for Speech Therapy in Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, or Redondo Beach

If you think your child could use some extra help in the area of speech and communication, give us a call or contact us through our website to set up an evaluation with one of our licensed South Bay speech therapists. We look forward to hearing from you!

As everyone knows, technology is the way of the future. Children are now going to school online, patients are receiving medical care online, people are working from remote locations, and so much more. The speech therapists at Lil’ Chit-Chat are also taking advantage of technology to provide quality service to our clients while our clients remain in the comfort of their own homes.

What is Telepractice?

Telepractice is basically online speech therapy. With telepractice through Lil’ Chit-Chat, our clients still interact with a live speech therapist who guides them through a therapy session. It is not a one-size-fits-all online program—it is a session that is tailored to our clients’ specific needs, just like the sessions we conduct in person. However, telepractice allows our speech therapists to also access fun and engaging computer programs that can be used to enhance the speech therapy sessions and capture the attention of our young clients.

Who is a Good Candidate for Telepractice?

Almost anyone in need of speech therapy could be a good candidate for telepractice. For our youngest clients—those in the range from birth to 3 years old—parents or caregivers serve as the facilitators in telepractice. They follow the speech therapist’s lead, helping their child work toward their speech and language goals. Parents and caregivers receive a great deal of coaching that is very useful in helping their children between sessions. More independent school-age children can engage on their own with a speech therapist online, and get personalized help in addition to the therapy they may receive at school.

Telepractice is also a great option for our clients who have been in therapy and are ready to be discharged, but still need some follow-up support to achieve all of their goals.  And for those living in a remote area, telepractice is a great way to receive quality therapy that might not otherwise be available.

We’ve also used telepractice with some of our clients who have busy schedules. For example, one of our speech therapists used to work with a high school student who had a hard time getting to regular therapy sessions, but was highly motivated to address his stuttering issue. He enrolled in speech therapy via telepractice, and in the six months our therapist worked with him online, his stuttering significantly improved!

The speech therapists at Lil’ Chit-Chat have received extensive training in online speech therapy through the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). Offering this service allows us to help more clients, even those outside of the South Bay area. We can literally help anyone in the world who has a computer and an internet connection!

The majority of our speech therapy clients are still those that we see in their homes in Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, and Torrance, but for those outside of those cities, we can still provide quality, personalized care and help them reach their speech and language goals.

If telepractice sounds like something you might be interested in pursuing, contact us at Lil’ Chit-Chat. We’d be happy to answer all of your questions and set up a plan that will work for you.

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!

The featured interview with Sabrina appeared in a special section of the publication titled “All About Kids.” Sabrina was the only pediatric speech therapist to be featured, along with several schools, play facilities, and pediatrician offices, all of which are dedicated to the wellbeing of children in the South Bay area. Sabrina was also prominently featured on the magazine’s Facebook page, Our South Bay, which is followed by more than 22,000 people.

In the interview, Sabrina was able to articulate what makes Lil’ Chit-Chat unique among speech therapy clinics in the South Bay area. She talks about how the speech therapists at Lil’ Chit-Chat customize a therapy plan for each and every child, and provide support to families throughout the entire therapy process.

She also made a point of saying that at Lil’ Chit-Chat, our speech therapists don’t just help children through their present challenges, but set them up to be successful for the rest of their lives. When talking about what you can expect when you work with Lil’ Chit-Chat for your child’s speech therapy needs, Sabrina said in the interview, “We provide a safe and supportive environment where a trusting therapist-child relationship is established from the start. When we arrive to your child’s session, the kids are eagerly waiting to engage with their clinician.”

Sabrina’s passion for helping children with speech and communication challenges is evident throughout the interview. She shares this passion with all of the speech therapists at Lil’ Chit-Chat, who truly love working with children and making a difference in the lives of South Bay families.

You can read the entire featured interview in Southbay Magazine here.

If you’d like to get in touch with Sabrina to find out more about Lil’ Chit-Chat’s approach to pediatric speech therapy or to schedule an evaluation of your child in your South Bay home, contact us through our website, or give us a call at (877) 450-6757.