The best time to address a speech and language issues is in childhood. Creating a love for reading is crucial for the development of speech and language and absorbing knowledge.
Introducing books to your child as early as you can will help them develop proper speech and language.
Effective strategies that make reading with your child fun
Colorful Visuals
Children are attracted to mystical creatures, dynamic cartoons, and colorful visuals, especially between the ages of 8 months to 2 years. It is important to hook their attention. Consistently reading to children on a regular basis will introduce them to new sounds and words, help stimulate their visual creativity, and speech construction.
Dramatic Reading
Make reading fun by being dramatic, it will keep their attention and get them hooked on reading. Create dramatic sounds when you read with them, the appropriate “aah” and “oomphs”. Choose books a poetic effect and have rhyming words.
Encourage Repetition
Research has shown reading the same stories and books over and over again is a great way to overcome speech and language challenges. It will sharpen vocabulary and sentence construction learning skills. Let your child choose their favorite book they love repeating.
“What we know is that the sooner the issues are addressed by a professional, the better chance the child has of getting on that normal developmental progression,” said Elise Davis-McFarland, president of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
If you want to know more about what to expect during speech therapy, contact First Words Speech Therapy. We will be glad to answer any questions and go over any concerns.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month
In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the family at First Words Speech Therapy encourages everyone to join us in learning more about breast cancer and support those who are suffering with the disease.
Though we have made great progress in early detection, cancer treatment and finding a cure, we still have a long way to go.
