Tag Archive for: speech therapy

A Small Break from Therapy – What’s the Big Deal?

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Written by: Erilda Borici and Olivia Smith

Now that warm weather has finally arrived, many children and families are eagerly awaiting the end of the school year and the beginning of the summer break. Summer is the perfect time of the year to play outside with friends and to enjoy family time.  It’s also an excellent opportunity to add additional therapy sessions to maintain progress made during the school year or to meet goals. 

When your child is in need of counseling, speech therapy, occupational therapy, ABA or physical therapy, an individualized treatment plan is created by your therapist. Therapists build a strong rapport and a trusting relationship with children through consistent time spent together.  A break in therapy disrupts their treatment plan and can delay progress.

There are multiple ways to maximize your child’s time in therapy during the summer months by participating in our multidisciplinary approach. If necessary, your child can receive various therapeutic services all under one roof. 

For children who have diagnoses of Autism, ADHD, or other developmental, cognitive, or mental health concerns, multiple therapeutic services are recommended to allow your child to reach their full potential. Apart from the convenience of having all  of your child’s services under one roof, therapists collaborate with each other to ensure consistency for your child. Coordination of care will allow your child to grow and gain skills as rapidly as possible.   

The summer months bring lots of opportunities for children to play at parks, learn to use/ride various gross motor toys such as bikes or scooters, or play at the beach. Therapy is play based so it’s fun! 

Many of our clinics have a sand table where children can learn how to build sand castles, or jungle gym equipment that they can learn to navigate safely. We teach bike riding!  Mastery of these skills during your child’s sessions provides confidence that they can participate in these activities safely and effectively outside of the clinic setting.  One of the most important goals in therapy is to have fun while skill building.

Here are some tips on maintaining consistency and getting the most out of treatment for your child.  

  • Since children are out of school, they have a lot more availability during the day to participate in therapy, and while camp and extracurricular activities are important, and great options for staying active, they cannot replace individualized therapy plans.   
  • Summer can be filled with unstructured time. For kiddos who struggle with ADHD, Autism, or Anxiety, this can be exacerbate some of their symptoms. Maintaining scheduled therapy hours provides children with consistency and routine to continue to work on their treatment goals.  
  • Rescheduling missed sessions is easier during the Summer months. (you might even be able to see a different therapist, depending on your child’s needs)  
  • Plan ahead and schedule additional sessions if you have an upcoming vacation or break, your therapist may have extra flexibility as well. 
  • Remember, school may be out, but kiddos who maintain their therapy schedules thrive when Autumn arrives! 

**Please keep in mind cancellations should be done at least 24 to 48 hours in advance, so other families also have the chance to reschedule.

NSPT offers services in Bucktown, Evanston, Deerfield, Lincolnwood, Glenview, Lake Bluff, Des Plaines and Mequon! If you have questions or concerns about your child, we would love to help! Give us a call at (877) 486-4140 and speak to one of our Family Child Advocates!

 

My Toddler Isn’t Talking Yet! Will He Catch Up?

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Parents often worry when their child reaches 18 months or 2 years of age and does not talk much or at all. Some children exhibit late language emergence, also known as late talking or a languageBlog-Late-Talking-Main-Landscape delay. Approximately 10-20% of 2-year-old children exhibit late language emergence. A late-talking toddler is typically defined as a 24 month old who is using fewer than 50 words and no two-word combinations. While research shows that late talkers catch up to peers by elementary school, approximately one in five late talkers will continue to have a language impairment at age 7. For some children, the late emergence of language may indicate a persistent language disorder, also called a specific language impairment. For other children, late language emergence may indicate a related disorder such as a cognitive impairment, a sensory impairment, or an autism spectrum disorder. Many parents wonder if their late-talking toddler will catch up naturally or whether speech-language therapy is recommended.

The following signs may indicate that a child will not naturally “catch up” in language and therefore may require therapeutic intervention:

  1. Language production: The child has a small vocabulary and a less diverse vocabulary than peers. A child who uses fewer verbs and uses primarily general verbs, such as make, go, get, and do is at risk for a persistent language disorder.
  2. Language comprehension: The child has deficits in understanding language. The child may be unable to follow simple directions or show difficulty identifying objects labeled by adults.
  3. Speech sound production: The child exhibits few vocalizations. The child has limited and inaccurate consonant sounds and makes errors when producing vowel sounds. The child has a limited number of syllable structures (e.g., the child uses words with two sounds, such as go, up, and bye instead of words with three to four sounds, such as down, come, puppy, black, or spin).
  4. Imitation: The child does not spontaneously imitate words. The child may rely on direct modeling and/or prompting to imitate (e.g., an adult must prompt with, “Say ‘dog,’ Mary” instead of a child spontaneously imitating “dog” when a parent says “There’s a dog”).
  5. Play: The child’s play consists mostly of manipulating or grouping toys. The child uses little combination or symbolic play, such as using two different items in one play scheme or pretending that one item represents another.
  6. Gestures: The child uses very few communicative gestures, especially symbolic gestures. The child may use pointing, reaching, and giving gestures more than symbolic gestures such as waving or flapping the arms to represent a bird.
  7. Social skills: The child has a reduced rate of communication, rarely initiates conversations, interacts with adults more than peers, and is reluctant to participate in conversations with peers.

The following risk factors exist for long-term language disorders:

  1. Males
  2. Otitis media (middle ear infection) that is untreated and prolonged
  3. Family history of persistent language/learning disabilities
  4. Parent characteristics including less maternal education, lower socioeconomic status, use of a more directive instead of responsive interactive style, high parental concern, and less frequent parent responses to child’s language productions

For children displaying any of the above signs or risk factors, a comprehensive speech-language evaluation is recommended.

References:

  • Paul, R. (2007). Language Disorders from Infancy through Adolescence: Assessment & Intervention. Elsevier Health Sciences.
  • http://www.asha.org/Practice-Portal/Clinical-Topics/Late-Language-Emergence/

NSPT offers services in Bucktown, Evanston, Deerfield, Lincolnwood, Glenview, Lake Bluff, Des Plaines, Hinsdale and Mequon! If you have any questions or concerns about your child, we would love to help! Give us a call at (877) 486-4140!

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Here’s What You Can Expect from a Neuropsychological Evaluation

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A child may be referred for a neuropsychological evaluation when there are concerns about one or more areas of development. This can include cognition, academics, attention, memory, language, socialization, emotional, behavioral, motor, visual-spatial, and adaptive functioning. Blog-Neuropsychological-Evaluation-Main-Landscape

A neuropsychological evaluation aids the psychologist in determining an appropriate diagnosis, such as Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Specific Learning Disorder, Language Disorder, and emotional and behavioral disorders. An evaluation can also be recommended if your child has been diagnosed with a medical condition such as Down syndrome, epilepsy, or a traumatic brain injury (TBI). The purpose of the evaluation would be to identify your child’s strengths and weaknesses in order to provide appropriate treatment recommendations, determine progress and response to intervention, and monitor functioning.

After your pediatrician has made a referral for a neuropsychological evaluation, you will need to schedule an intake appointment, which is typically an hour long.

What to Expect During the Neuropsychological Intake:

  • Inform the psychologist about your areas of concern
  • Provide information about your child’s history
    • Including medical, developmental, academic, attention, behavior, motor, and social history
  • Inform the psychologist of any current, or past, services your child receives (e.g., speech language therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, individual therapy, academic tutoring)

What to Bring to the Neuropsychological Intake:

  • Completed intake paperwork
  • Any prior psychological/neuropsychological evaluation (if applicable)
  • Your child’s most recent 504 Plan or IEP (if applicable)
  • Any recent private intervention evaluation (e.g., speech language therapy, occupational therapy)
  • Your child’s most recent report card or standardized exam scores
  • Any relevant medical information (e.g., EEG report, CT/MRI scan report)

After the intake, you will schedule the testing session for your child.  Most of the time, testing is completed in one day (5 hours of testing), but occasionally the testing will need to be completed over two days.  The psychologist will create a neuropsychological battery based on the areas of concern; however, the battery could be adjusted on the day of testing.  Typically, this occurs if another area of concern arises during the testing session.

What to Bring on the Day of the Neuropsychological Test:

  • Plenty of snacks and lunch
  • Completed paperwork and rating forms
  • Any prior evaluations that were not brought to the intake

After testing is complete, you will return for a one hour feedback session approximately two weeks later, with the clinician to review the testing data, any diagnoses determined based on your child’s profile, recommendations for home and school, and any intervention services to foster your child’s development.

NSPT offers services in Bucktown, Evanston, Deerfield, Lincolnwood, Glenview, Lake Bluff, Des Plaines, Hinsdale and Mequon! If you have any questions or concerns about your child, we would love to help! Give us a call at (877) 486-4140!

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10 Signs of Auditory Processing Disorder

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What is Auditory Processing Disorder?

Auditory processing refers to what we do with the messages we hear. An auditory processing disorder occurs due to an auditory deficit that is not the result of other cognitive, language, or related disorders. However, children with an auditory processing disorder may also experience other difficulties in the central nervous system, including learning disabilities, speech-language disorders, and other developmental disorders. Auditory processing disorder may also co-exist with other diagnoses, such as ADHD or Autism. Blog-Auditory-Processing-Disorder-Main-Landscape

10 Signs of Auditory Processing Disorder

  1. Difficulty understanding speech in noisy environments
  2. Inability to consistently and accurately follow verbal directions
  3. Difficulty discriminating between similar-sounding speech sounds (i.e., /d/ versus /t/)
  4. Frequently asking for repetition or clarification of verbally presented information
  5. Poor performance with spelling or understanding verbally presented information
  6. Child typically performs better on tasks that don’t require or rely on listening
  7. Child may not speak clearly and may drop ends of words or syllables that aren’t emphasized
  8. Difficulty telling stories and jokes; the child may avoid conversations with peers because it’s hard for them to process what’s being said and think of an appropriate response
  9. Easily distracted or unusually bothered by loud or sudden noises
  10. Child’s behavior and performance improve in quieter settings

How is Auditory Processing Disorder Diagnosed?

An initial diagnosis of auditory processing disorder is made following a comprehensive audiological evaluation, which is completed by a licensed and ASHA accredited audiologist. Following the diagnosis, the speech-language pathologists at NSPT work closely with the audiologist and collaborate on an ongoing basis. Children with an auditory processing disorder benefit from working closely with both speech-language pathologists, as well as occupational therapists. Professionals at NSPT can collaborate with teachers and other professionals to provide recommendations to help set up a successful learning environment for your child. Therapy will include activities to increase auditory closure skills, vocabulary building, discrimination skills, grammatical rules, and auditory perceptual training.

Resources:

 Bellis, Teri James. Understanding Auditory Processing Disorders in Children. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Retrieved from http://www.asha.org.

www.understood.org

NSPT offers services in Bucktown, Evanston, Deerfield, Lincolnwood, Glenview, Lake Bluff, Des Plaines, Hinsdale and Mequon! If you have any questions or concerns about your child, we would love to help! Give us a call at (877) 486-4140!

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Common Misconceptions About Picture Exchange Communication System

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What is a Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)? PECS is a form of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) which uses a picture/symbol system to teach initiation ofBlog-Picture Exchange Communication System-Main-Landscape
functional communication. PECS was developed by Lori Frost and Andy Bondy in 1985 to be used with preschool children on the autism spectrum who demonstrated little to no socially-related communication. Examples include: children who avoided interactions with others, did not approach others to communicate, and/or only communicated when prompted to do so.

Myth #1: The Picture Exchange Communication System is strictly used for nonverbal children or children on the autism spectrum.

A common misconception about the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is that it is strictly used with nonverbal children. While PECS and other forms of AAC have proven very useful and successful with nonverbal children, the system services many other populations with the purpose of eliciting and initiating functional communication.

To fully understand the meaning of functional communication, a distinction must be made between actions directed to the environment vs. actions directed toward a person. A child may climb on a step stool to reach a toy car on a shelf. From this action, we could infer that the child wants to play with the car. However, this is not communicative. If this same child looks from the car to his mother, or leads his mother over to the car, this is considered communication. Neither interaction involved speaking, however the distinction is that communication occurs when an action is directed towards someone else to achieve a certain outcome.

Therefore, Picture Exchange Communication System is appropriate, not just with children or adults that are not verbally communicating, but with those who are verbal, yet lack person-directed communication.

Other populations where PECS might be appropriate (to name a few):

-late-talking children (research is showing benefits for the introduction of AAC as early as 12 months)

-adults with aphasia

-Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)

-children with reduced speech intelligibility

-verbal children with reduced social language and initiating

Myth #2: Using PECS will deter my child from communicating verbally

For some children, verbal communication can be a challenge; speech and language are not developing as quickly as would be anticipated and, accordingly, result in accompanying frustration and associated behaviors. Introduction of an augmentative and alternative communication system like PECS can help bridge the gap for children who are not yet verbally communicating but need an accessible means of communication as speech and language develop. Without an effective means of communication, these children are at risk for social, emotional, and behavior problems, including feelings of frustration and isolation.

Often, parents are concerned that using an augmentative or alternative form of communication will replace or deter verbal communication. In fact, research has shown just the opposite:

“Research over the past 25 years has shown not only that use of augmentative communication systems (aided or unaided) does not inhibit speech development but that use of these systems enhances the likelihood of the development or improvement of speech.” (Bondy & Frost, 2004)

The PECS program mirrors the acquisition of typical language development; children are taught one-word labels for frequently requested items before transitioning to formulation of two-word utterances. Verbally requesting and labeling can be targeted in conjunction with the program. The PECS program also details modality transitioning (i.e., transitioning from PECS to verbal communication), if and when it is appropriate.

If your child is using PECS now, this does not mean that you are “giving up on speech”. It is a system that is being utilized to give your child a means of communicating and interacting with others while speech is developing.

Myth #3: PECS cannot be used with children who have visual impairments, fine motor, or gross motor difficulties.

PECS can be used with a wide range of age-groups and disabilities. Accommodations can be made for children and adults with visual impairments, fine motor, or gross motor difficulties, to name a few.

Pictures can be made in various sizes to accommodate visual impairments. Additionally, you or your child’s speech language pathologist can select and modify pictures to suit your child’s needs; photographs can be used instead of clipart or Boardmaker pictures, and images can be modified to create more contrast.

Pictures can also be put on objects (e.g., bottle tops) to make them easier to grasp and pick up from a table or book for children with fine motor difficulties.

Step 2 of PECS involves ‘distance and persistence’, meaning a child is taught to move across a room, multiple rooms, etc. to select a picture from his book and persist when giving it to his communication partner. Students that are non-ambulatory can use a voice switch or a button to request his communication partner in order to perform the exchange.

If you have questions about PECS and if it would be appropriate for your child, please consult with a licensed speech language pathologist.

NSPT offers services in Bucktown, Evanston, Deerfield, Lincolnwood, Glenview, Lake Bluff, Des Plaines, Hinsdale and Mequon! If you have any questions or concerns about your child, we would love to help! Give us a call at (877) 486-4140!

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5 Best Apps to Work on Speech and Language at Home

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  1. My PlayHome by PlayHome Software LtdBlog-Speech-Apps-Main-Landscape
    • A digital doll house that lets your child use everything inside. You can fry an egg, feed the family pizza, pour drinks, feed the pets, and more! This app does not specifically target speech
      and language skills; however, there are many ways it can be used to work on speech/language at home. While playing with the doll house, you can work with your child on pronouns, identifying actions (e.g., cooking, sitting), present progressive –ing (e.g., drinking), plurals (e.g., two apples), vocabulary (around the house), formulating complete sentences, etc. I also like to use this app as a motivating activity for children working on speech sounds. For example, I will say, “Tell me what the doll is doing with your good ‘r’ sounds.” There is also My PlayHome Hospital, My PlayHome School, and My PlayHome Stores.
  2. Articulation Station by Little Bee Speech
    • This app is fantastic for children working on speech production skills. The whole app is pricey, but beneficial for a child working on more than one speech sound. It is also possible to download individual speech sounds to target a specific sound at home. This app is motivating and excellent for home practice!
  3. Following Directions by Speecharoo Apps
    • Excellent app for working on following directions. Choose from simple 1-step directions, 2-step directions, or more advanced 3-step directions. These funny directions will have your child laughing and wanting to practice more.
  4. Peek-A-Boo Barn by Night & Day Studios, Inc.
    • My favorite app for toddlers working on expressive language skills. First, the barn shakes and an animal makes a noise. Have your child say “open” or “open door” before pressing on the door. You can also have your child guess which animal it is or imitate the animal noises. When the animal appears, have your child imitate the name of the animal.
  5. Open-Ended Articulation by Erik X. Raj
    • This app contains over 500 open-ended questions to use with a child having difficulty producing the following speech sounds: s, z, r, l, s/r/l blends, “sh”, “ch”, and “th”. It is great for working on speech sounds in conversation. Have your child read aloud the question and take turns answering. The open-ended questions are about silly scenarios that will facilitate interesting conversations.

NSPT offers services in Bucktown, Evanston, Deerfield, Lincolnwood, Glenview, Lake Bluff, Des Plaines, Hinsdale and Mequon! If you have any questions or concerns about your child, we would love to help! Give us a call at (877) 486-4140!

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What Can a Child with Autism Expect in Speech Therapy?

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If you are a parent or a professional who has had experience with a child diagnosed with autism, you know that they are all as different as the colors under the sun. Speech therapy services areBlog-Autism-and-Speech Therapy-Main-Landscape typically recommended and necessary for kids diagnosed with autism, as they may have difficulty communicating effectively. These services will be tailored to the individual to ensure the child is making progress and achieving developmental milestones. No two speech therapy sessions are the same, as will be the case for your child. However, there are overarching goals that you can expect your child to be working towards.

Here are factors you should expect to be consistent for a child diagnosed with autism that is receiving speech therapy services:

  1. Speech therapy will be individualized.

The speech language pathologist will complete an evaluation of the child’s current speech and language skills. Based on the results of the evaluation and any observations made, goals will be formulated to target areas to improve.

  1. Speech therapy will target functional communication.

This may mean different things depending on the level of the child. Whether the child is verbal or nonverbal, therapy will address making sure the child is effectively communicating their needs and wants. If the child is nonverbal or has significant difficulty utilizing verbal language, Augmentative and Alternative Communication (e.g., pictures, sign language, iPad, etc.) may be implemented. Therapy may also target talking about events, telling stories, answering questions, asking questions, commenting, expressing opinions, and participating in conversations.

  1. Speech therapy will target social language.

Social language is also known as pragmatic language and includes using language for a variety of purposes (i.e., greetings, informing, demanding, etc.), changing language according to the needs of the listener or situation, and following rules for conversation and storytelling. In order to warrant a diagnosis of autism, the child has already been determined to have a deficit in social communication and interaction. Treatment goals may include maintaining eye contact, initiating and terminating conversations, maintaining topics of conversation, identifying emotions, and utilizing appropriate body language.

The above goals are targeted in a variety of ways, again dependent on your child. Sometimes direct education is provided prior to practicing skills in activities, role-play scenarios, or structured real-life situations. Other times, skills are targeted during play and motivating activities for the child. No matter the skill level of your child with autism, speech therapy is an integral piece to their progress and successful functioning.

NSPT offers services in Bucktown, Evanston, Deerfield, Lincolnwood, Glenview, Lake Bluff, Des Plaines, and Hinsdale! If you have any questions or concerns about your child, we would love to help! Give us a call at (877) 486-4140.

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Tips and Tricks to Boost Your Toddler’s Speech and Language

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When your child enters into this world, he is immediately exposed to his new environment. Speech and language development begins right away, as your child begins to explore the environment around him. The early years of your child’s life is a crucial period for speech and language development. Blog-Toddler Speech and Language Main-Portrait

As you interact with your child, there are various ways that you can help to boost his speech and language:

  • While you are playing with your child, talk about the actions that he is doing and what you are doing. For example, if your child is throwing a ball, say “throw the ball” as he throws it. This will help him match spoken words to actions.
  • Label objects for your child. As you are engaging with your child, tell him what it is that he is holding, looking at, etc. For example, if your child is holding a ball, say “you have a ball” This will help to increase his ability to identify and name various objects.
  • Expand on your child’s utterances. As your child is acquiring language skills, he will start to speak using short utterances before he can use full sentences. When your child produces one word or short multiword utterances, take his utterance and use it in a full contextual sentence. For example, if your child points to a ball and says “ball,” you can respond with “yes, I see the red ball!”
  • Use natural sounding speech with appropriate intonation when talking to your child. As your child is being exposed to language, not only is he listening to the words, but he is also listening to your tone of voice and looking at your face. Therefore, to help him understand what you are saying, it is important to match your tone and facial expression to your spoken words. For example, if your child is throwing toys inappropriately, tell him “no throwing” with a more stern tone of voice. If you say “no throwing” with a “happy” tone of voice and a big smile, your child may have a difficult time understanding the concept of “no” since the tone of voice and facial expression did not match the meaning of “no.”
  • Sing familiar songs with your child. Engaging in song is a fun way to encourage language development. At first, you will be doing most of the singing while your child closely watches and listens. While you sing, you can use gestures to match words in the song. As your child gets multiple exposures to you singing the song, encourage him to engage in the song by gesturing along with you. For example, when singing “head, shoulders, knees, and toes,” start by singing the song while you touch each body part matching the words in the song. Then to engage your child more, you can sing the song while you help him move his hands to touch the body parts from the song. Another tip you can do with songs is pausing at certain words for your child to say. For instance, you can pause before “toes” each time it occurs in the song to allow your child to say it. Not only can this help to increase language production, but it can also help your child identify and name objects, items, or in this example, body parts.

NSPT offers services in Bucktown, Evanston, Lincolnwood, Glenview, Lake Bluff, Des Plaines, Hinsdale and Mequon! If you have questions or concerns about your child, we would love to help! Give us a call at (877) 486-4140.

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How to Use Visual Supports at Home for Language Development

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For children with receptive and expressive language disorders, visual supports can be powerful tools when communicating. Visual supports are beneficial to aid in not only the comprehension of language, but also to improve expression of language. These visuals can provide a child with information they are missing when comprehending language or speaking. Visual supports are so universal and easily to utilize that they can be implemented seamlessly in the home environment.

How to use visual supports to improve language comprehension:

For children that experience deficits in language comprehension, visual aids are a great way to improve their ability to comprehend instructioVisual Supportsns, rules of an activity, and expectations. Here are some examples of ways to create visual aids for receptive language tasks.

  • Visual schedules can be pictorial, written or both. It is important to tailor the schedule to the child’s abilities. For children with receptive language deficits, hearing their schedule for the day can be confusing and maybe, even a little scary. By presenting a visual schedule, paired with a verbal description, a child will receive the information via two avenues of communication, which will likely improve comprehension of what to expect.
  • A Listening Chart, as shown below, visually depicts the components to being a good listener. When expectations or rules are presented only verbally, information is often forgotten. By using a visual to depict expectations, the child will be more successful and can easily remind him or herself of what actions need to be completed.
  • Presenting choices visually can be a powerful tool for children who have receptive language deficits. For example, if there are two choices for snack (e.g., pretzels or grapes), you can present two pictures of these food items when asking the child what he or she would like to eat.

How to use visual supports to improve language production:

The use of visual aids for language production is slightly more diverse than those utilized for language comprehension. Visual aids for language expression are often used to help a child initiate communication, participate appropriately in a conversation, and to expand utterances. Here are some examples of visual aids used to improve expressive language skills.Smash Mats

  • Smash mats are a great tool to use to expand a child utterance length (e.g., from two word to three words). As shown here, a smash mat can be as simple as three dots on a page. When modeling a sentence, you can touch a dot as you say each word (e.g., Girl is swinging or I want goldfish). You can make smash mats even more enticing by adding a playdoh ball to each dot. Smash mats are also great, because as your child continues to progress in their expressive language skills, you can continue to increase the length of their utterance by adding additional dots to your mat.
  • A Topic Tree is one of many visual aids that can be used during conversations. The topic tree is specifically for topic maintenance (i.e., staying on the same topic of conversation with your
    communication partner). For example, if you are talking about Christmas with your child, each time that you make a comment, ask a question or appropriately respond on the topic of Christmas, you put a leaf on the tree. This is an easy DIY visual aid you can make at home!
  • A Yes/No Board is a great visual aid for an emerging communicator. It is a simple visual depiction of the concepts of “yes” and “no.” Yes/No boards can be visually Y-N Boards2displayed in a variety of ways as shown below. When asking a child a Y/N question, by presenting the child with this visual, you are not only cueing the child that you are asking a question, but also providing the child with the appropriate response choices.Y-N Board

All of these visual aids will not only increase a child’s engagement in a daily activity, but also aid in making transitions smoother. Visual aids can be implemented at any age and in any environment.

NSPT offers services in Bucktown, Evanston, Lincolnwood, Glenview, Lake Bluff, Des Plaines, Hinsdale and Mequon! If you have questions or concerns about your child, we would love to help! Give us a call at (877) 486-4140.

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How to Get Your Baby Talking

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A baby typically starts babbling, using speech-like sounds, between four to six months of age. Usually, the sounds p, b, and m are the first to develop. Additionally, in this age range, a baby is more Blog-Baby-Talking-Main-Landscapeinteractive with the parent or caregiver, laughing and vocalizing displeasure or excitement. Between seven months to a year of age, communication will expand and most babies are producing repetitive consonant-vowel combinations such as baba or dada, using gestures for communication, using vocalization to gain and maintain attention, and by one year of age a baby typically has one or two words or word approximations.

A parent or caregiver can support their baby’s language development or “talking” by encouraging all communication, interacting on their baby’s level, and making communication opportunities.

  • Match your child’s communications and interaction attempts, including repeating his/her vocalizations and gestures. By matching your baby’s vocalizations, you are communicating on a level that allows them to maintain communication turn-taking. Additionally target speech games and songs such as itsy-bitsy spider, peek-a-boo, and gestures such as clapping, blowing kisses, and waving hi/bye.
  • Talk through daily routines such as bath time, bedtime, get dressed, and feedings. You are providing your baby with the associated language during these daily routines. Talk through the plan for the day, what will you be doing, where you are going, who are they seeing, etc.
  • Teach your child gestures and signs to support language development.
  • Teach your child animal sounds (e.g., moo, baa) and environmental sounds (e.g., vroom, beep).
  • Spend time reading to your child and labeling pictures in books.
  • Reinforce your baby’s communication attempts by giving them eye contact and interacting with him or her.
  • Simplify your language during communication interactions with your baby.
  • Make communication opportunities within routines and daily activities.
  • Limit your baby’s exposure to television and/or videos. A 1:1 interaction between a parent and child is preferable to support turn-taking communication.

Remember there is a range of typical development. Not all babies will have their first words around one year of age!

NSPT offers services in Bucktown, Evanston, Highland Park, Lincolnwood, Glenview, Lake Bluff, Des Plaines, Hinsdale and Milwaukee! If you have questions or concerns about your child, we would love to help! Give us a call at (877) 486-4140 and speak to one of our Family Child Advocates!