STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO ENHANCING LITERACY SKILLS THROUGH SPEECH THERAPY

Today’s Speech Language Pathologists are expanding their knowledge and skills to better understand what it takes to help children feel successful in their overall competency.  To put it simply, SLP’s can assist kids in learning how to speak, and speak correctly - considering their vocabulary, phonological awareness, grammar, syntax, narrative skills.  SLP’s today are focusing on how it all translates to overall literacy and seeing comprehension and writing skills skyrocket.  After all, the better they speak, the better they can really understand the words, and thus being able to enhance how they comprehend a story or even a simple sentence.  Eventually, they become the storytellers themselves.

So how do SLP’s tackle this responsibility? There are a few things to look at.

Foundational skills- Putting the pieces together means they have to understand the pieces themselves.  Sounds- like rhyming, understanding syllables, knowing the sounds that certain letters make.  Starting here allows the child to have the foundation necessary to learn more. It’s the base of it all, and a vital piece in the process.

	Activity example: Rhyming games expose kids to all kinds of skills.  Words that are grouped together by a common sound and are easy to spell are best.  Using letters that have obvious sounds (a lot of “g” words have a “long g” sound, which sounds more like “j”, ect.) can help the child find success quickly.  Use tools like these from Reading Rockets and have them pick the words that rhyme and choose from pictures- ie. Reading. 

Early intervention- The earlier the better when it comes to assessing the issues.  When literacy skills are addressed early, SLPs can prevent potential difficulties when it comes to reading and writing that could cause trouble as they perfect their speech and language. Here at As We Speak, we encourage parents to contact us before you see dramatic issues.  We can address things before they become habits and turn struggles into successes.

Literacy-based therapy- This could include reading together, talking about the stories and details to enhance comprehension skills, utilizing picture books to focus on specific words and putting together simple sentences.

          The age-old classic: Hooked on Phonics.  This tool is great to supplement therapy with to get children extra practice that they need to begin reading and to learn how phonetics comes into play.  HoP has been in the reading business for over 35 years- you can bet they know what they’re doing.

Collaboration with educators and leaders- SLPs, like Katie at As We Speak, collaborate with teachers and other school leaders to ensure consistency in method and intervention when needed to help children reach their goals. The saying “it takes a village”- I’m sure you’ve heard it.  Well, this rings true when it comes to helping your child learn and grow in speech, language and literacy.  The bigger the circle, the more consistent their learning will be and the faster they’ll learn.  If everyone around the child is on the same page with approach and priorities, just think about the potential that can be reached!

Through speech therapy, literacy development takes place naturally- SLP’s use activities like: rhyming, sound isolation, blending sounds to form words, introducing new words as they read, discussing meanings of words, implementing words into their daily lives, putting sentences together, understanding grammar, practicing telling stories, identifying characters and the roles they play and understanding sequencing of events.  Using each of these approaches at the right time is what creates optimal results and progress for the child.

It’s key to notice and address your child’s speech early, and often.  It’s important to talk with professionals in the field and have an unbiased view of how your child is doing and if there are areas where improvement could be made.

Taking the pieces apart to put them back together is a hands-on approach to understanding where the struggle is.  It provides the opportunity to see which parts are the troublesome ones and the SLP can address the problem directly as soon as it’s discovered.

Another thing we believe is that every child grows at their own pace. It’s vital to meet them where they are and create a personalized plan to help them learn the skills they need in particular.  Learning to read is a huge part of this, and there are many levels of reading and literacy.  We learn small parts and turn them into big ones. We take letters and turn them into chapter books. We take tracing lines and turn it into writing full paragraphs. This takes time and dedication.  This is something that SLPs love and, most likely, why they went into the profession.

So, at the end of the day, the advantages of working with an SLP are vast.  If your child is having trouble in areas of literacy (ie. reading or writing), it may be worth looking at the pieces first and getting professional help for your child to put them all back together.

The good news? At any time, there is likely a resource to help- and you’ve done the first step to learn more. Connect with us today to see if an assessment of your child’s skills is the solution!