What is Language Therapy and why is it Important?
Language therapy is therapy that is focused on either expressive or receptive language and sometimes both. Expressive language is what a child is able to express. It encompasses the child's vocabulary, sentence structure, and the subtle nuances of language. Receptive language is what the child understands when others are attempting to communicate with them, again this looks at vocabulary and the complexity of the language that they understand. Receptive language is also directly related to children being able to follow directions that are given verbally as well as learn and retain new information
When a child has an expressive and/or receptive language delay they are unable to communicate effectively. This can have long lasting implications on all aspects of a child's life. Imagine not being able to communicate to your teacher that you really like yellow not red or that you have already eaten snack and aren't hungry. These very basic communication intents can become very difficult for a child with a delay. Also imagine that someone is giving multiple step directions and when a child with a receptive language delay doesn't complete the steps, the misunderstanding is that the child is choosing not to complete the activity and is being stubborn. When there is a language delay there is a possibility that the child will also be delayed with some areas of their cognition because they could have a difficult time learning the words to name things, following directions for activities, or they could have a hard time showing what they know verbally and may be thought to be "less smart" even though they know much more than they can express.
Language therapy is most effective when we approach it as a team. This means that what I am working on in therapy is also being focused on in the classroom and at home with you. When we are learning new vocabulary for example, it helps if every time we see a word we are working on we emphasize it to the child, so for example if we are learning about vehicles and we see a school bus, or a city bus we need to name this for the child or ask them to name it! We could also describe somethings about it and ask questions about it, like, "who rides the bus", "what color is the bus?", "have you been on the bus?" etc. Imagine that if all of us are working on the name for a bus and the child is introduced to the word multiple times in a day, that the child will learn the word that much faster! I work hard for us all to be on the same page and doing the same things with your child. This happens through brief meetings, email and the consultation week. Please contact me if you have any ideas or questions at any time!
When a child has an expressive and/or receptive language delay they are unable to communicate effectively. This can have long lasting implications on all aspects of a child's life. Imagine not being able to communicate to your teacher that you really like yellow not red or that you have already eaten snack and aren't hungry. These very basic communication intents can become very difficult for a child with a delay. Also imagine that someone is giving multiple step directions and when a child with a receptive language delay doesn't complete the steps, the misunderstanding is that the child is choosing not to complete the activity and is being stubborn. When there is a language delay there is a possibility that the child will also be delayed with some areas of their cognition because they could have a difficult time learning the words to name things, following directions for activities, or they could have a hard time showing what they know verbally and may be thought to be "less smart" even though they know much more than they can express.
Language therapy is most effective when we approach it as a team. This means that what I am working on in therapy is also being focused on in the classroom and at home with you. When we are learning new vocabulary for example, it helps if every time we see a word we are working on we emphasize it to the child, so for example if we are learning about vehicles and we see a school bus, or a city bus we need to name this for the child or ask them to name it! We could also describe somethings about it and ask questions about it, like, "who rides the bus", "what color is the bus?", "have you been on the bus?" etc. Imagine that if all of us are working on the name for a bus and the child is introduced to the word multiple times in a day, that the child will learn the word that much faster! I work hard for us all to be on the same page and doing the same things with your child. This happens through brief meetings, email and the consultation week. Please contact me if you have any ideas or questions at any time!