Navigating life during this pandemic has been “different.” I won’t necessarily say it’s been bad, but it has had its challenging moments. Over the last couple of weeks, we have switched to school being online as well as Emma’s therapy services. We recently switched Speech therapist, and she’s been doing excellent with the new therapist. And we have been seeing strides, however, with school changing to being virtual, we have noticed some regression in her speech.
During normal times I wouldn’t be concerned because this has happened before, but with our new normal it’s been a little concerning. On Thursday I spoke with Emma’s Speech Therapist and she gave me a few tips that I want to share with other parents if they’re finding themselves in this same situation.
Recommendations from Emma’s Speech Therapist…
Play an Interviewing Game…if you have younger children you will most likely have to play with both, but play a game of you asking questions and them answering the questions. This will get them talking and practicing more! Genius Right!!
We played a game of “I Spy” and that really got Emma talking, and she and DJ played the game for the rest of the night. But you can purchase the “I Spy” game and have even more fun with your child/children.
Tell Your Child to Talk Using their Loud Voice or Outside Voice…with Emma, she doesn’t always speak with a loud voice but if you ask her to repeat herself she gets frustrated because she thinks she’s saying something incorrectly when in actuality you may not have heard her or you didn’t quite understand what she was saying.
Also, this has become an issue for her teacher when talking during her Zoom class. Zoom can be hard on a child that has speech challenges because it’s not always easy to hear the other person and if there is background noise on either side there may be some challenges presented!
Headphones with Microphones…These have helped both of our children with being able to hear clearly. An inexpensive pair with a good microphone will work perfectly.
Practice Makes Perfect…work on words that are hard for your child to say. Repeat the correct pronunciation of the word and have your child repeat after you. Say it to a fun beat, then put it together! Make it fun for them!
Navigating with Emma’s speech has been a challenge because she becomes self-conscious when you ask her to repeat something. However, we have been using some of these tips and I have seen some small changes here and there. We all have been working together as a family to help reinforce some of the tips the speech therapist taught us and work on the tips she’s teaching Emma during her weekly appointment.
