HELP YOUR CHILD TO SPEAK BETTER

SPEECH

Our children face difficulties in developing speech.

The reasons behind are:

• Low muscle tone 
• High arched palate
• Macroglossia 
• Limited word power

To overcome this difficulty we will try to understand the fundamentals.

•Speech is the spoken production of language. Several parts of the body work together to produce sound waves, and this is called articulation. The parts involved with speech include the lips, tongue, teeth, throat, vocal folds, and lungs.

•Language is a system used to represent thoughts and ideas. Language is made up of several rules that explain what words mean, how to make new words, and how to put words together to form sentences. Expression thr' language may or may not have the element of speech.

•Communication is the exchange of information and ideas through the use of speech and language. The transfer of information is often spoken, but may also be implied through body language.

Few exercises that help our children to develop clear speech.

Vibrator & Oral sensitizing kit available and that can be used to sensitize the oral cavity and cheek muscles.       (NUK Brush)

Chewers and tethers: Very useful to increase the tone of cheek muscles

Finger Brush: Cleaning and sensitizing the oral cavity

• Licking: Encourage the child to  lick some foods like good quality lollipops, shrikhand, honey/peanut butter/ jam/ apple sauce etc.

•   Sucking :Drinking different density fluid-starting from thin to thick with straw. Length and thickness of straw can be varied to make the task more demanding as they learn.

• Encourage puckering like giving a kiss on mirror etc. You need a hard surface. You can show your photo in mirror and the child can be encouraged to kiss the reflection in the mirror.

•    Playing Hanuman: Make the face of Lord Hanuman and your child will imitate you.

•    Some passive exercises with the help of an adult like pushing the tongue, taking out the tongue in all directions. I have mentioned about MIRROR TECHNIQUE towards the end of my article. These passive excercises can be encouraged with the help of mirror.

      Tongue exercise can be done actively with the help of honey/apple sauce/ jam/ chyavanprash/ peanut butter etc. 

      You can put the above mentioned edibles alternatively

•      on upper lip
•      lower lip
•      both the corners of the lips
•      inner side of cheeks (both)
•      On hard palate
•      inner & outer sides of gums
• Blowing :  You can start with blowing:
  •Small pieces of paper
  •Soap bubbles
  ØWire
  ØStraw
  ØBottle-small/big 
  •Thermocol balls
  This needs minimum efforts.
  
  

  
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  Soap bubble activity is very good. I have modified it a bit. Take a plastic bottle of 200 ml. Cut a 1cm hole on its bottom. Remove the cap of the bottle. Now dip the cap side of the bottle in soap water and blow from the hole made at the bottom. The air need to travel a distance so need a stronger blow than the routine bubble toy. You can go on increasing the size of the bottle. 

  Thermocol ball activities.

  

  

   Below is an easily made toy. Cut the upper portion of a one litter plastic bottle. Let the cap on and a hole through the cap. Pass a thick straw,put tennis ball inside and few thermocol balls on it.

  

  
  

   

Blowing whistle

Wired whistle-easily available in market

Blowing candles

Blowing Balloon 

Blowing Trumpet

    

   Similarly blowing pipe(pipudi), playing mouth organ, playing flute etc.....

  

     For speech to develop we need a stronger and controlled blow so gradually move towards other activities.

   

Take 15-20 playing cards,all from 2-10 except one. The one card should be any of the picture card. Spread all cards randomly on table and ask your child to blow all except for that picture card so that they fall down from the table.
      

     Blowing balls out of the plate randomly. These light weight,colourful plastic balls are cheap and easily available in market.

     Once the child can blow all out of the plate then use large and deeper bowl and repeat the same.

     Now ask the child to blow a ball of a specific colour out of the bowl.

      Take small pieces of thin,colourful craft paper and ask your child to make paper balls by squeezing the piece of paper.Make several such paper balls. Ask your child to blow those paper balls towards the target as shown in picture below.

      Once your child can blow randomly ask him to blow a specific coloured ball to the target.

     

   Draw a circle on a table. The height of the table should be comfortable for the child. Spread coloured small cotton balls on the table, 1-2 ft away from the circle. Now the task is to blow the balls and take them inside the circle. Gradually increase the distance between the cotton balls and the circle. Gradually decrease the size of the circle.

•  Arrange the light weight disposable glasses in pyramid. Task is to blow the glasses and make them fall. Gradually increase the size of pyramid and the distance to blow from pyramid.

•   Different coloured feathers are available in market. The task is to blow a feather in air in upward direction and keep blowing so that it does not fall on the ground. Gradually increase the number of features may be 2-3.

 

Making sounds

•Do not push your child to speak meaningful from the beginning. Initially start with easy animal sounds. A toy is available in market with keys. On each key one animal face is there and by pressing that key the sound of that animal is produced. The task is to copy the sound.
•Next spread few cut outs of known objects, animals, birds etc in the room. The game is your child will pick up one and show you, you need to either identify and tell or produce a typical sound for that particular cut out. Now its your turn to show the card and let your child identify or produce a typical sound for that particular cut out....and so on. 

•For all the kids MIRROR TECHNIQUE is very important and effective. For this you need to sit in front of a full sized mirror. Let your child sit in your lap. You just have to look at your face in the mirror and start speaking individual letters of alphabet very slowly with loud and broad actions. Do not pay attention towards anything, not even your child. Just keep on looking yourself in the mirror.

  Do not start with too many letters at a time. Select max 5 at a time. Repeat daily. It may happen that your child go away, may not look at you...... Don't worry, our children are excellent copy cats and they enjoy mirror a lot. Mirrors are best learning object for our kids. Sooner or later the child will start copying you. Gradually go on adding letters then simple small words.....and so on.....

    Mirror technique can be used for all children. Those who can speak, this can be used to have better pronunciations. 

ITS ALL ABOUT GETTING

INVOLVED WITH YOUR CHILD

AND YOU WILL BE AMAZED BY YOUR

OWN NEWER IDEAS EVERYDAY 

 

THANK YOU