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Playdates For Children With Special Needs Playdates are vital for all children to hone critical social skills on which future relationships will be built. But with special needs children, scheduling a playdate can feel a bit overwhelming. Special needs children tend to have a difficult time interacting with their peers. As a parent, you want to help your child build important social skills but you don’t want to put your child in a situation that might upset or interrupt the behavior of your children. It takes a great deal of patience and understanding to plan a successful special needs playdate. The benefits of playdates include: Increase in Confidence Improved social decision making Learning Problem-solving Emotional Growth Improved social skills Many parents of children who are typically developing and those with special needs set up playdates to encourage the building of critical skills and friendships.  The most important lesson learned from playing with a variety of children is that every child is different and special!  Throughout life, we meet and interact with people of all shapes, sizes, and abilities and learning from each other can truly enhance our life. Read more about: Play in Speech Therapy Sessions HOW TO BEGIN? Practice Playing It may be hard to believe, but the act of playing doesn’t come naturally to some kids.  For example, children with autism often have difficulty with taking turns, speaking up, and interpreting nonverbal gestures. Practicing and explaining this to your child may help him to feel more comfortable. Together, discuss strategies that can be used to help facilitate play. What is a facial expression?  Make different faces and ask your child to guess your emotion. Identify mutual interests Identify what the children have in common and build activities upon mutual interests. So, set up Legos and build Angry Birds or Chhota Bheem games.  If the children like the same movie, set up puzzles, art, baking, or sensory play based on the movie. Siblings should not be a part of the playdate to allow for targeted friendship building between the two participants. Start with shorter playdates Keep the first playtimes shorter until the children become more comfortable with each other.  Consider having more short yet frequent play times with the same friend since relationships can take time to build.  It’s important to end on a good note. So, if the children are in any type of conflict, help to facilitate a peaceful ending. Consider food allergies and sensitivities When planning a snack contact the other child’s parent to determine which foods are safe for both children. It can be very meaningful for the other parent and is a critical step to avoiding potential life-threatening reactions to foods.  Do not be offended if the children do not eat what is set out.  The kids may just be too excited to eat! Be mindful of any physical limitations For example, many children with sensory issues do not prefer to get messy, dirty or wet but they can be super at doing other things such as building or creating.  It’s always a sensitive topic to talk about someone’s weaknesses, instead ask the parent what their kid is comfortable doing. Read more about: Play Therapy for Children Supervise and support throughout the playdate Since children of all abilities have different personalities, issues are bound to arise. Consider ways to resolve conflicts such as asking both kids to take five deep breaths or closing their eyes and counting to ten.  Make sure to ask the other parent which strategies are used when their child becomes stressed or upset. Nothing is perfect Do not put unnecessary pressure on yourself.  Both typically developing kids and children with special needs are learning while practicing play and social skills.  When learning a skill we all make mistakes. Our children benefit from every social interaction opportunity. Give yourself a pat on the back and enjoy watching new friendships bloom and develop. View this post on Instagram A post shared by 1SpecialPlace | Speech Therapy 🇮🇳 (@1specialplace) #Childrenwithspecialneeds #PlaydatesForChildren #socialinteractionopportunity #PlayTherapyforChildren #speechtherapy

Everyday Items as Awesome Toys: BINDIS Everyday Items as Awesome Toys, The awesomeness of common items in play should not go unnoticed! In this series, we will explore one such common item each time and discuss different ways to play with it. This article is exploring the everyday item: Bindis Bindis are easily available in many Indian households. The market has a variety to choose from. Let the child’s preference help guide you, but remember that the child should be able to manipulate (or handle) them. Don’t have bindis? Don’t worry. You can use stickers of the child’s liking to replace them! Now, for the games: This game is fun, while also builds attention and concentration. Use a lot of language related to directions and shapes. Everyday Items as Awesome Toys The game will also build listening and attention skills. 3. Face it. Place colorful bindis across the face e.g. cheek, forehead, eyebrow etc. Let the child take the bindis off, one by one. Talk about where the bindis are being taken from. Keep the game fun with exaggerated expressions during play! Take turns to keep it engaging. This is a wonderful game to play to build face to face interactions, eye contact, and language skills while having fun! Kids love this game! Bindis of different colors and sizes can make the game more interesting. This is a game to build listening, attention and a healthy competitive spirit. You can make the game more challenging by adding more squares or characters (i.e. by using a bigger chart). Hope you’ve enjoyed these ideas!  Try them and leave a comment! We’d love to hear from you. *** Subscribe with us to receive more articles with play ideas in your inbox! *** Everyday Items as Awesome Toys If you wish to know more about Speech Therapy, kindly contact us at info@1specialplace.com https://therakonnect.com/appointments/book/1specialplace For more ideas check out our other blogs https://1specialplace.com/news/ #homebasedactivities #activitiesforspeechlanguagetherapy #therapyideas #bindi #fungames

Self-Control Activities for Children Introducing new behaviors to children or changing or modifying the old ones can be a herculean task. Children are quick learners and absorb things like a sponge. Therefore, what we present to them has to be done with a certain thought and deliberately at times. Self-control is one such thing that we need to instill in our children sooner rather than later. Self-control will not only teach the kids to keep a check but also make them realize how much is enough.  Luckily, this can be done with the help of fun activities that are disguised as fun play time. 1. Blow bubbles.  It’s no secret that taking deep breaths can help restore a sense of calm when big emotions hit, and a great way to teach this concept is to have children blow bubbles when they’re feeling anxious. Start by giving each child their own bottle of mini bubbles to practice, and once they’ve mastered the concept, have them practice blowing bubbles without the wand. This will give them an effective coping strategy they can use when big emotions threaten to take over during the school day (and beyond)! 2. Red Light, Green Light. You probably remember playing this as a kid, and it’s a fun game to help kids work on self-control. Each time you yell ‘green light’, your kids can get up, dance, and act silly, but as soon as you yell ‘red light’, they must stand perfectly still. It’s heaps of fun! 3. Musical Chairs.  Another great activity to teach self-control is musical chairs. Make a circle of chairs in the center of the room, ensuring there is one less chair than there are kids participating in the game, and then switch on some fun music. The idea is for the kids to run in circles around the chairs while the music is playing, and once the music stops they must quickly find a chair to sit on. The person left standing is out of the game, and another chair is taken away until there is only one chair (and one winner) left. 4. Create a Calm Down Box.  Another way to teach children self-control is to ensure they have tools readily available when big emotions strike. Fidget toys, squeeze balls, and chewing gum are all great classroom-appropriate ideas that can help reduce feelings of anxiety and restore a sense of calm. 4. Hide and Seek. A game of hide and seek in your backyard or at your local park can teach kids self-control. Staying completely silent while hiding isn’t easy, and maintaining your composure when you’re the seeker and can’t find anyone can be pretty challenging as well. 5. Twister. 7. Jenga.  It requires great skill to remove and place blocks on the top of a tower, but what few people realize is that it also takes a lot of self-control for impulsive children not to knock the tower down while playing! Jenga is perfect to put self-control to test. #activitiesforchildren #dailyactivitiesforchildren #funactivitiesforchildren

Depression in Elderly: How to Help a Parent Depression can affect anyone regardless of their age, gender or any other background. While we are still yet to overcome the stigmas attached to this disease, the geriatric population in our country continues to suffer. Lack of awareness also leads to the family feeling helpless and not understanding how to help. Older people are at risk for depression, are underserved by the mental health profession, and have high rates of suicide in the country. But many seniors are resistant to treatment because they don’t want to burden their families or equate depression with weakness or even death. In such cases, it’s the family that has to take the first step and make it easier for the elderly so that they can deal with the situation more efficiently and yield better results. So how can you help your parent or a senior family member going through Depression? 1.Don’t dismiss symptoms Depression is not normal bereavement or stress. Depression is a disease that affects mood, cognition, appetite, sleep cycle etc. If your parent is not eating for more than a few days or loses interest in activities that used to give her pleasure for more than two weeks, it could be depression. 2.Talk about how they feel If your father can no longer drive, offering to drive him around or pay for a taxi service won’t necessarily soften the blow. The elderly are less likely to cope with depression as well as young people because of the added years of meaning behind it. Caregivers can help by recognizing its significance: Ask your elderly parent what they feel. It’s really important to hear them out and honor their emotions. Listening offers direct comfort and support. 3.Look for subtle signs Older adults often say, ‘I am not sad,’ or ‘I am not lonely,’ because they don’t want to be a burden on the family. Instead, they show signs of distress by wringing their hands excessively, getting agitated or irritable, or having difficulty sitting still. Looking and identifying such signs will be beneficial to get help sooner. 4.Don’t impose your terminology For the person who says, ‘No, I am not depressed,’  listen closely to what has changed in their life. For example, if they say they can’t sleep, use that as a hook to discuss ideas about how to sleep better or longer. It is also recommended not to say the words ‘depression,’ ‘drugs,’ or ‘therapy’ if an older adult doesn’t buy into the idea that they need help. That will make them upset or even worse might create panic. 5.Recognize that depression is an illness Family members should be aware of the disability that depression can cause and should avoid making depressed parents or relatives feel guilty by telling them to get out more or pull themselves up by the bootstraps. Researching and reading about it will help you become more aware and prepared to deal with it. 6.Don’t take over a person’s life The most important thing for a caregiver to do is not to try to do things for older people that they can do for themselves. Doing things for a depressed person is often not helpful at all because it reinforces their perception that they are worthless and incapable. Instead, help them break tasks into steps and praise them for any efforts. 7.Try to participate in medical care Because of confidentiality laws, geriatric psychologists can’t disclose information to families without their patient’s permission.  Many older people do give the permission and If they don’t, family members can always call and let the concerned professional know what they are seeing, and it is helpful when they do. Lastly, remember that old age is similar to childhood. It is fragile and your parents need the same amount of love and thoughtfulness as children. So handle with care. View this post on Instagram A post shared by 1SpecialPlace | Speech Therapy (@1specialplace)

Dementia: Care-giving tips Care-giving tips – Globally, there is a rise in the population of the elderly people with the generation of baby boomers having entered the age of 60 years. Old age is commonly associated with disorders such as high blood pressure and heart diseases. Along with this problem, it also leads to the slowing of the brain functions. Memory lapse is the most common brain dysfunction that people notice and are aware of. However, the attribution of memory lapse to old age commonly masks the onset of a disease called Dementia. Globally, India houses the second most number of individuals suffering from dementia with an estimated 4.1 million people suffering from it as per the ‘Dementia India’ report published by the Alzheimer’s and Related Disorders Society of India. Communication is vital to our well-being. People living with dementia slowly lose their language skills and their ability to express themselves freely. This has a profound impact on their quality of life. There are many ways we can support people living with dementia to communicate more effectively. It is important to remember that how you say something is often more important than what you say. Patience and empathy are key. Here are some tips to help communicate with people living with dementia. 1. Realise Your Challenge Your parent or loved one will get worse with time. Communication will become more difficult. On the other hand, remember there will be good days and bad days. Be prepared. Care-giving tips 2. Be Patient Communicating effectively is one of the greatest challenges seniors living with dementia face. Tolerate compassionately any delays, adversity or provocation. 3. Offer Reassurance Listen attentively and empathize with their concerns even if they are delusional, confused, hesitating, or angry. Offer reassurance and support. 4. Minimize Background Noise Noise can disturb and confuse people living with dementia. Find a quiet place to talk, away from the tv, radio, or people passing by. 5. Avoid Arguing When talking, place yourself in front of them and speak in a clear and warm tone. Use simple sentences and give clients ample time to respond. Do not contradict what they are saying and don’t speak to them as you would to a young child. 6. Use Nonverbal Cues Gestures, touch, and facial expressions can assist communication. Observe if their non-verbal cues indicate other messages, in spite of the words they are saying. Perhaps there are other feelings behind the words they are saying. 7. Be Precise Avoid pronouns such as ‘they’ ‘he’ or ‘she’. Refer to people by their preferred names. 8. Keep it simple Focus on one subject at a time; people living with dementia cannot handle two or three threads of conversation. If asking questions make sure they can be answered with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’. 9. Be Sensitive When talking about them in their presence, assume they can understand everything you say. Don’t talk about them as if they were not there. 10. Take a Break If you feel frustrated, take a break. You are not perfect! A person living with dementia is very capable of reading your body language. If you do not mean what you say they will know. Taking a break will benefit both parties. Care-giving tips If you wish to know more about Speech Therapy, kindly contact us at info@1specialplace.com https://therakonnect.com/appointments/book/1specialplace For more ideas check out our other blogs https://1specialplace.com/news/

Articulation Therapy: Teaching T and D sounds The sounds /t/ (as in tomato) and /d/ (as in dig) are lingua-alveolar plosives . The name ‘plosives’ comes from the way the sounds expel air when being said. And ‘lingua-alveolar’ is descriptive of the position of the tongue when the sounds are produced. A plan for therapy is drawn out based on the assessment results and thereafter Articulation therapy is undertaken. When saying each slowly, think about where your lips and tongue are positioned and what they are doing. Also, try to feel where the air from your throat is going while saying each sound. How are the sounds produced? The sound /t/ is produced by touching the tip of the tongue on the ridge, just behind the upper front teeth – while the lips stay gently apart. Each time the sound is to be produced the tongue quickly touches its position and then is released with a burst of air or ‘explosion’ of air from the mouth. The sound /d/ is produced with the same position and movement of the tongue, lips, and air, with an addition of voicing (i.e. vibration at the throat level). How is the /t/ sound established? First, check if the child can lift the tongue. If not, then there is a need to work on tongue strengthening . It may include simple games to learn to raise the tongue. Initially, it will be with the support of a tongue depressor, spoon etc.. Thereafter learning to raise the tongue and remain raised for some time without support.  Repeated and regular exercise is needed for the tongue to be raised independently. Get more ideas about this from your speech therapist. ( Read about tongue tip elevation in our articl e) If the child can raise the tongue, however placement is incorrect during the production of the /t/ sound, then begin by playing these games to Establish it. 1. Taste it . Place a very small piece of a favorite food item (something gooey in texture) on the ridge, near the palate just behind the upper front teeth. Get the child to use his / her tongue to take it out. This helps a child understand the correct placement. This game does not encourage making sounds but only exploration of correct placement of the tongue. 2. Touch and release. Show where the child needs to touch the tongue. Once familiar, play a game of pretend. Pretend to be mice or squirrels. Use cut outs of nuts or cheese and pretend to eat them while making the /tatatatata/ sound and action of the tongue. Hide the nuts in different parts of the room and move together. Correct the child for correct placement, when needed. 3. I’m a clock. Pretend to be a clock with the child and say the /t//t//t/ sound repeatedly as the sound of a clock. Use the hands of a clock and move it as the child makes the sound. * Note: Before working on producing the sound, listening to and identifying the /t/ from the /d/ sound may be taken up by the speech therapist. Take guidance from your speech therapist about the need for this and how to work on the same. How to work on the sound /d/? Voicing differentiates the sound /t/ and /d/ (as was the case for /p/ and /b/ sounds).  Let the child learn the /t/ sound, thereafter work on voicing. Take tips from the previous article in this series ( link is here ). Always keep the learning multisensorial (i.e. use multiple senses together such as those of touch, and hearing). Some children may take more time to learn this skill than others. Be patient and repeat several times, without putting too much pressure on the child. When the child learns voicing, get him/her to understand to ‘ turn on’ voicing for the /d/ sound. How to build the sound at syllable, word, sentence and conversational level. Achieving the sounds /t/ and /d/ in isolation is the beginning. Hereafter, there is a need to engage the sound in syllables (i.e. the sound along with other a vowel) and several longer utterances. In Syllables. Practice the sound with a vowel placed either before or after it. Having a visual by using a syllable wheel is encouraging for the learner. Get the child involved when playing games of saying syllables. Play it as a game (e.g. spin the wheel to land on a vowel to say along with the /t/ sound – a variation of wheel of fortune) or say it along taps (e.g. tap a beat on the table or using a xylophone or drum). In Words. Read about how to build a work list in a previous article here Articulation Therapy: Teaching P and B sounds . Practice a work list through fun. Here are a couple of game ideas: Walk the bridge On a page draw out a bridge with planks. Each plank has words (of the sound to be targeted). Each player has a peg. Take turns to say the sound. If said correctly the players peg moves ahead else moves a step back. First one to cross the bridge wins. Connect 4 with a twist This variation requires the adult/therapist to prepare the discs in advance. Written words are to be stuck on the discs (see the image). The child and adult will take turns playing the game. Each person has one color. They need to take one disc at a time and read the word aloud. If said correctly, they get to place the disc in the connect 4. If the word is said incorrectly, the player must forgo his / her turn. The objective of the game is to be the first to form a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line of four of one’s own discs. In Sentences If the child can use the sounds well within words, then move on to practicing sentences. At first, short sentences should be used – two to three-word sentences. Follow this with longer sentences and paragraphs/stories . Create a list of sentences with the sounds for the child to practice. For example – (1) Tick tock. (2) The turtle turned away. (3) Tina’s tiger tickled eight cats! Make practice fun. Use the sentences to make and play fun games . For instance, a game of ‘ Roll the dice’ . Form a list of 6 sentences numbered one to six. The adult and the child will take turns to roll a dice. Get a point or sticker for each sentence spoken correctly. Having a fun big dice is wonderful for this game. Books are a great way to practice words and sentences. If a child can not read, they can repeat what the parent or therapist read out. The pictures can be encouraging for the child. A few books available in book stores that can encourage the /t/ and /d/ sounds are – The cat in the hat, Pete the Cat – train trip, Dazzling digger, Harry the dirty dog. In Conversation. Using the sounds correctly within a conversation is quite important. This can be worked upon once the child does well in practicing the sounds in sentences and paragraphs. Within a conversation, you would want the child to use the sounds correctly without having a prapred script. Daily life conversations must be used mostly. Apart from this, play games wherein the child may have to use conversations. An interactive and creative manner to do this is to use Pictures with Speech Bubbles .  You can download scenes from the internet or draw your own in advance. Additionally, you will need to prepare little cards with the target words on them (such as tomato or turtle) which may be somewhat relevant to the scene of the picture. Each person (the adult and the child) will get two cards for themselves, in advance. The game requires each one to fill out conversations for the pictures using the words from the cards. It gets the players to create conversations in a fun way. Older children in articulation therapy may engage in drills more often, since it is the fastest and best way to get the child to practice a sound often in a limited amount of time. However, it should not be the largest chunk of the session but maybe a recap at the end of the session or a drill in the mid of the session. Practice of the sounds makes the child better in producing them. However, if the child is making mistakes while using the sound in conversation, then move back to practicing sentences. *** Please note that these are basic guidelines for articulation therapy. A child’s individual assessment results would guide a speech therapist for specific inputs which may include working on listening to sound and sound pairs or practicing specific sounds before the other (different from above) etc. *** Subscribe to us to receive our latest articles on articulation therapy ideas! #articulationtherapy #misarticulations #soundstandd #speechtherapyideas

Funtastic Play Ideas: HULA HOOP In each article of this series, few different ways of playing with a toy will be discussed. Let’s begin to explore the games and enjoy ourselves! This article explores Play activity with the ever-green Hula Hoop. Hula hoops are easily available at any toy shop. They can be of varying sizes (generally adult or kid sizes), colors (the sparkly multicolored ones are the most fun), some are detachable (this may, however, make it a little flimsy) while others are not, few make sounds (the soft jingling ones, can be quite soothing!) or may have light emitting from them! Hula hoops are originally played to sway around the hips or other body parts (once you get better with the game!). It’s fun to do it along with music or Play activity competitive games to see who rotates the hula hoop the most number of times. Let’s look at some other games we can Play activity with this item and dive right into the fun: This game needs four or five hula hoops. Place them on the floor next to each other. The child is required to jump from one hoop to the other. It can be made more interesting by getting the child to jump in different ways – first with both feet, then with one foot. Later the child can be asked to jump like a frog etc. Numbering each hula hoop and playing can make the game more competitive. Get the child to jump to a specific number. The adult or another child should be able to reach the same number or further. This game builds great motor skills, while also pushing concepts of number and social Play activity skills (including competitive skills). Using hula hoops as a part of an obstacle course is rather fun. You can use chairs, sofa cushions, small mats for the child to step on or crawl under. The hula hoops can be placed vertically so that the child can walk through. The child should be told to go through without touching the hula hoop! That makes it a tad bit tougher. Build a lot of motor, sequencing and planning skills through this simple game of obstacles! 3. Aim and win: Suspend 4 to 5 hoola hoops in the air, horizontally. Tying them together with cable ties or thick thread would make them sturdier while playing. Take 5 to 6 small balls (tennis ball is the best size) for this game. Each player needs to aim the ball into the hula hoops. Mark a distance for the player to stand and throw from. The player with most balls through the hula hoop wins. The game needs a lot of concentration, motor coordination, and motor skills. To add a little more fun, number the hula hoops. Points for each player are counted based on the number the ball was thrown in. E.g. If the child threw the ball in the hoola hoop numbered 2,3 and 5. His points are 2+3+5=10. This makes the game more competitive while understanding concepts of numbers and more or less! Let’s make a tunnel by using three hula hoops and a bedsheet. Fold the bedsheet in a half and place it over the (vertical) hoola hoops. Fasten the bedsheet to the hula hoops with tape or few stitches. The bottom half would not be covered. This can be rested on chairs are played indoors or played outdoors by wedging the hoola hoop in sand. A lot of fun while building coordination, concepts of in and out or by making this part of an obstacle course! Click here to read a blog on Role Play Activities To Promote Speech The hula hoop can be used like a pretend clock. Use chalk on a floor and mark the numbers of the clock within the hula hoop. Use fun toys as the minute and hand needles e.g. crocodiles or cars. Talk to the child about time and move the needs (i.e. toys) accordingly. A fun way to teach time concept. Use the hula hoop as a prop for dancing. Great way to get the child to sequence actions, use motor coordination well, follow instructions while having fun! Use simple tunes at first with simple actions with the hula hoop, for example, swaying right and left with the hula hoop, when its held together by the child and adult. The hula hoops can easily become goal posts while playing a friendly game of soccer. Vertically lodge a hula hoop in sand. Use a soccer ball and get the child to aim at the goal. A fun way to build attention, motor skills, and motor coordination. Add a lot of commentary and make it a language rich game too. *** Hope you’ve enjoyed the ideas. Give us feedback. We would love to hear from you! Don’t forget to subscribe to us to receive our most recent articles in your inbox! *** #activitiesforspeechlanguagetherapy #Activityideas #RolePlayActivities #speechtherapyideas

Everyday Items as Awesome Toys: VEGETABLES Therapy activities – The awesomeness of common items in play should not go unnoticed! In this series we will explore one such common item each time and discuss five different ways to play with it. This article is exploring the everyday item: Vegetables Vegetables are always available in every household. From the common potato to a celebrated celery stick, all can be used in many ways to build communication skills while playing fun games with a child. Here are five ideas: 1. Touch, smell, and taste. This game is best played with a variety of vegetables of various textures and smells. Let the child explore each vegetable, one at a time. Guide the child to explore it in different ways, in any way s/he may like, by touching, tapping, mashing, smelling, tasting or even squeezing it. Talk to the child about what s/he is doing. Talk by telling him how it – feels (e.g. soft, hard), smells (e.g. nice, pungent, sweet) or even tastes (e.g. sweet, bitter). Use this to expand the child’s vocabulary. At the end of the play, do not forget to get the child to tidy up with you. While doing this, talk about what was played and how. This is the best way to build recall and use language for it. Gather fresh peels of vegetables e.g. cucumber, carrot or potato skins. Longer peels would be more fun to explore in this game. Mix them the peels together in a large pan and hide a couple of small toys (the child recognizes and knows). Ask the child to find the toys. At first, several children may not want to touch the peels. Give them time to gain courage to explore. Show them / model how they can explore and touch it. Encourage messiness during play in this game! It adds to the fun. This is a wonderful sensory play. It can build language about colors, textures, answering questions of what and where. Using vegetables for painting is a lot of fun. Cut a cross section of a vegetable. For instance, onion, potato or even something with a very different shape like celery or spring onion sticks. Dab one side in paint and then use it as a stamp to paint on paper or any preferred surface. Each vegetable will make a unique shape of their own. Use language talking about the shape as well as the color of the paint used. Additionally, using language related to – more or less (paint), wet or dry (paint), dark or light (color) is easily possible through this activity. Painting has a few sequential steps to follow – e.g. take the potato, dip it in the paint, press it on the paper. Such sequential language can also be taught, used repeatedly or even generalized through this task. Game of sorting vegetables by color can be quite easily done at home. Use different colored bowls and let the child sort vegetables to match the bowl color. Similarly, sorting vegetables by shape (e.g. long, round) can be done using two bowls. Label each bowl and let the child place the vegetable accordingly. Using appropriate visual reminder or cards is quite helpful. This game would require prior knowledge of vegetables – such as their shape, color and/or name. This game will not only strengthen the child’s language but also recall or memory. Use an opaque bag and place one vegetable within it. Let the child feel the vegetable and guess what it may be. Give hints if the child is unable to guess e.g. its color or smell. Encourage the use of appropriate language for responding. Use visuals to provide choices for a child that needs help. Take turns to play this game with the child. This would build wonderful skills of labeling, using adjectives and appropriate questions (e.g. what does it smell like? What is it?). Here, a BONUS game is shared! Make this game fun by carefully selecting 3 to 4 vegetables of varied shapes and sizes. For instance, use large purple brinjal, tomato, ridge guard, cucumber. Keep a thick colored sketch pen and paper handy. Let the child trace each vegetable. Let the child color it. Talk about the shapes – it builds good descriptive language skills. Emphasize on shape and size. Hope you’ve enjoyed these ideas!  Try them and leave a comment! We’d love to hear from you. *** Subscribe with us to receive more articles with play ideas in your inbox! *** Therapy activities Book your appointment now For more ideas check out our other blogs #EverydayItemsasAwesomeToys #therapyactivities #wonderfulsensoryplay

Music in Speech therapy: 8 Amazing Action Songs Music and movement bring a lot of fun to a session. The power of music is wonderful in exciting, calming and engaging children. A speech therapist can effectively use action rhymes to build speech and language skills. Repetition of movements, sounds, and words within the songs gives the child ample opportunities to learn and thereafter imitate actions and (many times) speech. Here are 8 fun songs that bring in movement and music while developing skills to build communication. 1. What are you wearing? This is a great song to begin a session or to talk about clothes to a child. Customize the song to suit the clothes the child is wearing e.g. blue shorts, white shirt etc. Link to the song 2. Hockey-pockey song. This song has fun lyrics to encourage concepts of body parts, in/out and right/ left. It consists of several sequenced movements that are repeated. Reduce the sequences for beginning learners or reduce the number of stanzas for children who may not be able to focus for too long. Focusing on one body part at a time is a wonderful way to begin the song e.g. only do right hand and left hand. Add in more body parts over sessions or sittings with the child. Link to the song 3. If you’re happy and you know it. Like the previous song, this is a longer song with several stanzas and sequenced movements. Once again, reduce the stanzas to suit the child’s capabilities and needs. Add actions based on what the child likes e.g. If you’re happy and you know it ….’say achoo’ or ‘snap your fingers’. Link to the song 4. Wheels on the bus. A favorite amongst children and therapist. Add different aspects that make a child happy or the child can relate to – e.g. ‘Baby Nia’ goes ‘hahaha’ or ‘Aunty Tanya’ gives a ‘high five’ Link to the song 5. Old McDonald. A classic that will not go out of style. A great tool to teach sounds and syllables to a child through animals and animal sounds. Adding sounds of favourite characters/animals makes it more engaging. Link to the song 6. Baby shark song. A fast-paced, popular song that has a really catchy tune! Repetition is a huge part of this song along with names of family members. Add a family member the child enjoys meeting e.g. an aunt or uncle. Link to the song 7. Jack in the box. Another catchy number. This is a wonderful song to talk about body parts. It is slightly slower paced as compared to the previous song, but kids love it! Link to the song 8. Five little monkeys jumping on the bed. A song to reinforce the skill of counting while having fun. Counting down from 5 to 1 is what is usually done, but based on the child’s attention span fewer numbers can be taken at first e.g. start with 2. Get the child to pretend to be the mother or doctor and repeat their action or words. Link to the song Remember: Singing these songs live for your child allows you to slow the pace of the song or make it faster, at any point in time. You can make fun changes to the lyrics as and when required too! Use visual cues for different actions or to provide reminders for the actions. Puppets, face masks or pretend play toys can be added to the songs to make it easy for a child to relate to and enact. A lot of encouragement and appreciation for participation should be a part of the activity. *** Enjoy moving to the music with your child, while building skills! Leave a comment if you liked these songs or have more ideas to share with us. We’d love to hear from you. *** Subscribe to us to receive our latest articles. #actionsongs #childreninspeechtherapy #musicforchildreninspeechtherapy #musicinspeechtherapy

Hearing-Speaking: Are they related? Hearing-Speaking, We usually get a question of -How hearing problem from birth plays a critical role in speech and language development, communication and learning? -When the child cannot hear why cannot he/she speak? To answer these questions we need to know something about the ear development. A child starts hearing to environmental sounds not only from the time he/she is born but also from 18 weeks of gestational age. Research says that fetus as young as 18-19 weeks hears mother’s heartbeat and other louder environmental sounds. Ultrasound studies show that a child can respond to mother’s voice even before birth. It is well documented that a child starts developing auditory skills from the day 1. The primitive startle reflexes to loud sounds is gradually developed into more and more advanced responses like localization, comprehension, understanding etc. Hearing-Speaking It is well-recognized that the relationship between hearing and speech development is critical in the early years of a child’s life. A typically developing child starts understanding much before speaking which shows that only by listening, understanding the child starts to speak. It works like a feedback system. When a child has a hearing problem from birth, he/she would miss many of the important milestones. The earlier hearing loss occurs in a child’s life, the more serious the effects on the child’s development. Similarly, the earlier the problem is identified and intervention begun, the less serious the ultimate impact. There are four major ways in which hearing loss affects children: It causes delay in the development of receptive and expressive communication skills (speech and language). Speech Children with impaired hearing struggle to hear soft or quiet speech sounds—for example, “sh” or “f”—and therefore may not use these sounds while communicating. As a result, the child’s speech may be difficult to understand. Vocabulary & Sentence Structure When hearing loss exists, children are slower to develop their vocabulary. They may also struggle to comprehend words with multiple meanings, proper use of tenses and sentence structure. Hearing impaired children are more likely to use short, simple sentences to communicate. The language deficit causes learning problems that result in reduced academic achievement. Hearing impaired kids are more likely to struggle with reading and math than their peers. Without treatment, an early hearing impairment can continue to affect a child throughout their life, as their academic and social development are likely to suffer. However, identifying and addressing a hearing impairment in its early stage can curb the impact. Working with a speech pathologist can help to minimize developmental delays and help your child reach her or his full potential. Communication difficulties often lead to social isolation and poor self-concept. Children with severe to profound hearing losses often report feeling isolated, without friends, and unhappy in school, particularly when their socialization with other children with hearing loss is limited. These social problems appear to be more frequent in children with a mild or moderate hearing losses than in those with a severe to profound loss. It may have an impact on vocational choices. Hearing-Speaking What you can do? Recent research indicates that children identified with a hearing loss who begin services early may be able to develop language on a par with their hearing peers. If a hearing loss is detected in your child, early intervention is recommended to promote language and cognitive development. Book your appointment now For more ideas check out our other related blogs View this post on Instagram A post shared by 1SpecialPlace | Speech Therapy (@1specialplace) #hearingspeakingrelation

Using Music in Speech Therapy Speech therapists can assume various roles- of an artist, a teacher or even a singer! Yes, you read that right! Speech therapists can also sing, dance and play music to build relevant skills. Music is a magical tool while working with children and adults having speech and language difficulties. Why use music in speech therapy? Music makes the therapy fun and engaging. It adds another dimension to the session, which makes learning language and speech a tad bit easier for the individual with speech and language delays/ disorders. It reduces the pressure to perform (to speak or use language) since music destresses the child or adult. Most of the children take well to music and it allows them to get engaged in the activity quickly. The interaction between the therapist and child becomes easier. Teens and adults in speech therapy would typically also enjoy listening to music and hence perform better. Science tells us that music has a positive effect on the development of the brain, language learning as well as reading skills in children. Playing an instrument and listening to music have positive impacts on the child. They rightly say, “Making Music Matters”! For adults with speech and language disorders music makes learning more memorable or relatable while keeping the sessions more relaxed/playful. What to use?  Based on how you will be using music for the therapy session, there is a choice of using an audio device or actual / toy instrument. Playing music on an audio/music device (such as a computer, tablet or phone that can run a music app off the internet) will allow access to a lot of songs quite easily. Although the songs can be started or stopped on command and you can choose a song of choice – the speed or lyrics of the song cannot be changed. These aspects must be paid close attention to since they are important during a speech therapy session.  The goal of playing music in the session must define whether this is a good choice or not. Some speech therapists may use actual instruments to play with the learner. It can be a guitar, drum etc. There are several musical toy instruments available for children to explore. They may include drums, xylophone, pianos, saxophones etc. that are made of many different materials. The wooden ones, although expensive, make wonderful sounds and are generally more soothing. An individuals tolerance for different auditory sounds may also help with the choice of instruments to use. Many cause-effect toys are available that can play tunes when buttons are pressed. In speech therapy, these would help in engaging the child to build attention, request for music or a toy. The song would be great for the child to just listen or to begin rapport building between the therapist or adult. Upcycling house-hold items to make musical instruments can also be used.  Making the instrument can become a fun activity in the therapy session, after which the instrument can be used. Different ways to Teach with Music.  Music can be used in many different ways within a therapy session, based on which aspect of speech and language is being taught by the therapist. A few ways to involve music are: 1. Get them to Listen . Let the child or adult listen to a song. This can achieve the following- (a) Provides a wonderful beginning for a session. Music is engaging and a familiar tune can assist in building rapport within the session. (b) Choose a song with the concept to be taught. This would help in generalizing the concept. For example, the song – ‘head shoulders knees and toes’ can be used to emphasize the different body parts.  (c) Listening to a song may also be used to heighten an individuals’ listening skill. Such as “say ‘quack’ everytime you hear the word duck in the song!” Using a visual cue to ‘listen’ would help prepare the learner to pay more attention towards the task. 2. Allow exploration Exploring musical instruments is a great way to get children comfortable.  Allowing for engagement with the instrument before adult-directed instructions are added can enable the child to do much better in the session.  While the child is exploring the instrument,  language skills can be pushed by talking about – what the child is hearing and doing ( listen below to hear how) . http://cdn2.1specialplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/sound-byte-music-how.wav 3. Move along When a simple tune or rhyme is being played, a child/adult can be encouraged to follow by moving along or swaying to the tune. Participating in such actions through a rhyme is a great way to build – listening, attention and following instructions. Once the individual is comfortable with the movements,  a speech therapist can slowly combine saying sounds or words and motor actions. For many individuals, encouraging sounds with movements can have promising outcomes. A full body mirror provides wonderful feedback for this activity! 4. Play along This is THE most fun part of playing an instrument. Simple beats can be imitated or even a tune. Appropriate cues must be used by the therapist to help the learner. This activity is wonderful in building – concentration, and attention to a task. It also improves listening skills, motor imitation, and even auditory memory. All these skills are great precursors to good language and speech. 5. Playing as a group Playing a musical instrument along with peers or even swaying to moving (dancing) along with friends or peers can build confidence. It gives opportunities to generalize listening skills, help them learn to listen to instructions from others (not only the therapist). Social skills (such as taking turns) will come into play along with the use of appropriate social communication skills.  A group can begin interactions with either a song familiar to all or a song to introduce oneself (e.g. my name is….). The group setting can be made more challenging by adding tunes for all to play together or play parts (such as in an orchestra). Once again visual or verbal cues must be available to help them understand turn-taking (my vs. yours), waiting, or even sequence of events. 6. Humming along For few children and adults, using their voice is not easy. Even a skill such as humming is not possible. Music can assist the individual to play with their voice. Play a very simple tune, preferably one with repeated beats e.g. One two buckle my shoe or Rain, rain go away. Hum the tune and assist the child or adult to follow. 7. Talk along the beats For individuals who are learning to – vocalize sounds, string words confidently or even be fluent with their speech – talking along to beats can make it easier. Use an instrument of choice and strum it to a consistent beat. Getting the child or adult to talk along to the beat helps. 8. Calming The inability to speak or use speech effectively can at times be quite stressful for children and adults. Music can help alleviate anxiety and provide a space for comfort. Between difficult speech /language tasks, a music break can be provided (to hear a favorite tune) for a couple of minutes. This little break can make the rest of the speech session more fruitful. Remember to use cue card for the child/individual to request for music and even a schedule, if necessary, when the music breaks will be.   Note: Music therapy is an evidence-based approach to build skills through music. A speech therapist and qualified musical therapist can work alongside each other to build an individuals’ skill. Musical therapy is slowly becoming popular amongst children and adults with delays in the developed world such as in the US. View this post on Instagram A post shared by 1SpecialPlace | Speech Therapy (@1specialplace) #learningwithmusic #music #musicinspeechtherapy #musicalinstruments

Raising a Child in a Bilingual or Multilingual Environment Growing up in a bilingual or multilingual environment is the norm for those of us staying in countries like India. I may be speaking my mother tongue at home, talking to the shopkeeper in a local language but being taught lessons in English, at school. So, what do we mean by bilingualism and multilingualism? Bilingualism refers to using two languages well good proficiency and equal confidence. Multilingualism, on the other hand, refers to use of more than two languages with equally good skill and proficiency. India and countries like Singapore, take bilingualism and multilingualism for granted; not realizing that several other countries across the world remain monolingual. A child growing in a monolingual country, such as France or parts of United States, would be exposed to only one language. Increasingly, a trend of learning a second language is emerging in these countries. This is usually later in life (be it middle school, during college or later). Raising a child in a bilingual or multilingual environment can be advantageous, but the benefits are not always widely known. Therefore, several concerning questions may worry new parents. Let’s go over a few common questions: Can my child suffer from language delay if raised in a bilingual or multilingual environment? There is no evidence showing that a bilingual or multilingual environment can cause a delay in speech and language skills. Hearing more than one language does not delay learning of language (i.e. language acquisition). If the child is stimulated well in all the languages, it can only be beneficial for him/her. These children learn to focus better, listen to a variety of words and languages as well as have a larger combined vocabulary. I want to use only one language with my child. Is that a good idea? A child being raised in a multilingual environment will typically hear more than one language in his / her surroundings. Unless specified by physicians or language therapists, it is not advisable to limit the child’s interaction from several languages to one. As mentioned earlier, it can only be beneficial to have them listen to a variety of words and languages. My child is being raised amongst several languages. What language should I speak at home? It is recommended to talk to the child in the language that the family is using most often amongst themselves or is strongest in. This would typically be their mother tongue. Across the globe, including urban India, a child’s parents may come from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. The parents would, therefore, have separate mother tongues. In this case, the language used between the parents can be used with the child. Additionally, for typically growing children each parent can choose to interact with the child using their mother tongue. This would expose the child to multiple languages from birth. My child is mixing languages while speaking. Should I be concerned? It is typical for children learning more than one language to mix and use words from the different languages during conversations or sentences (called ‘code-switching’). This may be misinterpreted as a child’s lack of proficiency in the languages or possible confusion in the languages. On the contrary, this natural phenomenon amongst bilinguals or multilinguals speaks volumes about the child’s ability to strategically use the languages and words from those languages to effectively convey meaning or even get attention! My child has a speech and language delay. Do I speak to him in only one language? For a child with speech and language delay, factors such as the diagnosis, amount of delay in speech and language (communication) skills– help understand whether the child should be spoken to in one language or not.  A language therapist can guide a family, based on their needs, situation and the child’s communication skills. In certain situations, such as huge delay in language due to severe or profound hearing loss, requires the family to focus on one language. This will assist the child to learn communication effectively and build a vocabulary. Families of children with developmental delays such as Autism are being encouraged by experts, to allow their child to be exposed to a variety of languages (within a bilingual or multilingual environment). This does not limit them to one language while building a vocabulary and their communication skills. My child with speech and language delays understands both languages spoken at home. He uses few words confidently. How do I encourage him to speak more? Providing speech stimulation to the child on a regular basis is important. Talk about what he is seeing or trying to say. Since the child is in a bilingual environment, it will be helpful to stimulate the child in both languages. Let’s take a simple example here of a family using Hindi and English at home. A parent can talk to the child during routine tasks and ‘shadow’ one language with the other. ‘Close the door – Darwaja band karo’. This would provide the child with language and allow him to explore to say them without putting any undue pressure on him. Remember to use simple sentences and words at first, to get the child to learn them ‘Come here- idhar aao’. Expanding on the sentences and words can be done as the child gains confidence in using them. Be a model. The child’s environment should be a model for use of language. If the child is to pick up new words (in one or two languages), he should hear other members of the family using them also. Be repetitive. Use similar or same phrases as often as possible in different situations. This will allow the child to hear the same phrases and words often- providing a lot of stimulation. ‘Close door / Darwaja band karo, close window / khidki band karo, close book / kithab band karo etc.’ Praise the child for smaller successes. Encouragement through praise can be quite effective for a child learning to speak. A hurrah or a high five for any new word can provide the child with confidence to use the word(s) often. Read to the child. Reading together is an effective way to build language(s). Describing picture in a picture book, reading out a short story while using both languages can be a fun way to learn and encourage repetition of words. *** Have more questions about multilingualism or bilingualism? Write to us and talk to our speech therapists. *** Subscribe to us to receive our latest articles in your inbox! #bilingualism #languagedelay #multilingualism #speechstimulation