Speech Therapy: Making it fun and fabulous!

At Kid Sense we know that play is the foundation of children’s learning so it stands to reason that  Speech Therapy must be fun and creative to help teach children without them realising they are learning. Our Speech Therapists recognize the importance in gaining a child’s interest quickly and completely to secure their active attention to the speech therapy learning teaks.

So what is the recipe for an engaging and productive speech therapy session? Well, the Kid Sense Speech Therapists believe a captivating Speech Therapy session requires at least some of the following ingredients:

• creative and innovative play that uses the children’s imagination to develop games that are fun and captivating because they are led by the child
• a never ending supply of games that appeal to children of different ages with a variety of interests (which explains why our cupboards are overflowing with toys)
• adaptable and flexible activities that can meet a child’s changing needs as well as their variable energy and activity levels
• use of evidence based strategies to ensure that therapy is effective and well targeted

You might wonder given the energetic nature of children, where ideal speech therapy occurs? At Kid Sense we don’t believe that therapy has to happen at the table. It can happen playing on the floor, wandering around the room or during an obstacle course! In essence we believe the ‘best practice’ speech therapy occurs wherever and doing whatever keeps the child engaged in actively contributing to the learning process.

However, its all good and well to talk about what makes good Speech Therapy for children but what do the child’s parents and teachers get from their child’s Speech Therapy? At Kid Sense we believe that skilling up the child’s parents and/or teacher to understand the child’s speech and language challenges can reduce the daily frustration that can accompany them, as can learning the ‘how to help’ tips that can be used across environments. Parent involvement during the session is encouraged (where appropriate) so parents can learn the how-to tricks first hand from the Speech Therapist to take into daily life no matter what the environment. Recommended home program activities are also provided following after each speech therapy session to reinforce skills developed in Speech Therapy in order to consolidate gains.

Being a multi-disciplinary practice with Occupational Therapy on site as well, Kid Sense Speech Therapists prefer to work holistically by incorporating (where appropriate) a child’s Occupational  Therapy needs as well (such as using sensory based strategies to sustain attention for those with sensory processing disorder, or using drawing tasks to simultaneously help develop fine motor needs). Our Speech Therapists recognize that knowing when to refer to other disciplines (be that Occupational Therapy, Psychology, Audiology) can directly influence the speed and sustainability of developmental progress overall.

If you are looking for more information on what makes a good Speech Therapist for children click here or our other article – Speech Therapists: Which one is best for my child?.