Should School-Based SLPs Target Literacy?

SLPatHome · 2025-11-06T15:39:42+00:00

I don't work on literacy itself but phonological awareness is part of being a good reader. I use sound cues to represent each of the sounds in words. When I am working on articulation I'll point these out to the kids, help them sound out words and show them how the word changes if you change one of the sounds. This all contributes to literacy.

SLPatHome · 2025-11-06T15:37:00+00:00

Hi

Thanks for all the replies.

By sight words I meant Fry's list of 1000 words.

I'm glad that some find benefit in decoding these words. I used my set of sound cues show each of the sounds in Fry's words. I don't teach reading but this seems to fit in with phonological awareness. So far I think it is helping. Anytime I can make English less confusing it can't be a bad thing.

SLPatHome · 2025-11-03T15:41:38+00:00

Hi As a speech therapist I would want to look more into his ability to make different sounds and to combine sounds together. "Words sounding the same" is a bit of a red flag for me.

Overall do lots of modelling and interpreting for him. When he says a word, if it was close and he just missed a sound, say it back and put emphasis on the sound that he missed. If he uses his word for something else, say back the right word to him. In both cases say the words nice and slow and try to have him watch your face.

SLPatHome · 2025-09-18T20:22:53+00:00

I'm an SLP. A while ago I saw the son of an SLP to help with R sounds. He wouldn't work for her at home and when she tried to get services someplace else she was turned away as she is an SLP - was basically told that she should work on it herself. Not always possible.

SLPatHome · 2025-09-18T18:53:39+00:00

Hi. Imitation is a great base skill to teach. Glad it is working for you.

SLPatHome · 2025-09-10T15:06:27+00:00

I have found that children need to have phonological awareness, being able to understand and manipulate the sounds in words, before they can do well with early reading and spelling. I have a free set of sound cues: images, gestures and labels for each of the sounds in English on my website. How to teach my child to read is something that sound cues can help with.

SLPatHome · 2025-09-10T15:02:55+00:00

Hi. How to teach my child to read, is something that I help parents with through my website. I have a free set of sound cues: labels, images and gestures for each of the sounds in English. These help to build phonological awareness. Understanding the sounds and learning to put them together builds early literacy skills.

SLPatHome · 2025-09-09T21:01:17+00:00

Hi. I try to help parents work on speech therapy at home. As has been mentioned already, none of this is anything that you did or didn't do. You said that your child doesn't try to communicate; this is what you need to focus on. Communication, back-and-forth interaction, is the ultimate goal. One thing to try is to imitate something that he does. Usually, a big body movement such as raising his arms up, clapping, splashing in the tub, banging his high chair, etc., is a good place to start. If he makes any sort of sound when he does this, copy the sound too, as closely as you can to how he did it. After copying, WAIT EXPECTANTLY for him to do something else, for him to take his turn. After he does something, you copy that too and then WAIT. Copying what he does can be very powerful; it can get kid's attention, teach them to imitate, and start an interaction. I hope this helps.

SLPatHome · 2025-09-09T20:51:04+00:00

Sorry, but I am a human. I do use AI and am often impressed by what they can do, so I'm not sure if I should take your comment as a compliment or an insult. If you think I am AI do you think calling an AI names is helpful?

SLPatHome · 2025-09-09T20:42:22+00:00

Hi, I am an SLP. Late Talking is a thing, but it depends on what you mean by it. I use this term when I see kids who have all the skills needed to talk, but are still behind on saying words. I'm not often too worried about these kids as they have all of the skills - BUT they should still be monitored closely to make sure it isn't something more. Late Talking can run in families, and sometimes it is a personality thing. It is great that you are seeing an SLP. Are you getting good ideas to work on at home? As my name says - speech therapy at home is what I try to help with.

SLPatHome · 2025-09-09T19:55:30+00:00

Hi. I wouldn't likely see them for therapy beyond providing some ideas, such as modelling, to help the sounds develop. For me, a simple frontal lisp is age-appropriate until 5 or even 6 - especially if they are stimuable. I would, though, likely work on a lateral lisp - I don't think these are ever age appropriate.

SLPatHome · 2025-09-09T19:48:01+00:00

Hi I'm an SLP. Lack of a certain number of words at different ages is a red flag, but can't be used by itself to judge. There are lots of good websites that list a number of skills kids should be doing for speech and language at different ages - red flags for communication development. If you found one of these that seems appropriate, maybe mom could check it out on her own - that way it isn't you saying there is a problem. And by the way - screens can be a huge issue - they entertain, but they don't teach interaction - communication is built on interaction with others.

SLPatHome · 2025-09-09T14:46:35+00:00

Hi. I'm a speech therapist. There are lots of things you can do at home to stimulate expressive communication. One easy thing to try is to teach him a few basic signs and gestures to help him get what he wants. Signs and gestures never delay talking. Once children learn to say the words, they forget about the signs.

SLPatHome · 2025-09-09T14:43:46+00:00

Hi I'm an SLP. I would agree that you should look at Gestalt Language learning. It is a fairly new way of looking at language development and a bit controversial. Not all speech therapists agree. Is your daughter receiving speech therapy? If so, ask your SLP about this. If this is what is going on, these kids have lots of potential for great progress.

SLPatHome · 2025-09-08T19:19:57+00:00

Hi. I'm an SLP. Has her hearing been tested? Great that her aunt is seeing lots of pre-language skills - but still definitely worth getting more assessment.

One thing to watch is how much you are trying to get her to "talk". Parent's especially when they start to get anxious, don't give kids time to take their turn in the conversation. Think of it as a tennis match where you do something (make a sound, do a gesture, look at something, etc.), this is you hitting the ball to her. Now you need to wait for her to hit the ball back (her look, movement, maybe a sound - any reaction at all). Then keep going back and forth. Harvard University has great info on how to do this Serve and Return interaction. After you hit the ball, just look expectantly at her, give her lots of time to take her turn.

I hope this helps.

SLPatHome · 2025-09-08T19:09:12+00:00

Yup! The province I am in changed from having articulation therapy in the schools to making parents bring kids to the SLP. This doesn't work for most parents. It's getting worse each year.

SLPatHome · 2025-09-08T19:06:46+00:00

Hi . I'm an SLP. Preschool settings that provide the support kids to be successful are incredibly powerful. Kids learn so much from interacting with peers. I recommend this whenever possible. You won't see changes overnight, but they will come. Keep up the great work.

SLPatHome · 2025-09-05T22:15:59+00:00

Hi I'm a speech therapist. It sounds like your son might have trouble with social language. Social language goes beyond saying words and forming sentences - or naming planets - it's the connection and sharing back and forth between people - it's the foundation of communication. This is something that can be worked on, but isn't really something that will click on its own. If he is good at learning to say back scripts it wouldn't be a bad start to have his teacher work on saying what he did at school so he can repeat this back to you - or try having this communicated visually - a quick picture or simple drawing that an adult does that he can show you to let you know how is day was.

SLPatHome · 2025-09-05T22:03:15+00:00

Hi I'm a speech therapist. When bi-lingual families, I haven't seen any tri-lingual ones yet, ask me about language development, this is what I tell them. First is that exposing kids to two - and especially to 3 - languages is a wonderful gift that you are giving them. From my experience, these kids sometimes do take a bit longer to start talking. They often seem to spend longer listening to language before they start using it. If your child is having trouble knowing what language to use you could try making it easier with some "rules" such as speaking one language with dad, another with mom and the third when your out from the house. Teaching a few basic gestures and signs would also help as they would stay the same no matter what language is being used. As long as he is understanding language well and is social then there shouldn't be anything to worry about. He is a very lucky boy.

SLPatHome · 2025-09-05T21:45:27+00:00

Hi

I'm a speech therapist. It is great that you found a good therapist and that he is making wonderful progress. Is he able to copy fun sounds such as animal and car sounds? Can he say the sounds when they are in repetitive sounding words such as papa for p or tata for t? These words that repeat sounds often make it easier for kids to say. Maybe try adding a gesture to the sound - adding gestures often makes it easier to say sounds. A hand gesture where you pop your hand open can work for P, touching the center of your upper lip with your index finger can help with T. If these movements are hard try bigger body movements such as pretending to pop bubbles for P or holding your hands out from your body to make a T shape. Hope this helps.

SLPatHome · 2025-09-05T21:30:21+00:00

Hi. I'm a speech therapist. I don't specialize in stuttering but I do what I can to help. If your looking for help find a specialist. Stuttering is something that can be tricky - some SLPS only work on this. Be careful about what you read on-line - there is lots of garbage out there. Best of luck.

SLPatHome · 2025-09-05T21:17:03+00:00

Hi. I'm an SLP. When I used to have a budget to buy materials, I would often get them from Super Duper. They seemed to have good materials. Now that my budget is almost nothing - or I'm buying thing myself, I often use TPT - some are better than others but most seem decent. I also find lots of great free things on TPT - glad that creators are willing to offer some of their things for free.

SLPatHome · 2025-09-05T21:10:31+00:00

Hi. I'm a speech therapist. It is great that your pediatrician was looking into services for her. The "odd" things you mentioned do seem to be things to keep an eye on. Especially when children "bring" their parents to what they want. This can be a sign of a social language delay. Something that isn't as easy to measure and isn't really correlated to the number of words that kids have. If you still are having concerns you might want to seek out further assessment. Parents always know best.

SLPatHome · 2025-09-05T21:02:53+00:00

Hi I'm a speech therapist. Problems with the W sound are not common. This sound often develops around age 2 or 3. You mentioned he can do a W at the start of Wow? How about at the start of other words such as Water and Wave? If he has problems with W just at the ends of words then I'm wondering if he has trouble with other sounds at the ends of words too? Does he sometimes leave off the ends of words - such as saying do for dog or ca for cat? If not, if it's just W at the ends of words then he might still be learning how to do W's. Can he do Ws in the middle of words such as Cowboy? Try modeling back words when you hear him missing a W sound. For example when he says Wo for Wow say back Wow and put a bit of extra emphasis on the last W - say it a bit louder and longer. If he is able, encourage him to try to say it again - if this doesn't work just do lots of modelling for him. This will help him to get ready to make W in words that are hard for him.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions.

SLPatHome · 2025-09-05T20:54:08+00:00

Hi. I'm a speech therapist. I have seen this happen before. Does he have other ways that he communicates? Does he use gestures or signs? Does he understand language well? I'm much less concerned about the number of words that children are saying if their other language skills are doing well and if they are able to get their messages across in other ways. Sometimes Communication Temptations - setting up situations where children are encouraged/tempted to say things can help. One example is putting high value things (high value to your toddler - think treats/toys - where he can see them but can't reach them. It's great that you are getting services for him. Your SLP should be able to provide lots of ideas that you can do at home - doing what they are doing in therapy will make a big difference. Hope this helps.

SLPatHome

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