Backward WFMW - Speech Therapy@Home

Since I’ve a speech delayed four year old I’ve been doing some DIY speech therapy at home. So far I’ve worked on some ideas given to me by a speech therapist and my own thought up ones and I’m sharing some of these ideas here today.

In, On, Under

Introduce the concepts of “in”, “on” and “under” using a huge box. Put your kid into the box and say, “You are in the box”. Flip it over and let him sit on top of the box for “on” and cover him with the box for “under”. After you’ve introduced the concepts, ask your kid to go “in” the box and see if he knows how to climb in. Besides giving him the task as you direct, also ask him questions. For example, place him under the box and ask him where he is. Intersperse between giving him directions and asking him where he is.

I was also told a good focus was to teach the basic What, Who, Where, Why and How questions. Knowing these would empower a child tremendously in communicating.

What, Who, Whose

First start with “What” as it is the easiest to grasp. Ask your child “what” questions at every opportunity. Storybooks are a good way to introduce the difference between “what” and “who”. Point to a person and ask, “Who is this?” and then point to the shoes or shirt and ask “What is this?” 

A game I innovated on the spot while playing with my kids was the telescope game. Looking through a long cardboard tube (hey, it’s a telescope!) I wave it around and stop to focus on my son and ask, “Who is this?” Then I move on to things for “what” questions. I also introduced “whose” (ambitious huh?) by focusing on his lips, ears, etc. Actually he found it very fun to stick his mouth at the other end of the tube and that’s when I started asking, “What is this?” and followed by “Whose mouth is this?” You’ll have to provide the correct answers in the beginning if your child hasn’t grasp the concept yet. After a while they will, then you can prompt them to reply.

But folks I’m running out of ideas and have not had any luck locating specific ideas over the internet. So for this week’s backward WFMW I would like to know of any interesting simple play ideas for DIY speech therapy at home. Any activities you know that can help stimulate speech for a four year old would be helpful.

Useful websites I found so far:

I Can – Talking Point (A UK based First Stop for Information About Communication Development and Disability)

Starfall.com (Great website that teaches children how to read. It has helped Hubby-jr pick up phonics and reading words.)

Resources I found reviewed on the internet but am having problems finding in Singapore:
Teach Me How To Say It Right by Dorothy P. Dougherty
Baby Babble - Speech Enhancing DVD for Babies and Toddlers 

(If you’ve read or seen any of these let me know what you think of them. I’d like to know before ordering them on Amazon.com)

Thanks in advance to those of you who’ll be sharing your ideas with me. Don’t forget to check out the burning questions of other moms and see if you can provide them with some insights over at this week’s Backward WFMW at Rocks In My Dryer.