The Speech Balloon

Hello old friends and new friends!

Life has been busy and social media updating has taken a backseat.

It's been a year of growth, new ideas and new challenges. Thank you for staying with us for the ride.

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Here's a picture of my older two when we were out exploring our city. 🌿

Mistakes are part of learning. This applies to children and speech learning too.

✨Phonological Processes ✨

Phonological processes is the name we use for patterns of speech errors that children make when they are learning. It is often caused by the lack of coordination in the lips, tongue, teeth, palate, and jaw. Sometimes it can be a result of a child not being able to distinguish between similar speech sounds when they are speaking.

Many of these speech error patterns are part of normal development and will be eliminated as a child matures, while some are not.

If you have concerns with your child’s speech clarity, speak to your friendly neighbourhood speech therapist 😉 and get a comprehensive speech assessment.

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Our voices are unique. While we might sometimes sound like somebody else, no two voices are exactly alike.

✨VOICE ✨

Voice in all its simplicity is basically the sound produced by the vibration of your vocal folds in your larynx and the resonation of this sound created by the rest of your oral tract (comprising of your lips, tongue, jaw and pharynx).

Voice problems are defined as problems with the quality (hoarse/husky), pitch (too high or too low) or volume (too loud or too quiet) of the voice or with the control of the breath for speech.


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Words mean different things to everyone. As a profession, speech therapists use a whole lot of jargon and this can sometimes be confusing to everyone else. 🤔

If I had a nickel for every time I have to explain the difference between speech and language to my husband… 🙊

So, in efforts to demystify all the words we use, here’s a Definitions series to help everyone else understand what your friendly neighbourhood Speech Therapist is talking about when they use certain words.

Let’s start with ✨SPEECH ✨

Speech refers to the way we make sounds and words.

It includes:
🌱 Articulation: How we make speech sounds using the mouth, lips, and tongue. For example, we need to be able to say the “r” sound to say "rabbit" instead of "wabbit.”
🌱Voice: How we use our vocal folds and breath to make sounds. Our voice can be loud or soft or high- or low-pitched. We can hurt our voice by talking too much, yelling, or coughing a lot.
🌱Fluency: This is the rhythm of our speech. We sometimes repeat sounds or pause while talking. People who do this a lot may stutter.

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Source: ASHA - https://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/speech-and-language/

Something's brewing... ☕️

Thank you all for participating in the polls and the Ask Me Anything. 💖

There were quite a few questions about how best to teach your child and how to help them move from understanding things to using more words. 🤔

I mean this is my pet topic and I can go on and on about it. 🗣🗣 There’s just so much info to get into and I don’t think I can do it justice with just one snappy insta post.

I decided to do a webinar to answer these questions and more! We’re going to be BUSTING 👊 the TOP 5 myths and misconceptions that parents have for language teaching.

Set your calendars for 26 September 2021 at 10am (GMT+8).

Register to join today. Link in bio.

Mealtimes are great for language teaching.

Here are some speech and language skills you can do with your little while eating.

🥑 Following directions
🥑 Teaching new concepts
🥑Teaching and saying verbs
🥑Multisyllabic words
🥑Requesting with words or phrases

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💬Have you tried any of these with your child? What is your child’s favorite food or drink? Comment below 👇🏽 and make sure to tag other families so they can try these strategies as well.

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There are many ways you can start exposing your child to two (ore more) languages. There’s no real “best way”.

⭐️The BEST way is the way that you can stick to and be consistent with,
⭐️ AND the way your child responds to.

Every method has pros and cons. However it is important to consider the following when you are choosing your method.

✨QUALITY✨
The speaker must be proficient in the language they are teaching. That means being able to use the language fluently and model good vocabulary and sentence structures.

✨QUANTITY✨
More is more. Your child must get plenty of exposure to both languages in a variety of contexts.

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I love being bilingual. Being bilingual can open doors into another world.

It wonderful having access to a whole other system of words to express yourself when one language doesn’t quite cut it.

There are so many benefits to learning more than one language!
Is your child learning more than one language? 👏 These are but some of the benefits you are gifting them with.

💖Follow .speechballoon for more speech strategies and activity ideas for your little ones.⁣

Using your daily routines for teaching language is a great way of getting more language learning going. These daily events provide opportunities for repetitive learning in a natural, enjoyable and yet predictable way.

Bath time 🛁 happens every day and is such a language-rich activity.

Here are some ideas of how you can use bath time to boost language:
💦Commenting on what you are doing during the bath helps build understanding.
💦Highlighting fun sounds during bath time encourages sound play and imitating of sounds
💦Teaching names of objects during bath time expands their vocabulary
💦Teaching verbs related to bath time helps your child build important ideas for word combinations

What do you do at bath time? 🚿

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Stuttering is a speech disorder characterised by repetition of sounds, syllables, or words; prolongation of sounds; and interruptions in speech known as blocks.

Speech therapists work with individuals who stutter too.
In young children, stuttering can occur while they are still learning speech and language. These typically resolve over time, however stuttering behaviour that persists into school-age is likely to persist into adulthood.

If you have concerns about your child’s fluency, do consult a certified speech therapist. Alternatively you can drop me a DM or email at [email protected] 💌

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💫Follow .speechballoon for more speech strategies and activity ideas for your little ones.⁣