Glen Loch Elementary School
Teresa Bailey, M.S., CCC-SLP
Speech Language Pathologist
Speech Therapy
Conference Time: Please call for an appointment (281)298-4900
Please feel free to contact your child's teacher if you have a concern with their speech and language development.
What Is Speech-Language Therapy?
Speech-language therapy is the treatment for most children with speech and/or language disorders. A speech disorder refers to a problem with the actual production of sounds, whereas a language disorder refers to a difficulty understanding or putting words together to communicate ideas.
When Is Therapy Needed?
Children require speech-language therapy for a variety of reasons, including:
hearing impairments
cognitive (intellectual; thinking) or other developmental delays
articulation impairments
langugage delays
disfluencies
What Can I Do With My Child At Home?
Expose your child to language, do it all the time. Talk to your child. Narrate
everything you're doing. Identify the words for even the simplest objects and
actions in your child's environment, and do it again. Read with your child.
Read to your child. Play word games. Watch TV with your child and talk about
what the characters are talking about. Ask your child questions that require
more than a yes/no answer. Invite your child to ask you questions. Talk. Talk, talk, and talk.
Practice makes everything easier, eventually.
Here are some activities to encourage communication and articulation practice: 
Integrate speech practice into daily activities as much as possible. Here are
some general activities to try. Choose those which fit your child, age, and
his/her interest the best.
1. If your child is working on a specific sound, help him to become aware of
that sound by pointing out things in the environment that contain the sound.
You can do this in a number of ways:
a. Go on a "Sound Walk". Hunt for things in or outside of the house
that have
the child's speech sound.
b. Look through magazines for pictures or words that have his/her speech sound.
c. When driving, look for things with the child's sound.
d. Play a 20 Questions. Think of a word or object that has the child's speech
sound. Have the child ask questions to figure out what the object is. If that
is too difficult, give the child clues and have him/her guess.
2. Once your child can say the sound correctly in words, have him/her practice
saying some of those words for you. When that becomes easy, have him/her say
them
in sentences.
a. Spelling Search - Have the child search his spelling list for words that
have his/her sound in. Say them aloud.
b. Silly Sentences - See who can make up the silliest sentence using one of
your child's speech words.
c. Challenge Sentences - See who can make up the sentence using the most words
containing the speech sound.
d. Tongue Twisters - Do you know a tongue twister that has your child's speech
sound? Can you and your child make some up?
3. When your child is able to say his/her speech sound in words and sentences,
have
him/her begin to practice reading aloud using his/her sound correctly. For
beginning
readers, have him/her read from his/her reading book or story books he/she
enjoys. Try
using poems, the Sunday Funnies, Comic Books, cereal boxes, signs, TV guide,
video or board game instructions, anything your child enjoys reading. (This
will help improve reading skills too!)
4. Begin to encourage your child to use the sound correctly for short periods
of time during the day. This is called "carryover". Can your child
carryover
good speech every time he/she says his/her sister's name? his/her pet's name?
his/her favorite
food?
5. Once your child is able to use good speech for longer periods of time, try
these conversational activities.
a. Make a phone call using good speech.
b. Use good speech all during supper.
c. Use good speech in the car on the way to practice, lessons, or school.
d. Use good speech while going over homework.
The keys are to keep speech practice fun and to teach your child that good
speech is not just for speech class.
Just Remember!!!!
*Don't let speech practice become a source of conflict.
*Do not pick times when your child is tired or upset to expect good speech.
AND
*Do praise your child as he/she acquires new speech skills.
Helpful websites:
