I LOVE our speech therapist, and so do the kids, but sometimes i'm wondering if she is doing 'enough' during her hours here. She doesn't come with much prepared, and pretty much just plays with the kids, engaging whomever she is working with that day and talks a LOT with them. I know at this age (2) that play is really the therapy, but I'm just wondering what other SLPs do on home visits.
I particularly feel worry over the effectiveness of her work with my son with autism because he ins't really making a lot of progress and I'm not sure she has a lot of experience with autism. I hate to complain though b/c SLPs are so hard to come by here.
suggestions?

Meg

Hi Meg!
Our ST brings a bag of toys and uses those as incentive to get DD and DS to ask for them. My daughter does 4-5 word requests (I want girl doll please) and my son just has to do "please" or "more please". If DS does not sign for the toy ("please"), she does hand over hand with him and then rewards him with the toy to play with for a minute or two. She usually brings toys that have several pieces so they have to request for each one. Of course this only works if it's a toy that they're interested in playing with! She also uses a small vibrating plastic tipped probe to tap DS on the cheek or press on his tongue, but it has taken MANY months before he will let her put anything in his mouth. These are called oral/motor exercises and they are supposed to help with sensory/feeding issues and to help them develop their tongue and lip coordination for proper articulation later on. You can request that your SLP work on specific things for each child (like oral/motor exercises for Charles), if you want her to concentrate on certain skills. HTH's
-Karen

3 of my children have worked with or are currently with speech thru ECI. My youngest has Down syndrome and he's had the speech therapist out since birth. She used to work on feeding issues with him when he was smaller-except he never had any feeding issues! LOL! Now,it's like the previous poster talked about-getting him to use words or signs or vocalize somehow for what he wants.
My older son has speech b/c he has vocal nodes and his voice is very husky and deep and he has no inflection when he talks.Think robot.....
There's an SLP I heard of thru the Down Syndrome guild-she's very well known and has a website. I can't recall the site offhand but her name is Sarah Rosenfeld-Johnson andshe has some interesting techniques and therapies that are supposed to be very good.
HTH

Korrie~
^i^B/G/G 24 w 3d,1/17/00
B 10/31/01
B 1/27/03

<a href="http://lilypie.com"><img src="" alt="Lilypie Kids birthday Ticker" border="0" /></a>

Meg,

Like you, I LOVE our SLP as do the trips. My trips are 3 1/2 and most of their therapy sessions involve learning through play, and that is the approach I really think should be used at this age. Now that they are a little older and a little easier to work with Eileen is sometimes a little more direct with them and they are responding well. Right now we are really focusing on articulation issues and I know from past experience that this is very time consuming. I find myself "copying" A LOT of our SLP's ideas to try to help them.

Cindy
Happy & Proud Mommy to:
Shannon Alexis 12
Trevor Jack 10
Sierra Brooke 7
Madison Rose 5
Mackenzie Lynn 5
Max Christopher 5

Hi Meg,


Yes, it is great to follow your child's lead and provide language as they are engaged in play activities of their choosing. However, it is also important to include the caregiver in training on how to facilitate language development and the goals that are being targeted with each activity. The SLP should be communicating this to you as she is moving from activity to activity. The main goal of EI should be to train parents/caregivers to facilitate speech/language skills with their child.

Does the SLP bring her own materials? Does she also use any of the toys in your home? I personally like to incorporate toys that children already have in their home. If, for example, one of the goals is to use the word "more" either verbally or by sign, I will show parents how to use their child's toy to set up this request. It is much easier for the parents and the child to carryover activities using their very own toys.

I usually keep a data sheet on a clipboard so that I can monitor the child's response to my specific goals. At the end of the session I do a debriefing and review of the child's performance. I also give parents activities I would like them to address before our next session. Lastly I review what we will target in our next session.

Usually with my children diagnosed with autism...I do a little different approach. A lot also depends on where the child is on the spectrum. I am a big fan of ABA and PECS and have had very good success in using a more structured approach as opposed to the open ended child-directed approach that you would use with a child with a basic language delay. I find that most children diagnosed with autism learn well with routine and a structure. Is your son verbal? Is the SLP training sign or PECS? How is his attention and behavior? Sometimes we must start training attention to task before we can specifically address language goals.

As a parent you can definitely request that the SLP tell you what goal she is working on with each activity. I usually have my parents sit side by side with me on the floor with their child...they become my co-therapists (depending on their comfort level). This way there is no secret as to what I am doing and parents always know exactly what goals we are targeting.

For your son...does your local EI have an autism specialist? I have often consulted with austism specialists especially those trained in ABA in order to work on specific skills. Most SLP's should at least have some working knowledge of the different approaches to use with children diagnosed with autism. You can ask your SLP what her philosophy is and what type of approach she is using with your son.

I am sorry that this is so fragmented and wordy (I am quite tired)! I hope that this makes sense and it can at least give you some ideas. Do not hesitate to make requests of your SLP...I personally always wanted my therapy parents to let me know if they wanted things arranged differently or had questions or concerns. The SLP is just the speech/language specialist but parents know their child best! I had my best treatment sessions with my parents who were very interactive and involved.

Laurie

BBB triplets: Luke, Jonathan, Max: 34w6d, February 20,2004



Check out our baby updates:
http://hometown.aol.com/belize12/myhomepage/laqualia.html

Laurie

BBB
2/20/04
34.6 weeks