A Few Resources

For more information on speech and language disorders and SLPs go to:

• The New Hampshire Speech-Language-Hearing Association:  http://www.nhslha.org/for-consumers/consumer-resources/
• The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association : www.asha.org/public/
• Also from ASHA: The Role of the SLP in Schools (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2005). "The Role of the SLP in Schools." Available at www.asha.org/members/slp/schools. Reprinted by permission.)

Prizes

Prizes are a good motivator for children.  These are a step up from tokens and are presented only after a LOT of practice.  Prizes are usually earned after a pre-determined number of tokens are acquired.  For example, for each 5 times a speech sound is correctly produced, Chris might earn a token (see the last post for more on tokens).  After he earns 20 tokens, he may get to choose a prize.  Prizes might also be earned after a certain amount of time practicing.  Some prizes may be:

·     a new fancy pencil or eraser

·     a balloon or bubbles

·     a trip to the ice cream stand

·     a special afternoon alone with a favorite adult

·     a new book

·     a piece of gum (sugarless, of course)

All kinds of neat things can be found at the dollar store (and Target even has a dollar department).  Try to limit food prizes, especially if they're unhealthy.

CRAFTS

Prizes can also be the result of a craft activity made during practice.  An example of this might be making a winter picture (which is a great practice for s-blends (snow, sled, ski, scarf, etc) together.  Along with talking about the winter objects, Chris may have to produce the s-blend in a word 5 times correctly to earn a cotton ball to glue on the paper as snow.   Once the cotton "snow flakes" are all applied, the result (prize) is a really cool picture to hang on the refrigerator.  In this case, it would be a good idea to draw 10 - 20 stars or circles where the "snowflakes" go so that there is a definite end to the activity.  Other activities of this kind are:

·       coloring parts of a larger picture (e.g., color one leaf each time the target is produced)

·     coloring parts of a larger picture (e.g., color one leaf each time the target is produced)

·     stringing bead to make a necklace

·     stacking blocks to make a tower as high as you can

·     using bingo markers to put dots on a picture (Google “dauber art” to get templates with circles – here’s a place to start:  http://www.dltk-kids.com/type/bingo_daubers.htm )

·     placing stickers on a chart (use the dauber art templates)

Happy Practicing,

Amy

Gather the Materials - TOKENS

There are many household items that can be used to make activities to practice target goals for speech.  These objects can be found in your home or inexpensively at local stores.  Dollar stores are an excellent place to find materials for activities.

Great things to begin with are any kind of small object: marbles, coins, colored stones, pom poms, cereals such as Cherrios(R) or Fruit Loops(R).   These are all things that can be used as positive reinforcements.  ***Be aware of the age of your child when choosing tokens.  Be sure the items are not small enough for younger children to choke on.  To use tokens, decide on a schedule of reinforcement  (how many correct productions of a sound or other target must be produced to earn a token).  For example, you may decide that for every 5 correct productions of the sound /s/ in single words (e.g., sun, bus, Sammy), Chris will earn a plastic coin.  When he earns 10 coins, he can choose a prize (we will talk about prizes in another post). 

It's also fun to use tokens to create a larger project: paint macaroni, then string it on a piece of yarn to make a necklace.  Remember to provide as many opportunities to practice the targets as possible (e.g., say the /s/ word 3 times before painting a noodle; then the next time, say it 5 or 10 times before stringing it on the yarn).

Block Talk: earn a block and add it to the tower

Terms

target:  the specific thing on which you are working to achieve better speech or language skills.  For example, you can be targeting specific speech sounds (such as /g/ in the initial position of words) or grammatical structures (such as including the plural endings on the nouns).  

tokens: small items used to provide a tangible measure of a correct response.  Often used in conjunction with verbal reinforcement

schedule of reinforcement: how often you provide a reinforcement (e.g., after 5 trials, after 10 trials, after every one trial.