Late Talker

Modeling Words

When working with a late talker, modeling words at home and during therapy sessions is a must!

This comes natural to speech pathologists but not necessarily parents. To help parents work with late talkers, I created 50 handouts for common first words and more!

My child was a late talker and my speech therapy came in handy! I was able to raise my son and effortlessly weave in all my late talker strategies throughout the day. 

It was shockingly obvious that my genius husband did not go to graduate school for communication disorders as I observed their interactions. I realized in that moment that working with late talkers isn't as obvious or as natural for non-speech pathologists, duh!

I needed to be direct with him on what to do (I even wrote post its!)

This experience taught me that we MUST be direct and clear with parents!!

Language Modeling

First things first, what is language modeling? I am always telling parents to "model words" throughout the day. However, what does that really mean?

Language modeling is when you present a word in a direct, meaningful way to a child during functional tasks. 

Let's break that down a bit more!

1. Say one word during a task (i.e., ball)
2. Say the word only when you have a child's attention
3. If possible, bring the object your are talking about (i.e., ball) near your mouth so the child can see HOW to say the word
4. After modeling the word, PAUSE (for 3-5 seconds) to let the learning take place and to see if the child will repeat the word.

That's it! We all know that it is a bit more complicated than that but that is the start. 

WHAT NOT TO DO

Know not what to do is an important as knowing what to do!

Make sure you don't:

• quiz
• drill words
• talk in long phrases
• say words out of context

Context is Key

Knowing how to model words instead of simply saying or quizzing them is a start. However, you must model words into daily, functional tasks. 

Children at this age, or any age for that matter, learn best when words are presented and practiced in meaningful ways. For late talkers, this means practicing words during play and daily tasks.

Guiding Parents on The Right Words & Context

I discovered how little background knowledge non-speech pathologists have in this area when I was working with my son during his toddler years. 

Many times we tell parents to practice words (we might even give them a list) during daily tasks and send them on their way. However, they might not know HOW to do that. To remedy this I made a mega packet parents and for speech pathologists to share with their clients.

First Words Packet & More

This packet included:

1. Review of Language Modeling: Handout on how to do language modeling, why it is important, and what not to do! Everything is written in a "parent-friendly" manner.
2. Review of Common First Words: A handout of common first words divided by use (noun, verb, adjective, social) is provided. Parents can track progress and/or get ideas for words to try.
3. Emphasizes the Importance of Learning a Variety of Words: Children must learn a variety of words including nouns, verbs, and adjectives in order move to 2 word phrases.
4. Progress Tracking Sheets: A variety of handouts for tracking words is provided!
5. 50 Common First Word Handouts: These 50 handouts explicitly explain how to practice a single word across playtime and common daily routines. They provide practical advice and signs (when applicable).

To read more about it, click here!

Membership

If you are already a member of Speech Therapy Talk, you don't need to buy this! It is up on the site. Please click the link below to access the materials.

• 50 handouts for common first words and how/when to practice them

If you would like to join the membership and access the materials instantly and the other 1,000 pages of materials, click the image below:

Need EVEN more?

Our eBooks might be just what you have been looking for! You don’t have to wait another day. You can help your child right now!

These language development eBooks are written by me, a speech-language pathologist and they are written for you! Each book explains how to implement effective language techniques at home and then provides functional games you and your child can do today! Click below for more info.

And don’t worry...you can do this!