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How can I tell if my child has language difficulties or if they are just not fluent in English yet?

Often parents will bring in a child who has limited exposure to English for a language assessment. It can be difficult to determine whether the child has just had a limited exposure to English and therefore appears to be delayed, or if they truly have a language delay or disorder. The most important marker to note is whether the child has difficulty in their mother tongue. Children who have difficulty in their first language and their second language had a definite language delay or disorder. Children who only appear to be delayed in their second language are most likely delayed due to limited exposure to the second language. While many of the assessments conducted in Australia are not designed for bilingual children, there are versions of some of the common standardised assessments, which are designed for bilingual children and adults. The Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals is a commonly used Language assessment endorsed by the NSW board of studies, which is available for children who speak English and Spanish.

How long does it take for my child to learn English?

Many children in Australia are exposed to a language other than English at home and are only later exposed to English through their peers. For these children, their first exposure to English may be at preschool or primary school. For children who aren’t exposed to English until Kindergarten, may not catch up to a native speaker until the sixth grade, given that they have missed 5-6 years of exposure and therefore may take just as long to pick up the same amount of language. For children that naturally excel at language, this may happen faster. However, every individual is different so will therefore acquire English at his or her own pace.

Will Learning two languages cause a language delay?

Learning two languages does not cause a language delay. Initially, it is common for children to have a silent period, where they do not converse as much while acquiring both languages. They may also mix up the two languages at times however bilingual children still reach their developmental milestones at the same time as other children so if your child is not meeting their milestones, it is important to see a Speech Pathologist to assess if there is an underlying language delay or disorder.

Contact us for results focused on speech therapy

This article was written by our Speech Pathologist Ashleigh Fattah who is a Speech Pathology Australia member. If you have questions about language activities, make an appointment. We‘ll provide you with simple and effective therapy targeted to your concerns. Contact us today.

The post Bilingual Children appeared first on ENT Wellbeing Sydney.

By

How can I tell if my child has language difficulties or if they are just not fluent in English yet?

Often parents will bring in a child who has limited exposure to English for a language assessment. It can be difficult to determine whether the child has just had a limited exposure to English and therefore appears to be delayed, or if they truly have a language delay or disorder. The most important marker to note is whether the child has difficulty in their mother tongue. Children who have difficulty in their first language and their second language had a definite language delay or disorder. Children who only appear to be delayed in their second language are most likely delayed due to limited exposure to the second language. While many of the assessments conducted in Australia are not designed for bilingual children, there are versions of some of the common standardised assessments, which are designed for bilingual children and adults. The Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals is a commonly used Language assessment endorsed by the NSW board of studies, which is available for children who speak English and Spanish.

How long does it take for my child to learn English?

Many children in Australia are exposed to a language other than English at home and are only later exposed to English through their peers. For these children, their first exposure to English may be at preschool or primary school. For children who aren’t exposed to English until Kindergarten, may not catch up to a native speaker until the sixth grade, given that they have missed 5-6 years of exposure and therefore may take just as long to pick up the same amount of language. For children that naturally excel at language, this may happen faster. However, every individual is different so will therefore acquire English at his or her own pace.

Will Learning two languages cause a language delay?

Learning two languages does not cause a language delay. Initially, it is common for children to have a silent period, where they do not converse as much while acquiring both languages. They may also mix up the two languages at times however bilingual children still reach their developmental milestones at the same time as other children so if your child is not meeting their milestones, it is important to see a Speech Pathologist to assess if there is an underlying language delay or disorder.

Contact us for results focused on speech therapy

This article was written by our Speech Pathologist Ashleigh Fattah who is a Speech Pathology Australia member. If you have questions about language activities, make an appointment. We‘ll provide you with simple and effective therapy targeted to your concerns. Contact us today.

The post Bilingual Children appeared first on ENT Wellbeing Sydney.

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What is the Rapid Syllable Transition treatment (ReST)?

ReST is an evidence-based treatment for treating individuals with Apraxia of Speech. Aparaxia of Speech is a motor speech disorder where individuals know what they want to say but have difficulty planning the movements required for speech.

The ReST treatment uses non words to allow individuals to concentrate on their movements, and remove the impact of old words which already have errors and allows clinicians to make words specifically for each individual’s needs. The nonsense words help individuals to coordinate movements across syllables in long words and phrases. ReST helps to improve the individual’s ability to say the correct sounds, with the correct beats (speech rhythm/stress/prosody) smoothly (to join all the sounds together fluently).

Does the ReST program work?

There are more than 6 treatment studies published in scientific journals where experts have reviewed the findings. All studies have shown significant improvements in the individual’s production of nonsense words and moderate-large improvements in production of everyday real words following treatment. A randomized control trial has shown the program to be effective for individuals aged 4-12 years with mild to severe childhood apraxia of speech and older children with milder ataxic dysarthria where the focus is on beats or speech rhythm (Murray, McCabe, & Ballard, 2015). An assessment is required to determine if childhood apraxia of speech or ataxic dysarthria is present and whether Rest is the best therapy option for the individual.

What does treatment entail?

Rest is conducted in intensive blocks of 12 sessions delivered either 4 days a week for 3 weeks or 2 days a week for 6 weeks. Each treatment session goes for 45-60 minutes. Therapy has also been shown to be effective via telepractice (e.g. over Skype or FaceTime) (Thomas, McCabe, Ballard, & Lincoln, 2016). At the start of the session, the clinician provides the individual with support to say the nonsense words correctly. This component is known as the training phase. Once this is achieved, the individual moves on to the practice blocks where they have a chance to practice without assistance with only right or wrong feedback given. There are usually 5 block in each session with 20 words per block (100 words per session) with 2 minute breaks between each block. This allows the individual to learn to make these movements rapidly in real speech and to transfer their skills to real words.

Contact us for results focused on speech therapy

This article was written by our Speech Pathologist Ashleigh Fattah who is a Speech Pathology Australia member. If you have questions about language activities, make an appointment. We‘ll provide you with simple and effective therapy targeted to your concerns. Contact us today.

The post What is the Rapid Syllable Transition treatment (ReST)? appeared first on ENT Wellbeing Sydney.

By

What is the Rapid Syllable Transition treatment (ReST)?

ReST is an evidence-based treatment for treating individuals with Apraxia of Speech. Aparaxia of Speech is a motor speech disorder where individuals know what they want to say but have difficulty planning the movements required for speech.

The ReST treatment uses non words to allow individuals to concentrate on their movements, and remove the impact of old words which already have errors and allows clinicians to make words specifically for each individual’s needs. The nonsense words help individuals to coordinate movements across syllables in long words and phrases. ReST helps to improve the individual’s ability to say the correct sounds, with the correct beats (speech rhythm/stress/prosody) smoothly (to join all the sounds together fluently).

Does the ReST program work?

There are more than 6 treatment studies published in scientific journals where experts have reviewed the findings. All studies have shown significant improvements in the individual’s production of nonsense words and moderate-large improvements in production of everyday real words following treatment. A randomized control trial has shown the program to be effective for individuals aged 4-12 years with mild to severe childhood apraxia of speech and older children with milder ataxic dysarthria where the focus is on beats or speech rhythm (Murray, McCabe, & Ballard, 2015). An assessment is required to determine if childhood apraxia of speech or ataxic dysarthria is present and whether Rest is the best therapy option for the individual.

What does treatment entail?

Rest is conducted in intensive blocks of 12 sessions delivered either 4 days a week for 3 weeks or 2 days a week for 6 weeks. Each treatment session goes for 45-60 minutes. Therapy has also been shown to be effective via telepractice (e.g. over Skype or FaceTime) (Thomas, McCabe, Ballard, & Lincoln, 2016). At the start of the session, the clinician provides the individual with support to say the nonsense words correctly. This component is known as the training phase. Once this is achieved, the individual moves on to the practice blocks where they have a chance to practice without assistance with only right or wrong feedback given. There are usually 5 block in each session with 20 words per block (100 words per session) with 2 minute breaks between each block. This allows the individual to learn to make these movements rapidly in real speech and to transfer their skills to real words.

Contact us for results focused on speech therapy

This article was written by our Speech Pathologist Ashleigh Fattah who is a Speech Pathology Australia member. If you have questions about language activities, make an appointment. We‘ll provide you with simple and effective therapy targeted to your concerns. Contact us today.

The post What is the Rapid Syllable Transition treatment (ReST)? appeared first on ENT Wellbeing Sydney.

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Communication concerns

If you are visiting a speech pathologist for the first time because you are concerned that your child is not talking as much as their peers. Then, the first thing that will usually happen is your speech pathologist will make a case history. This involves going through your Child’s health and developmental history which may include birthing history, developmental milestones including speech, feeding and motor milestones, other health professionals involved in your child’s care, previous therapy or medical procedures and family and schooling history. This information is gathered to get a full picture of where your child is at developmentally in order to determine the most suitable assessment as well as determine any possible causes or impacting factors for a communication delay.

Once this has been completed, the speech pathologist will conduct a speech and language assessment. This may be done separately, with the speech component focusing on the child’s ability to produce each sound in words and conversation. This is often in the form or a flipbook with pictures used to elicit all of the sounds in the English language. The language component of the speech pathology assessment focuses on a child’s ability to understand as well as produce words, sentences and conversation. This often comes in the form of varying instructions with different concepts such as ‘tall’ vs ‘short’ or ‘before’ vs ‘after’ concepts, word and sentence generation activities as well as some elements of play and gesture for younger children.

Your speech pathologist may do this in the form of a formal assessment, which allows them to compare your child’s scores with standard measures taken from other children who are within the same age bracket as your child. Assessments can also be conducted informally, where the speech pathologist uses their expertise to determine whether your child is tracking, as they should be based on the milestones they have achieved. Both forms of assessment are valid and are often chosen based on what your child is able to sit through. For example, formal assessments tend to be quite lengthy and are better suited to a school age child who is able to sit for long periods at a tabletop. For a younger child, it may be more appropriate to assess informally in a play style interaction to best sustain their attention.

Once the assessment is complete, your speech pathologist will advise you on your child’s current speech and language development as well as whether they feel therapy is warranted.

Contact us for results focused on speech therapy

This article was written by our Speech Pathologist Ashleigh Fattah who is a Speech Pathology Australia
member. If you have questions about language activities, make an appointment. We‘ll provide you with
simple and effective therapy targeted to your concerns. Contact us today.

The post What is involved in an initial speech pathology consult appeared first on ENT Wellbeing Sydney.

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