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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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What is orofacial myology?

Orofacial Myology which is sometimes referred to as myofunctional therapy. This style of therapy is done by a Speech Pathologist, Dentists, Dental hygienist and therapists. It involves neuromuscular manipulation or re-patterning of the oral and facial muscles to correct abnormal growth patterns of these structures.

Normal shape and function of the oral and facial muscles are essential for facial and dental development, speech production and breathing. The correct growth and development of these structures are linked to correct speech sound development and reduces the likelihood of requiring braces or developing obstructive sleep apnoea.

Conditions which can be treated with Orofacial Myology

There are a number of conditions that may require Orofacial Myology treatment and while this form of therapy may not directly treat a condition, it should significantly reduce the amount of time spent on other therapies such as articulation therapy with a speech pathologist. Some common conditions include:

  • Eliminating speech errors such as an interdental lisp. This is where the tongue protrudes through the teeth when making the ‘s’ sound.
  • Rectify crowding of the teeth caused by narrow development of the roof of the mouth. If done prior to the growth of the roof of the mouth or palate stabilising, extractions of permanent teeth which may need to be done to gain more space in the mouth may be avoided. Therapy can also help to avoid having to be fitted with braces or more invasive jaw surgery as the teeth have room to erupt and therefore do not get pushed out of place and end up crooked.
  • Eliminating abnormal non-nutritive habits such as dummy, finger or thumb sucking
  • Eliminating mouth breathing and training nasal breathing which leads to increased energy and better sleep patterns
  • Eliminating faulty swallowing patterns that cause tongue thrust and lead to an open-bite which would require extensive dental work to correct
  • Preventing scar tissue from forming after a tongue-tie or fraenulum release

Contact us for results focused 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 Orofacial Mylology? appeared first on ENT Wellbeing Sydney.

By

What is orofacial myology?

Orofacial Myology which is sometimes referred to as myofunctional therapy. This style of therapy is done by a Speech Pathologist, Dentists, Dental hygienist and therapists. It involves neuromuscular manipulation or re-patterning of the oral and facial muscles to correct abnormal growth patterns of these structures.

Normal shape and function of the oral and facial muscles are essential for facial and dental development, speech production and breathing. The correct growth and development of these structures are linked to correct speech sound development and reduces the likelihood of requiring braces or developing obstructive sleep apnoea.

Conditions which can be treated with Orofacial Myology

There are a number of conditions that may require Orofacial Myology treatment and while this form of therapy may not directly treat a condition, it should significantly reduce the amount of time spent on other therapies such as articulation therapy with a speech pathologist. Some common conditions include:

  • Eliminating speech errors such as an interdental lisp. This is where the tongue protrudes through the teeth when making the ‘s’ sound.
  • Rectify crowding of the teeth caused by narrow development of the roof of the mouth. If done prior to the growth of the roof of the mouth or palate stabilising, extractions of permanent teeth which may need to be done to gain more space in the mouth may be avoided. Therapy can also help to avoid having to be fitted with braces or more invasive jaw surgery as the teeth have room to erupt and therefore do not get pushed out of place and end up crooked.
  • Eliminating abnormal non-nutritive habits such as dummy, finger or thumb sucking
  • Eliminating mouth breathing and training nasal breathing which leads to increased energy and better sleep patterns
  • Eliminating faulty swallowing patterns that cause tongue thrust and lead to an open-bite which would require extensive dental work to correct
  • Preventing scar tissue from forming after a tongue-tie or fraenulum release

Contact us for results focused 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 Orofacial Mylology? appeared first on ENT Wellbeing Sydney.

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Many parents fall into the trap of feeling as if they have to purchase an entire toy store to be able to administer the Lidcombe program well. Following on from my last blog, here are a few more activities that can be done while administering Lidcombe without breaking the bank.

Read Low cost activities to engage children in the Lidcombe Program to learn more about what Lidcombe is and to some other activities for your children.

Color me speech

The internet is full of great coloring in materials that can be printed and used as part of speech practice. Make sure to choose a theme that your child enjoys, whether it is Princesses, Star Wars, The Wiggles or Paw Patrol. This will add an extra incentive to the coloring fun. Add speech by getting your child to tell you what he or she is going to color next and which color they want to use.

Fishing

If you already have a wooden fishing set then this game is even easier to set up. Just write different numbers to signify points on the back of different wooden fish (e.g. 50, 25, 100). Play the game just as you would normally by trying to catch the wooden fish with the magnetised rod however as each player catches a fish, they have to read out the number of points they earned so a score keeper can keep track of how many they have earned. The winner is the player with the most earned points at the end. If you don’t have a wooden fishing set, an alternative would be to print out pictures of fish, cut them out and place a staple in the middle of each fish. Write the number of points on the back of each fish print out. You can make a fishing rod out of a magnet glued to a piece of string, which is tied onto the end of a pencil. The magnet will pick up the stapes so you can collect the fish just as you would with a wooden fishing set.

If none of these games appeals to your child, try using what you already have and add on a new twist. For example, you can throw a ball to each other and as each person catches the ball, they have to name something they can see around them. Get creative and you can turn any game into a conversation.

Contact us for results focused 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 Activities to engage children in the Lidcombe Program – part two appeared first on ENT Wellbeing Sydney.

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What is the Lidcombe Program?

The Lidcombe program is an evidence based treatment method for preschool and early primary school aged children. The Program uses positive praise as behavioural reinforcement for smooth speech and is extremely effective when implemented correctly and with the right age group. Part of the treatment program involves engaging the child in different activities, many of which are play based. This can sometimes lead parents to feel like they need to live in a toy store in order to keep their child engaged to implement the program well. This is not necessarily the case and here I am going to list a few activities that can be done while administering Lidcombe without breaking the bank.

I spy

This game is played exactly as you would expect. One person decides on an object they can see and tells the other player what sound it starts with. The other player then has to guess what object the other person has in mind. As you play the game and elicit utterances, praise the child as per the Lidcombe program requirements.

You can so this activity at the simple word level by getting the child to give single word utterances when they guess, such as ‘ball’ or ‘hat’. Another option is to play the game at the ‘phrase’ stage and get your child to answer in phrases, such as ‘are you thinking of a hat’. Make sure to work at the level indicated by your child’s speech pathologist for best practice.

Match game

This game can be played entirely with two sets of printed pictures or if your child can recognise numbers, the game can also be played with a normal deck of cards. Place the sets of cards faced down and take turns flipping over two cards to try to find a match. As you flip the cards over, say aloud what are on the cards you have gotten. That way with each turn, you will get a chance to provide Lidcombe style praise and reinforcement.

You can also try a game you haven’t played in a while, with a fun reward at the end or reading books your child may not have seen by going to the local library. Whatever it is, it doesn’t have to be extravagant, just follow your child’s interests and you shouldn’t have trouble keeping them engaged.

Contact us for results focused 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 Low cost activities to engage children in the Lidcombe Program appeared first on ENT Wellbeing Sydney.

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