WHY IS MY SPEECH THERAPIST JUST PLAYING WITH MY CHILD?! What Your Therapist is Looking For in Play!

Kelli Meyer M.Ed, CCC-SLP Certified & Licensed Pediatric Speech Language Pathologist
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It's Kelli, Welcome back to my channel! I hope these videos are helpful for working with your little ones at home! Leave a comment below with your questions, comments or video suggestions!

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WHY IS MY SPEECH THERAPIST JUST PLAYING WITH MY CHILD?!
Play gives us the best way to observe what a child already knows and/or has links to! (word meanings, cognition, memory, following directions, attention span, cause/effect, problem solving etc) WHOO HOO!

*Children always demonstrate skill that they have non-verbally before they demonstrate their understanding verbally!* (just like your child would have to KNOW an object is a ball before they would call it "ball!"

A PLAY ROUTINES HELPS YOU KNOW WHAT SKILLS YOUR CHILD HAS! (This allows us to target areas of strength and weakness, & EXPAND on their strengths in order to target the areas of weakness!)

Do they know what to do with the hammer and the ball (cause/effect)? Are they able to imitate your play skills (gross motor, fine motor, and speech)? Are they exploring new objects (looking, touching, putting in mouth)? Are they being creative and doing multiple things with the same toy (cognition and problem solving)? Do they know literal play (object functions)? Can they expand on an activity / Is their attention span long enough (a child must be able to STAY in order to PLAY and LEARN!)? Can they share joint attention with you and an object (children have to know WHAT you are talking about when you play with them/point to things!)? Can they follow simple directions (understand what words MEAN)? Are they imitating gestures/words/sounds/actions (understand that THEY can do these things too!)? Are they able to build anticipation skills (improves oral motor planning and sequencing and cause/effect!)?

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//How to Create a PLAY ROUTINE:
Remember: YOU control the FUN part of the activity or the main part of the toy
#1) SHOW them what to DO with the toy!
#2) Give them an opportunity to copy you!
#3) HELP them do it (with your hands) if they need help!
#4) Pause to allow them time to respond!
#5) BE FUN!!! AND EXCITING!
#6) Incorporate gross and fine motor skills for sensory seekers!
#7) Do the same thing OVER and OVER again!
#8) Add on once your child masters it and expand attention span!
#9) Use SIMPLE phrases/words/ fun sounds and simple directions!
#10) Start with literal play stirring a spoon in a bowl, rolling a car, putting things in a container/shopping cart, and then move to more pretend place and abstract concepts (answering a pretend phone, pretend flying a plane)

SIMPLE and effective verbal routines during play routines: (or songs!)
One, two __
ready, set, __
I love __

Ways to keep your child's attention: Whispering, clapping, saying "yay!", making fun sounds, being excited, changing facial expressions

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LINKS//
Functional words:    • TEACHING FUNCTIONAL WORDS & SIGNS THROUGH ...  
Following Directions:    • HOW TO GET A CHILD TO LISTEN & FOLLOW DIRE...  
Attention Span:    • HOW TO INCREASE A CHILD'S ATTENTION SPAN A...  
Imitation Skills:    • HOW TO GET A CHILD TO IMITATE WORDS: Help ...  
How to PLAY:    • HOW TO PLAY WITH A CHILD USING SPEECH & LA...  

11 Prelinguistic Skills chart:
https://teachmetotalk.com/wp-content/...

Ebba My First Pet House: https://amzn.to/3r2FEZd
Lamaze Eggs Toy: https://amzn.to/3kaiGOc

Hand Out on TYPES of PLAY with EXAMPLES: https://teachmetotalk.com/ceu_course/...
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🔸LANGUAGE PLAYLIST:    • Early Language Development (Help your chil...  


🔷 ARTICULATION PLAYLIST:    • Speech Articulation Videos  

🟢 AUTISM RESOURCE VIDS:    • Autism Resource Videos  

🔺TOP TIPS VIDEOS:    • TOP Tips and Tricks for Speech and Language  

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