apps to help speech for a 2 year old

bigmomma051204

Hiya - not feeling well but didnt want to read and run... I work in a childrens centre so work alongside speech & language a LOT.
http://www.talkingpoint.org.uk/directory/free-resources-parents

http://www.talkingpoint.org.uk/


Check out the links as there is lots of info on that website - you can check where ur child is underperforming and then use the ideas to help encourage speech. Speech therapist SHOULD be offering you ideas of how to encourage speech.

A big thing is giving choices and waiting for the answer - so instead of answering for them ie "what do you want... do you want a drink...do you want milk etc etc" When you know they want a drink, say "would you like milk (show carton) or juice (show carton)".... and when they respond, even if its just a "noise" answer in simple terms by repeating the correct word sound (ie dont say "oh okay you want milk" just say "milk")

Flash cards are good - make your own... take photos of about 5 objects which you will refer to in daily life (ie shoes, bottle, cup, baby etc) and then you can use them accordingly. Much better than pre-made cards are children dont always identify that a cartoon car is the same as a real life car

Ask you therapist for ideas and games which can help - good games to improve verbalisation are getting some bubble mixture - blow bubbles and just simply say "pop" when they/you are popping the bubbles... Another good one is just simply Ready, Steady.... Go! Cars down a garage ramp etc are great.... you say ready, steady and then once you have played it a few times, pause a couple of seconds before saying "go" - children will enjoy the game and be encouraged to copy your "go"....

Importantly - Dont feel you need to be constantly saying "whats this" or "can you say Car, dog, etc" - Just keep wording VERY simple - If a car drives past, then refer to it by stating "car"..... If a dog woofs, comment rather than converse by stating "dog" etc etc....


Hope this all makes some sense..... no need WHATSOEVER for an "app" or any other computer based nonsense. At this stage, that will NOT be helpful. xxxxx

pukkamum

You don't need an app you just need to repeat repeat repeat. Constantly talk about what you are doing, im getting the cup, cup its a cup can you say cup its a cup.
You get the idea praise any kind of verbalising, listen for any verbalising and associate it to something.
Find a book he likes and read it over and over, green eggs and ham is great for this it repeats the same words.
Animal noises are good for starting to vocalise, get on the floor and be a lion etc get him to join in.
Is he eating plenty of chewy foods these are good for getting the tongue making the correct movements for speech.

twigpig

brians_daughter wrote: »

Hi, I mentioned on the thread that our son had speech delay and we used an ipad and various apps to aid his communication.
I cant recall the apps names now, but will find out once home from work. It was, for us, more about communication rather than developing speech. He was very frustrated in nursery and around siblings and peers as unless someone was looking directly at him they could miss his gestures.

The apps helped us massively. For example. DS would want to bring something to my attention etc so he would go to his app and press the picture of the object he wanted (we also used flash cards but the app actually said the words). You could programme the app too, so say your child is called Leo you could programme it so Leo touched the ball and the app spoke 'Leo would like the ball please'. If Leo touched the ball and a picture of one of his siblings (you could upload stuff to it) it would say 'Leo would like 'x' to play ball' We started small ie just 'ball' and worked up.

It really did give him a voice. It did help with his speech too by using other programmes but the most important and massive change we saw was his behaviour changed dramatically as he wasn't as frustrated and finally had a 'voice' even if it was spoken via an ipad.

Thank you, I'd really appreciate your advice and I recall your name and reading your post, which was the reason for my post. (I did think about adding to the other post, but thought it would get lost). My son goes to nursery 3 days a week too, so is around other children which should help his communication. Anything we could try to help bring him along is certainly worth a try.

He actually made little eye contact when younger, although is getting better at this now so we do try to make him look at us when we're talking to him. It's still challenging at times......

bigmomma051204

Just thought - does he go to nursery? If so, make sure that therapist is communicating well with them and then ensure they are doing the same exercises as you are... Head to your local childrens centre and make the most of the staff there - they may be able to offer you more support and advice once they have met your son - and being around his peers is VERY important as it greatly encourages development

*cross posted re nursery etc

twigpig

Mojisola wrote: »

As my later post said - I would concerned that he hasn't reached this earlier stage yet.

I know many children do point at this age, but really, how could I make any child do anything before they're ready......
Obviously, we've been talking with the professionals (i.e. referred to the speech therapist) but there's little concern as he's still young. He's growing normally but just doesn't communicate yet.....
We also try to point at things when communicating so encourage him to point, but any extra advice appreciated

Dimey

I have no idea whether this type of thing is approved or successful bit I remember hearing about subliminal type DVDs that you could play while your baby is sitting alone for brief periods, in order to get words associated with pictures into the babies mind at an early stage.

Some Mums and Dads were raving about it and you could see really young babies reading almost as soon as they could talk.

This site might have info about it.
http://www.brillbaby.com/early-learning/introduction-to-early-learning/the-fundamentals-of-early-learning.php

bigmomma051204

pukkamum wrote: »

You don't need an app you just need to repeat repeat repeat. Constantly talk about what you are doing, im getting the cup, cup its a cup can you say cup its a cup.
You get the idea praise any kind of verbalising, listen for any verbalising and associate it to something.
Find a book he likes and read it over and over, green eggs and ham is great for this it repeats the same words.
Animal noises are good for starting to vocalise, get on the floor and be a lion etc get him to join in.
Is he eating plenty of chewy foods these are good for getting the tongue making the correct movements for speech.

All super advice apart from the bit i highlighted - its really not recommended to keep blathering on at children - language needs to be kept SIMPLE and you really mustn't keep asking them "whats this? can you say ....." etc But the other bits are good Pukka (sorry hope this is taken in the way its meant xx)

twigpig

thank you bigmomma
I'll take a look of those sites. Generally the advice from the speech therapist was around his eye contact, which was lacking, and also forcing him to make choices, even if it's as simple as a blue cup or an orange cup.

Great idea to make my own flash cards, I never thought of that and it would be good to use things he recognises.....

I do name things like cars, dog, baby etc etc as we see them, so thanks for re-assuring me that even basics will help. A very helpful reply - thank you. I hope you feel better soon

twigpig

pukkamum wrote: »

Is he eating plenty of chewy foods these are good for getting the tongue making the correct movements for speech.

I think so, but will definitely bear in mind with his food......thanks for the tip

bigmomma051204

Dimey wrote: »

I have no idea whether this type of thing is approved or successful bit I remember hearing about subliminal type DVDs that you could play while your baby is sitting alone for brief periods, in order to get words associated with pictures into the babies mind at an early stage.

Some Mums and Dads were raving about it and you could see really young babies reading almost as soon as they could talk.

This site might have info about it.
http://www.brillbaby.com/early-learning/start-here.php

Not really recommended to be honest - http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/baby-einstein/AN01990 Baby Einstein was ALL the rage a while back (very very similar to what you have mentioned) and actually children learn FAR more from DOING rather than WATCHING... so plonking them in front of the telly, albeit we all do it at times, doesnt do them all the "good" tv and dvd companies would have you believe.... In fact too much time in front of telly has been proven to affect development... So, yes you could use the dvds but actually taking your child out or doing something with them is going to be far more successful.... the same reasoning behind why the app is not necessary.

In fact, statistics show that speech & language delay is FAR more prevalent in the last 10yrs than it ever has been before.... and more children than EVER are having access to Tablets, Phones, laptops etc from a VERY young age (by which i mean toddler age)... There is no NEED to shove technology in front of a 2 year old. There is no PROOF that it will do them any good, but there is significant research into the fact it MAY do them some level of harm Of course, there is again that old adage of "everything in moderation". Most parents will pop their child in front of the telly whilst they get on with a quick task... But i dont feel that any toddler needs access to an "app".


Sorry - have just realised i sound a bit "preachy"..... i am normally more tactful lol..... its the stinking cold