Parent Workshop

Presented by Amy StevensFall Semester, 2002

About the workshop:

• Product Title: – Parent Workshop

• Intended audience: – Parents of hearing impaired children and deaf

educators.

• Product Goals and Objectives: – To educate and aid the parents of hearing

impaired children in the practice and teaching of speech.

Abstract

The Parent Workshop was designed to educate parents in the area of speech therapy/work. This workshop will cover:

• Oral Motor Activities• Listening Activities (including word/minimal pairs)• Teaching Strategies• Syllable Sequence Drills• Games that can be used at home to emphasize speech

production• Ideas for practicing speech in the home

NOTE: This particular workshop focuses on the target sound /ch/; however, similar workshops can be created in accordance with which ever target sound is being worked on at the time.

Before the workshop:An informative letter should be sent or given to the parents notifying them of

the workshop. An example of such a letter is below. November 20, 2002Dear Parents,

We are nearing the end of another busy semester! All semester your child has been bringing home their “Speech Books”. I hope that you have had the chance to flip through these binders and look at the worksheets that your child and I have been working on. We have had a lot of fun this semester together, and now it’s your turn!

On December 4, I will be holding a parent workshop. My hope is that this workshop will not only give you a more in depth look at what we do during our speech therapy and lessons, but also give you the opportunity to ask questions, voice concerns, provide feedback, and network with other classroom parents. In addition, I will be providing some fun ideas and activities that you can take home with you in order to help further develop your child’s speech abilities. Things are really moving along, and I can’t do it without all of you!

I realize that time is a luxury for all of us, so below I’ve included a couple of time options. I would greatly appreciate your feedback on what time(s) work best for you. You can detach the bottom portion and send it with your child to school. Or if you prefer, you may call or e-mail me with your best time.

I am really looking forward to meeting with all of you! Your kids are so much fun and like them, I’m anxious to share with you all that we do!Sincerely,Amy Stevens

NOTE: Childcare and refreshments will be provided.

_____________ can attend the parent workshop: Name___ 3:30-4:00___ 5:30-6:00___ 7:00-7:30___ I will be unable to attend.

Oral Motor Activities

• Before each speech session or lesson, we practice several different oral motor techniques in order to “exercise” our mouths and get the ready for speech. This usually involves exercises for the tongue, jaw, lips, cheeks, and breath control. We also use oral motor activities to help simulate the placement and manner of sounds.

Simple Activities

• Patting the cheeks (Pat, pat, pat, pat, pat)• Pinching the cheeks (Pinch, pinch, pinch, pinch,

pinch)• Using a finger as chapstick and tapping around

the lips (tap, tap, tap, tap, tap)• “Wag your tail”—have the child stick his/her

tongue out and move it side to side, then up and down. This helps stretch the tongue.

• Funny faces (have your child imitate the funny faces you make by taking turns, then have them come up with their own funny face.)

Fun with Props—other activities that stimulate the mouth and

breath:• Licking (Handisnacks, Fun dip, frosting on graham

crackers, suckers)—the goal is to have the child lick with the tip of their tongue without moving their head.

• Bubblegum—this is great for exercising the jaw muscles, as well as stimulating the tongue and saliva glands. Blowing bubbles with the gum is also great for working the muscles of the mouth, as well as breath control.

• Breath control—blow bubbles, or use balloons to help with breath control.

Sequence Mouth Movements

• Blow kisses and then smile• Smile and frown• Surprise and smile

To Emphasize the /ch/ Sound:

o Place some peanut butter or frosting behind the upper front teeth: this is the alveolar ridge.

o Next, have your child bite down on a popsicle stick or tongue depressor.

o Finally, tell your child to lick off the peanut butter/frosting, while still biting the stick.

o This helps simulate what /ch/ feels like in the mouth; it also helps build the strength of the tongue.

Listening ActivitiesHelpful Hints:• Speech is primarily learned through listening.• Developing listening skills goes hand in hand with

developing speech skills; it is important to provide as many opportunities as possible to develop these listening skills.

• A great way to develop both listening and speech skills is to help show your child that when a sound is changed in a word, the meaning of that word is also changed (CHEW vs. SHOE); we call these minimal pairs.

• Understanding minimal pairs will help your child understand the importance of listening and producing these words correctly.

Listening Activities:

• The speech books usually contain a “minimal pair activity” for sounds. Go over these worksheets with your child by pointing to each picture and saying the word. Your child should watch and listen, and imitate each word as you say it and point to it.

• Go through the worksheet again, this time without pointing to the picture. Have your child point to the correct picture that matches what you said. If your child does not point to the correct picture, have them listen to your model again.

Word Pairs

• /ch/ vs. /sh/– chew vs. shoe– chalk vs. shock– cheap vs. sheep– chin vs. shin

vs.

vs.

• /ch/ vs. /t/– chew vs. two– chalk vs. talk– beach vs. beat– chime vs. time

*Used with permission of Elizabeth M. Wilkes, author of “Speech that Works”

Minimal Pair/Word Pair Worksheets from “Speech that Works”

Teaching Strategies

Three StepsShow ‘em how it’s done!• Remember—in order to produce speech, we must listen to it first.

Model the sound (or syllable or word) for your child first and have them imitate your model.

Good try, but…• Your child put forth their best effort, but didn’t quite produce the

sound. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again! • Model the sound (syllable, word) for your child again, but this time

try slowing down and putting more emphasis on the target sound.

Still not quite…• If your child is still unable to produce the sound, try again with a

visual cue. Sometimes it even helps for the child to imitate the cue as well as the sound. It helps remind them where the sound is in their mouth.

• If your child is having lots of difficulty producing the target sound, try going back to something easier.

Encouragement is the key!

• If your child is able to produce the target sound, be sure to make a big deal of it! Speech can be very hard work!

• If your child is unable to produce the target sound, don’t get frustrated and don’t let them get frustrated. Speech IS hard work, and just like math or reading, takes lots of time and practice.

Teaching Strategies (for the /ch/ sound)

• Listen– Practice sneezing– Have your child whisper the word ‘shoot’ over and over again. (This

should produce a /ch/ if done correctly; move from “shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot” to “choo, choo, choo, choo,”).

• Watch– Try using a Kleenex or tissue paper—hold the tissue in front of your

mouth so your child sees the way the breath “shoots” forward.– Use a visual cue (thumb and pointer finger on sides of mouth)—this

helps the child understand the placement of the sound.

• Feel– Have your child place the back of their hand near your mouth and

produce the /ch/ sound so they can feel the breathstream; then have him/her hold their hand to their own mouth and produce the /ch/ sound.

Syllable Sequence Drills:

Building your child’s fluency

Why use syllable drills?

• Syllable drills give your child the opportunity to practice:– Production of consonant/vowel (CV)

combinations– Increasing the rate of speech– Familiarizing your child with certain sounds

and CV combinations in order to internalize them

– Improve the rhythm of speech– Improve breath support and thus improve the

production of strings of sound.

Why are syllable drills important?

• Unlike children born with normal hearing, hearing impaired children do not practice “babbling” as babies. This is largely due to the fact that they are not receiving the auditory stimuli that normal hearing babies receive.

• Syllable drills give the hearing impaired child the opportunity to practice the “babbling” that they missed out on in their early development.

What are syllable drills?

o Syllable drills can be made up of either a string of nonsense syllables or words.

Nonsense Syllables

• A good way to practice nonsense syllables using syllable drills is to make a table which consists of different vowels. Using a magnet, stencils, or any other tool, show your child how to place the consonant (in this case, /ch/) in front of each vowel. After a few run throughs, encourage your child to speed up the repetition of the syllables.

Example of Nonsense Syllable Drill

aw aw aw aw aw

-u- -u- -u- -u- -u-

-i- -i- -i- -i- -i-

a-e a-e a-e a-e a-e

Words

• You can work on syllable drills using words the same way you work on nonsense syllables. Worksheets are provided in the speech notebooks. Once a drill has been practiced and learned, have your child see how many rows he or she can complete in one breathstream.

Example of Word Syllable Drill

Ouch Ouch Ouch Ouch

Chicken Chicken Chicken Chicken

Chalk Chalk Chalk Chalk

*Used with permission of Elizabeth M. Wilkes, author of “Speech that Works”

Sample Syllable Drill Worksheet from “Speech that Works”:/ch/ in the final position.

*Used with permission of Elizabeth M. Wilkes, author of “Speech that Works”

Sample Syllable Drill Worksheet from “Speech that Works”:/ch/ in the initial position.

What is for lunch?

Goals: • The main goal is to provide a fun way for your

child to practice the /ch/ sound not only in speech, but in language as well.

• In addition:– To produce as much language as possible.– To work on the production of the /ch/ sound.– Ask and answer “what” questions.– Ask and answer “yes/no” questions.

Materials you will need:

• Pictures and word cards for:– Kitchen– Chicken– Sandwich– Ketchup– Chips– Cherries– Chocolate milk

How to Play• Place the game board (picture of kitchen) and playing pieces

(pictures of food) in a bag or box. This makes is a surprise for your child.

• Tell your child, “I have a game for us to play together!”• Lay out the game board and pieces. Ask your child, “What is for

lunch?” and let them pick a piece they want to place on the board (NOTE: You can put Velcro or magnets on the board if you want for the pieces to stay in place.)

• When your child picks a piece “for lunch”, prompt a response by asking, “What is that? What will you do with the (chicken, sandwich, etc.)?”

• The idea is to have your child respond with, “The (chicken, sandwich, etc.) is for lunch!”

• Practice over and over again, trying to come up with new combinations. (ex. Ketchup on the sandwich, chicken sandwich, etc.)

Something to Think About

• If you want to, you can make this more interactive by making lunch together. Have your child pull the food out of the refrigerator and say, “The (chocolate milk, etc.) is for lunch!” Finish up by eating lunch or packing lunch together.

• As your child works on new sounds (other than /ch/), you can find different types of food and drink to use for practice. (For example, if /p/ is being practiced, you can use popcorn, pop, peas, etc.)

sandwich chickencherries

Chocolate milk

chips

ketchup

KITCHEN

What else can you do?

Weaving speech into your daily routine

Practice the sound (through modeling and imitation) by using the “First…then…”

method:

– Before a snack– Before playtime– Before T.V. time– Before videogames– Before going outside

First then

Practice the sound through play

– When the sound is correctly produced, let the child place a block in the bucket, a ring on the stick, or any toy that can be “added to” several times.

– Especially with /ch/--move a toy train around a track each time the sound is correctly produced.

Practice the sound through helping

– Bake some cookies together. When your child correctly produces the sound, allow them to add another ingredient.

– Allow your child to lick the stamps for all those holiday cards! Before they can lick the stamp, model the sound for them and have them repeat it. When they produce the sound, they can lick the stamps.

Other ways to practice:• Practice saying the sound/syllable/word into a

pretend telephone or microphone.• Practice saying the sound/syllable/word at bath

time or bed time.• Practice saying the sound/syllable/word while

getting ready for school.• Practice saying the sound/syllable/word while

driving in the car.• Practice saying the sound/syllable/word by

playing peek-a-boo (and substitute “peek-a-boo” with the sound.)

• Practice saying the sound/syllable/word while walking up the stairs.

In additionWords to think about:

Shopping:• How much?• Cheap• Such a deal!• Too much!Mealtime:• Kitchen• Lunch• Brunch• Crunch(y)• Munch• Chocolate• Cherry• Chips• Ketchup• Chicken• Sandwich

Every day:• Chore• Change (clothes, socks, shoes)• Teacher• Porch

Books to consider:• Chicken Little Retold/illustrated by

Steven Kellogg• Guess How Much I Love You By Sam

McBratney, Illustrated by Anita Jeram• Elmo says “Achoo”! By Sarah Albee,

Illustrated by Tom Brannon

Words of Wisdom

That is what learning is.You suddenly understand something you’ve understood your

whole life, but in a new way.~Doris Lessing

Speech is something we take for granted every day, but it’s something your children have to work very hard at, and they do. I hope that you have learned something new

about speech, how we work with and teach it, and how you can use it at home.

And never forget…

Every production of genius must be the production of enthusiasm.

~Benjamin Disraeli

Get excited about your kids because they are excited about you!

Thank you for coming!

References• Parent Workshops developed by Linda Nylund MS CCC/SLP, L.• Tactile Kinesthetic Phonetics, developed by Lori Hahm and Linda Nylund MS CCC/SLP, L.• A Speech Guide for Teacher’s and Clinicians of Hearing Impaired Children, Sandra Waling and

Wayne Harrison (1987), Texas: Pro-Ed• Bringing Sound to Life: Principles and Practices of Cochlear Implant Rehabilitation, Mary E. Koch,

MA, CED; A project of The Listening Center at John Hopkins and The Advisory Board Foundation• Speech that Works, developed by Elizabeth M. Wilkes, Ph.D., C.E.D., CCC-SLP, Sunshine Cottage

School for Deaf Children; 103 Tuleta San Antonio, TX, 78212• Worksheets borrowed from Speech that Works (permission given by Elizabeth M. Wilkes, Ph.D.,

C.E.D., CCC-SLP)• Quotes borrowed from http://www.chalkdust-online.com/• Additional pictures borrowed from http://expressit.broderbund.com/default.asp• Children’s Books:

– Chicken Little Retold/illustrated by Steven Kellogg– Guess How Much I Love You By Sam McBratney, Illustrated by Anita Jeram– Elmo says “Achoo”! By Sarah Albee, Illustrated by Tom Brannon

• Microsoft Office XP for Students and Teachers– Clipart– Microsoft PowerPoint