Visual Consequence Chart

Children with communication disorders may have behavior issues related to their lack of language or ways to tell you things. Visual pictures are a great way to help these kiddos including: visual schedules, visual choices, visual consequence charts for behaviors.

This is an example of my 5 yo son's visual consequence chart that I made for him with Boardmaker (Mayer Johnson). He has sensory issues and it really helps him remember what happens for certain behaviors. I suggest a much simpler version for a younger child or a child with low language. (I will have more examples on my website). The timer timeout symbol on this chart is a technique I use by getting a mat or carpet (that you take everywhere) and having him sit on it during a time out. I start the timer at 4 minutes and add minutes if he gets off the mat or continues to scream or throw a fit. (This technique was recommended by a behavioral psychologist for my son).

How do visual consequence charts relate to speech therapy? This kind of visual reinforcer can help children with language delays and behavior problems by giving them a symbol to attach to the undesired behavior and a symbol attached to the consequence. You can use this with children with a variety of language challenges.  Each child's chart has to be unique and tailored to their behaviors and cognitive level. I am not a behavioral specialist in any way, I just know what works with my son. I have had parents use these kind of visual charts and have reported to me success as well. The key is consistency, do the same thing EVERY time. Keep them on a schedule!

WH Questions

WH Questions- so many of my language delayed kiddos and my kiddos with Autism have difficulty discriminating this area of language (asking and answering what, when, where, why, who questions appropriately)
This is a very important skill and parents need to practice this at home with their kids everyday! Example: Its lunch time " where do we go to make lunch" "who makes lunch at our house" "when do we eat lunch" "what do we eat for lunch" I have found that a lot of kids will answer all four of these questions with the "what" answer. I use a lot of visuals when working on these skills.
Will post some great printables soon on my website for his purpose.

When Should I Be Concerned About My Child's Speech?

To start things off I am going to give some info about articulation (sound production or the way we say sounds). I receive a lot of questions about sound errors and when are they developmentally appropriate. Please see the chart at the end of this post for a nice visual of speech sound development. A printable PDF version of the chart will be available on my website! Coming Soon!

Early sounds:  all vowels, m, b, p, t, n, w, h (sounds that develop before age 3)

3-4 years old sounds: d, k, g, f, y, ng

5-6 year old sounds: v, j, l

7-8 year old sounds: sh, ch, dz (as in measure), s, z, th, r 


By 8 years old most children have developed all the speech sounds in the English language.
If your child is not using the above sounds correctly by the ages listed, they may need some help. Keep in mind each child is unique in their development of speech! The chart below gives a general range of speech development, if you are concerned seek out the opinion of a licenced and certified SLP! Coming soon on my website I will have tips to help elicit (how to help them say it) each sound in the English Language (eventually will have Spanish added as well).

Welcome to Panda Speech :)

WELCOME

This blog was created for SLPs and parents with speech/language delayed kiddos.  I will be posting on many topics in the future including: develpmental norms, apps, activities for home, help with terminology (what the heck does that mean??), questions from parents, and many more. I will have a website up soon with printable activites for home as well as information on a variety of speech/language topics.  Please feel free to conatct me via facebook or twitter (search pandaspeech) or email me at pandaspeech@gmail.com.

Please note that I am not here to give any therapy recommendations, diagnostic information, or to replace therapy services. Always refer to your own speech language pathologist for specific questions or recommendations. This blog is to serve as a free resource for parents to get information and ideas to help their child carry over their speech and language skills into the home environment. I also am on a mission to help practicing SLPs gain knowledge of apps and technology in our profession!

As I said on my facebook page, kids need more than just 2-3 sessions a week in therapy to make progress, they need their caregivers to help them carry over the skills into everday life!