On June 1st Let’s Talk Guelph hosted David Hammer for an all-day workshop on “A Multi-Sensory Approach to Achieving Speech Outcomes”. Dave is known internationally for his work and passion for CAS, and is CASANA’s Director of Professional Development and Speech Services. Dave’s workshops are known for their hands-on, practical suggestions for making therapy fun AND productive for helping children with CAS communicate.
Below, Brittany Valeriote (SLP) shares her reflection on the day. Check back soon for a parent’s perspective!
“I will aim to help children help themselves”. This was the biggest take home for me after attending David Hammer’s lecture last Monday. As a speech-language pathologist, I support children in an attempt to enhance their communication skills. This often involves the child imitating my word productions, making it important that I remember that imitation is NOT learning. The best way that I can create change is to provide support that will allow children to produce words without the need for a direct model. Yes, simultaneous and imitated productions are a part of initial acquisition phases, but it is important that the need for imitation be reduced as soon as possible. David Hammer taught me to do this by building a child’s awareness of sound features early on in therapy. He does this by introducing verbal cues such as “humming sound” for /m/, “smiley windy sound” for /s/, and “popping sound” for /p/. This way, I can then use verbal instructions to help children produce and correct verbal attempts without ever modelling the word. Gestures and hand cues can also be introduced early in therapy to help children help themselves. By holding my hand close to my mouth to cue an /h/ or by holding my hands out wide to symbolize mouth position for an “ee”, children can develop awareness for these cues and use them to support their verbal productions. Children can also begin to cue themselves with such gestures, increasing their ability to communicate with a variety of individuals independently. By using such a multi-sensory approach, these children are provided with a multitude of tools from which to choose and are guided towards more effective communication. I have always thought of myself as someone who helps children communicate, but if we instead think of ourselves as people who help children HELP THEMSELVES communicate, there is a deeper sense of learning and ultimately more success is achieved.
Brittany Valeriote, M.H.Sc. (SLP)Speech-Language Pathologist, reg. CASLPO
Brittany is a Speech-Language Pathologist at Let’s Talk Guelph who enjoys working with articulation & phonology, early language and literacy.
