Parents often comment, “It looks like my child just plays with toys during the developmental therapy session.” How can toys improve a child’s development? Do parents need to buy the same toys in order for their child to progress?

What is developmental therapy?

Developmental therapy focuses on a child’s global development. Global development includes regulatory and sensory processing, cognition, language comprehension, language expression, gross and fine motor, social-emotional, and self-help skill development. A therapist will identify specific areas of strengths and concerns to develop a play activity program that addresses the child’s needs.

How are toys used to address areas of development?

Toys used during developmental therapy sessions are strategically chosen in order to help children overcome their challenges and gain confidence in their own ability to acquire functional, age-appropriate, developmental skills. Each session will focus on a number of specific goals, which are assessed through the child’s play with a toy. For example, a book may be used for younger children to help them focus on the details of each page, by encouraging them to run their fingers over the pages and follow the therapist’s pointing at objects. For an older child, a book may be used for object recognition, sound attribution, and concept of size. Nesting cups are another popular toy choice for expanding a child’s development. Younger children learn imitation skills by watching the therapist bang two cups together, and eventually producing the same action. Older children will learn trial and error while nesting the entirety of cups independently, and turning them over to stack them.

Do families need to buy the same toys to see progress in development?

No, families do not need to go out and spend money on the same toys used by the therapist. Many of the skills tested during the sessions can be easily produced with simple objects already found in the home. Instead of buying books, families can work on their child’s identification skills by naming foods in their house (milk, apple) and pointing to objects outside (flower, tree). An easy substitute to the nesting cups that would test a child’s construction skills would be different-sized bowls in the home for nesting, and toilet paper rolls for stacking. While the therapists do use a bag of specific toys, our approach to developmental therapy encourages skill development at home through available resources, and embedding learning activities into a family’s daily routine.

Brittany Hill, MS, MSW, LSW, DT

While speech and language delays or disorders can exist together, there is a distinct difference between the two. Language is communication that can be understood, spoken, written, read, and gestures (such as sign language). There are two areas of language including receptive language, defined as what we hear and understand, and expressive language, defined as the words we use to communicate wants and needs to others. Speech is the ability to clearly and verbally communicate messages to others. Speech includes: articulation, defined as how sounds are made (e.g. the ability to produce /r/ or /s/ correctly), voice, defined as how the vocal folds and breathing combine to produce sound (e.g. healthy voice versus hoarse or “lost” voice), and fluency, defined as the rate and rhythm of the flow of speech (e.g. smooth versus stuttering).

When a child has difficulty with comprehension or understanding others, it is defined as a receptive language delay. When a child has difficulty expressing wants, needs, and other general ideas and thoughts, it is defined as an expressive language delay. When both are present, it is defined as an overall language delay.

When a child has difficulty producing speech sounds correctly or fluently, or has voice problems, it is defined as a speech delay or disorder.

It is significant to note that there is also a difference between a delay and a disorder. A speech or language delay describes a child whose skills are developing along the same developmental path as typically developing children, just at a slower rate and they may require more time, more practice, and more repetition.

Speech and language disorders describe children whose speech and language is developing abnormally and not following the usual pattern or sequence of typical language development.

The best way to find out if your child’s development requires attention is to seek a comprehensive evaluation by a speech-language pathologist (SLP). Pediatric speech therapy is available through the Illinois Early Intervention program and can greatly improve or remediate your one- to- three-year-old child’s speech and language problems. Children over three can receive outpatient pediatric speech therapy at a pediatric therapy clinic as well. A children’s speech therapist can be a great resource for your questions and concerns, as well as ongoing speech therapy.

Therese Schmidt, MS, CF-SLP

Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) is a motor planning disorder that interferes with a child’s ability to plan and execute the precise sounds needed for speech. Children with CAS find it difficult to produce specific sounds on demand, and find even more difficulty in stringing sounds together into words. They may be able to use various sounds when babbling but cannot produce a specific sound when asked to do so. It is often frustrating for the child, as they know what they want to say but struggle to produce the sounds and words needed to communicate their message.

How do I know if my child has CAS?

Initially, CAS may present as a language delay in young children if they are not yet talking by 15-18 months of age (most children say their first word around 12 months of age).  It is difficult to diagnose CAS when the child is not yet talking, so initial speech therapy may focus on verbal imitation of age-appropriate sounds. Children with a speech or language delay can successfully imitate the prompted sound with guided support. Children with CAS, however, will struggle to imitate sounds when prompted because their brain does not send the right coded message to their mouth. Without this message (i.e. the motor plan), they will not know how to use their tongue, lips, and/or teeth to make the correct sound.

Common characteristics of CAS:

• Reduced babbling during early language development (6-12 months of age)

• Inconsistency of speech sound productions

• More errors or changes in errors when producing the same sound or word multiple times

• Difficulty imitating sounds and sound patterns when prompted

• Incoordination and/or groping of the mouth when attempting to speak

• Significant gap between receptive language skills (understanding of language) and expressive language skills (production of sounds/words); receptive language skills tend to be age-appropriate in children with CAS

• Slow progress in therapy, or a plateau in progress

If you think your child may have CAS, refer to a speech therapist for a speech and language evaluation. The speech therapist will work with you and your child to determine the appropriate diagnosis and to establish therapy goals that will support your child’s communication skills.

Autumn Smith, MS, CCC-SLP

Be Enchanted by Trains That Glide Through Every Season @ Morton Arboretum

Combine equal parts white glue and shaving cream. Using a paintbrush or your hands, apply to paper and that’s it! Feel free to add food coloring to make your desired color or keep it white and pretend it’s snow! This activity is great for following directions, allowing children to touch and explore different textures, and makes a cute craft! 

You may hear your therapist emphasize the importance of “joint attention” during their sessions with your child. What does this mean and why is it important?

“Fun Crayons”
(a.k.a. short/broken crayons)

Broken crayons are actually a good thing! Coloring with broken crayons helps promote a mature pinch grasp of objects, and it promotes a more mature grasp of writing utensils. Use an easel or an inclined surface for your little artist to also encourage mature wrist movements when drawing and coloring.

There are many benefits of symbolic play to your child’s cognitive development. For example:

• Children learn many new skills through imitation. While engaging in symbolic play, they act out behaviors and scenarios they’ve observed in their daily life. While acting out these activities or behaviors, children develop their interests, or likes and dislikes. Given the opportunity to act out adult behaviors, a child may realize that they love tending to a baby but have less interest in driving a racecar (or vice versa!).

• They gain an understanding of relationships between people and build social skills. When children are young, they may hug, rock, and kiss a baby doll or stuffed animal, demonstrating their understanding of relationships and interactions between adults and babies. As children get older, their symbolic play becomes more in-depth and interactive. They assign roles to others, communicate, and take turns while role-playing. This type of play also encourages children to work out social issues and deal with different emotions while playing with children and adults around them.

• They problem solve. Acting out different scenarios allows children to be presented with a variety of issues or problems along the way. In a single symbolic play scenario, such as making dinner, a child could face multiple problems or complications:

  • The child may imitate a problem they’ve observed their parent solve, such as burning dinner.

  • They may have an issue finding the right surface or materials to make a “stove”.

  • They may have to solve a problem with a peer when both want to be the parent in this play scheme.

What can I provide to encourage symbolic play?

• Different sized boxes – a single box can be an airplane one minute and a barn the next.

• Adult clothing – what better way to feel like a grown up than wearing dad’s old dress shirt and tie?

• Stuffed animals or dolls – this allows children to imitate their own life and explore different feelings and thoughts.

What are some scenarios I can create in my home?

• Grocery Store: Instead of disposing of your trash, clean out milk jugs, jelly jars, cracker boxes, etc. and provide a few grocery bags. You can even expand the play scheme to create a shopping list or use construction paper to make money to pay for groceries.

• Post Office: Save your junk mail and your child can be a mailman! Those handy boxes mentioned above can be created into mailboxes. This also provides exposure to numbers and letters.

• Restaurant: Collect the take-out menus from your favorite restaurants and have a restaurant in your own home. Provide your child with some paper and a crayon and they can take your order (or the other way around!).

Kimberly Shlaes, MAT, DT

Many families go away this time of the year to celebrate the holidays, and this often results in a short break from speech therapy for your child. Luckily, it is easy to incorporate language-rich activities into your normal holiday routine!

Holiday and Winter Songs

It is hard to turn on the radio this time of year without hearing familiar holiday and winter themed tunes! Singing and listening to holiday songs is a beloved tradition in many families, so this year, invite your children to join in the fun! Try slowing down the pace of familiar songs to allow your child the time they need to sing the words along with you. Once your child knows a song well, try pausing at the end of each phrase in order to allow them to fill in the last word.

Travel Activities

Long trips can be challenging with young children. Be sure to bring lots of books and toys in order to keep your child entertained on long road trips or plane rides. Airplanes are a great place to sit and read with your child. Have your child point to objects in pictures and engage with the book while you flip through the pages together. Remember, it is not necessary to read every word. Books with interactive components, such as “lift-the-flap” or “touch-and-feel”, tend to be favorites among young children. There are also lots of mess-free activity books currently available for young children.  Crayola Color Wonder paper and markers, as well as Melissa and Doug Water Wow activity books allow your child to color away while you talk to them about the pictures and objects that they are coloring. These activities also provide a great opportunity to model color vocabulary.

If you have older children, “I Spy” is a great game to play on road trips. This simple game can keep children entertained for long stretches of time while they work on using descriptive vocabulary, and asking and answering “yes” or “no” questions. With younger children it is still possible to point out sights along the road while modeling the use of the simple phrase, “I see a___.”

Baking

Baking sweet treats is a classic holiday activity for many families. This year let your little one join in the fun. While baking, use short, simple phrases to describe what you and your child are doing. Some examples of easy phrases include: “pour milk,” “crack eggs,” and “mix, mix, mix” (while stirring batter). Baking is also a simple way to practice following directions and demonstrating simple spacial concepts like “on the cookie sheet” or “in the pan”. It is also great for size concepts like “big cookie” vs. “small cookie”, and number concepts like count eggs, cups of flour, etc.

Enjoy trying out these activities, and have a very happy holiday season!

Meryl Schnapp M.A., CCC-SLP