Speech and Language Development

Preschool YearsPresented By: Shawna Marcus, Dawn Ibbs, Jennifer Reynoso, Kimmy Phillips, Michelle Steneck

-AGENDA- Participants will

familiarize themselves with:

• The difference between speech and language

• Ages and Stages• Activities to help your child at

home

Language vs. Speech

Language is made up of socially shared rules that include:

• What words mean• How to make new words • How to put words together• What word combinations are best in

what situations

Speech: The actual act of producing the sounds

Language is made up of socially shared rules

Types of Language:

• Receptive Language- How the child understands and processes what is being said to them.

• Expressive Language- How the child shares thoughts, ideas, and feelings using speech.

Articulation

Common Phonological Processes

Pop Quiz!

If a child has a lisp, is that a speech or language problem?

Answer: Speech!

Activity: Straw + Cotton Ball

By age: 3 yearsReceptive

Language:

• Understands verbs in pictures (sleep, eat, drink).

• Follows two requests ("Get the book and put it on the table").

• Begins to understand basic what and where questions.

Expressive Language:

• Has a label for familiar items.

• Uses two- or three- words to talk about and ask for things.

• Asks for/directs attention to objects by naming them.

• 50-75% of speech is understood.

What can I do to help? 2-3 year olds

• Use clear, simple speech that is easy to imitate.

• Show interest, repeat what the child has said and expand on it.

• Ask the child to repeat things that you do not understand and model correct production.

• Expand on the child's vocabulary by reading books with simple sentences.

• Name objects and describe the pictures in books, stating synonyms for familiar words.

Pop Quiz

• A child is 2 ½ years old and we only understand half of what he is saying. Is this normal?

Answer: YES! At this age, their speech is typically between 50-75% understandable.

Fun Speech and Language Home Activity

By age: 4 years

Receptive Language:

• Understands basic "who?", "what?", "where?" questions.

• Understands basic color/size words

• Identifies parts of an object, i.e., “tail of the dog”, “door of the car”

• Understands negation

“no”, “not”

Expressive Language:

• Begins to ask what, where and some why questions.

• Uses sentences with 3-5 words.

• You can understand 80% of their speech.

What can I do to help? 3-4 years

• Make silly pictures and help the child explain what is silly about the picture.

• Sort pictures and items into categories, increase the challenge by asking the child to point out what is different

• Expand vocabulary and the length of the child's utterances by: reading, singing, saying rhymes, talking about the surrounding environment

What can I do to help? 3-4 years (cont.)

• Read books that have a simple plot, talk about and reenact the story with the child.

• Look at family pictures; have the child explain what is happening.– Take turns asking questions about each

picture.

• Expand on social communication and storytelling skills by "acting out" everyday activities. – Ask the child to repeat what they said if

you do not understand.

http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/chart.htm

Pop Quiz

• Timmy is 4 years old and speaks in 4 word sentences is this typical?

Answer: Yes! Typically developing 4 year olds use sentences with 3-5 words.

Puzzle

Normal Disfluencies

• Stuttering is common in children between the ages of 2 and 5.

• During their preschool years children are rapidly acquiring language and speech sounds. 

• A child acquires receptive concepts before expressive concepts often leading to the child knowing what they want, but not how to express it.

• Many children will begin to display characteristics of disfluencies, as the child's speech and language improve, the child's disfluencies improve.

Zebrowski & Kelly, 2002

Pop Quiz

• Tammy is 4 years old and her grandmother doesn’t understand 100% of what she says. Is she delayed in her speech?

Answer: No, but grandma should understand around 80% of what she says.

Fun Speech and Language Home Activity

Questions?

Works Cited

• Tidmore, Sarah “A Preschool Teacher’s Guide to Speech and Language Intervention”. KidWorks Therapy Service

www.kidworkstherapy.com/PresentationHandouts.ppt

• Guitar,Barry Ph.D., University of Vermont, Edward G. Conture, Ph.D., Vanderbilt University. “7 Tips for Talking with Your Child.” The Stuttering Foundation. April 2008. Stuttering Foundation of America. http://www.stutteringhelp.org/Default.aspx?tabid=632

• “How Does Your Child Hear and Talk?” American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. 02 June 2010. <http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/chart.htm>

• Shipley, Kenneth G., Julie G. McAfee. Assessment in Speech-Language Pathology: A Resource Manual Second Edition. San Diego: Singular Publishing Group, 1998.

• Templeton, 1957; Wellman et al., 1931, in Sanders- Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 1973.

• “What is Language? What is Speech?” American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. 02 June 2010. http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/language_speech.htm)

• Zebrowski, Patricia M., Ellen M. Kelly. Manual of Stuttering Intervention. Clifton Park: Singular Publishing Group, 2002.