Preschooler's speech delay. Ideas please?

Question

I'm going to start babysitting (full time) a 3-yr-old girl next week who has a speech delay. Her guardian has not yet had her evaluated nor has she taken her to a therapist, but assures me there is a problem and will be seeking therapy soon. I've only met the girl once and she didn't say much, but when she did talka little bit, it sounded a lot like baby talk.

She comes from a broken background (abandoned by her mother) and both of her guardians work full-time. I wonder if they don't have enough time to work on the problem at home. So I would very much like to help this little girl once she's here every day. I have a 3-yr-old daughter, myself (with a robust vocabulary) so I'm not sure where to start helping this girl as I have never dealt with this before.

I would like to hear from speech or education professionals and parents who have experience with this. Can you tell me some ideas and activities that might help? I would love to make a difference in this little girl's life.

Answer 1

To be honest with you, this little girl may start to improve with her speech when she is around your daughter especially both the little girls being the same age.  Give it a few months and you will see the difference in the little girls speech.  

Just work with her on things that you do with your own daughter, and she will improve.   I hope this helps and good luck!

Answer 2

Well, You can point to something like start with simple stuff like Grass, Flower, Wall. Say it slowly and tell her to say it too.

Answer 3

All of those above answers are fantastic.  

Another resource I found is a book called Teach Me How to Say It Right: Helping Your Child with Articulation Problems by Dorothy P. Dougherty.  I stumbled across it at the library in the parenting section last summer.  I finally bought my own copy, as I teach preschoolers and several this year have speech delays.

It is an easy-to-read guide to a child's speech development.  It demonstrates what is truly normal and what truly requires attention.  It also gives several fun activity ideas to help you help the child with his speech.

It should help you with this child you're babysitting, as well as be a valuable resource for your early childhood teaching years.

Answer 4

The most important thing for this child will be simply exposing her to speech.  The research says it's not necessarily the quality of the speech she encounters, but the quantity that will make the difference.  But it must be speech from real people talking - listening to the TV doesn't count.  So talk to her a lot!  Read to her as well.

Reading to her and naming pictures in the books, naming objects in the house - things like that - will help build vocabulary.  Encourage her to name things as well, but don't force the issue - she may become frustrated.  Often children will cry or have a 'meltdown' if they can't communicate, because it's all they know how to do and they're frustrated.

You can make a big difference - language development early in life has a huge impact on learning.

Answer 5

Both the answers above have great ideas.  As a speech therapist myself, I think 2 of the things to keep in mind are to be matched and to be balanced, when talking to her.

Being matched means keeping your language at her level.  If she is using only one word at a time, you should limit your phrases to 1-2 words.  If you respond to her 1 word phrases with 10 word sentences, it's overwhelming for her to pick out the important parts.  As you give her the names of items, watch that you are looking at the same thing. (I once showed a child a picture of a cat and at the same time touched something slimy & said "ew, yuck" -- he called that cat picture an 'ew, yuck' for about 2 weeks.)

Being balanced means taking equal turns talking.  You say something, then she gets a turn.  This is hard to do with a very quiet child, but remember to wait, up to even 30 seconds after you say something, to give her a chance to respond.  Look expectantly at her, it lets her know it her turn.  Play vocalizing games, where you take turns making sounds - you imitate what she says. This is fun to do by talking into a large can or oatmeal box or through a paper towel tube.  She says 'bah' you say 'bah', she says 'bah' again, try saying 'bee' or 'bah-bah' to see if she will imitate you. Your daughter might enjoy joining in this silly game too.

Your daughter may be used to having long, complicated conversations with you, which is fantastic, but remember it will be hard to her new friend to keep up.  Make sure your daughter gets the attention she needs and deserves, but that the other little girl also gets a chance to talk.  My daughter could talk non-stop, but my son was much quieter. One day, as we were driving somewhere, I see in the rearview mirror that he had his hand up. When I asked what he wanted, he said "When is it my turn to talk?"  After that, I was much more careful that my daughter's running monologues didn't inhibit his chance to say something.

Hope this helps you get started!  I'm sure once she is evaluated for speech therapy, the therapist can give you more ideas.