If you notice your child might be considered in the group of late talkers, here are some ways to bridge the gap from speech delays to success with spoken language. The following how-to guide provides some helpful insight in teaching language principles to those who might be considered late talkers. Although speech delays can vary, these ideas are to help all children with spoken language.

Spoken Language for Late Talkers

Spoken language is often first found as a delay in toddlers. A parent may notice that their child is not using the same number of words as their peers and perhaps cannot produce many of the same sounds. Often the parent may seek advice from their pediatrician and then be referred to the appropriate services. Often for 0 to 3 year old, these are referred to as Early Intervention Services, but it varies from state to state. If the child is older, these services can be provided through their local school district. The child then goes through an evaluation process with multidisciplinary professionals. This is often when delays are identified and appropriate services, such as Speech-Language therapy, preschool, and Early Intervention, are deemed appropriate.

For children with speech delays, there is often much hope at this point that the intervention will help to resolve any learning disabilities that the child may have later on.

Teaching Techniques for Late Talkers

The teaching techniques include, but are not limited to:

• Teach in the child’s natural environment where the same principles can be applied daily, so that the child can have more time to learn skills
• Teach at the child’s developmental level and not the age level, so that the child can get individualized instruction that is appropriate for them
• Constantly engage the child in verbal communication where output is rewarded, so that the child gets used to hearing their voice and knows that sound is socially appropriate
• Play helps keep the child engaged and learning social rules, like turn taking
• Feeding and swallowing techniques, or oral motor stimulation, may be used to promote the child’s oral awareness and functioning. For example, the child may have low oral motor strength/ tone and therefore not be able to produce appropriate sounds.

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The following is a curriculum guide for teaching word recognition. It can be used by both parents and professionals to help children who are struggling to learn to read find success.

As children with language delays, or other disabilities, approach reading, they often find similar difficulties in achieving success. There are a variety of researched methods for teaching children written language one of which is word recognition. One teacher stated “Students with reading-related learning disabilities must have intensive instruction in word recognition to develop into successful readers” (Wanzek & Haager, pp.32, 2003). Word recognition is a process teachers use to help their students become successful with reading.

The Process of Word Recognition

Just like in other areas of academics, students should be taught to their developmental level and not just to their age appropriate level. Word recognition skills are taught on a continuum, where readers work on achieving skills in the process of:

1. Letter-Sound Knowledge

2. Letter-Sound Blending

3. Onset-Rime/Word-Family Instruction

Key Factors in Word Recognition

While teaching word recognition, here are some important factors for teachers to remember:

• 84% of words in the English language have regular, consistent spelling patterns and only 3% are considered highly irregular
• Help students attack words piece by piece, so they are not overwhelmed by the word or phrase in front of them
• It is best to guide and model reading for students than to tell them because the student is often already stressed by the task in front of them, so keeping the environment as friendly as possible helps things run smoother
• Do not let the student struggle too long or they will give up on the task at hand
• Ask the student if the word makes sense in the sentence the way they pronounced it. This helps the student’s awareness and practical thinking
• Use pictures to help relate what the text is trying to say, for example a picture can help the student to realize the noun is ‘bee’ instead of ‘bed’
• Children can read the letter chunks they are familiar with like “at” and the teacher can help blend in other sounds to make new words “cat,” “bat,” “rat”
• Help the child break down larger words into shorter syllable patterns. This can help to simplify text
• Ask the child if they know a word that looks like the new word. This can promote self-help skills when new unfamiliar words come up

The tools listed above for both verbal skills and word recognition can be used as part of an on-going process to promote successful, competent students that become successful, independent adults.

References

Learning Pages. Word Recognition.

Wanzek, Jeanne and Diane Haager. (2003). Teaching Word Recognition with Blending and Analogizing.