Teach Me To Talk

Joini pediatric speech-language pathologist Laura Mize, M. S., CCC-SLP from teachmetotalk.com as she continues our series of the 11 skills a child masters before he begins to talk. On this episode, we'll discuss the importance of imitation and the role imitation plays in teaching a toddler to use words. Guess what?!? Learning to imitate doesn't begin by telling a child, "Say ___." There are several other steps before we hear a word! Listen for how to make sure you're not missing these important prerequisites. 

Join pediatric speech-language pathologist Laura Mize, M.S., CCC-SLP of teachmetotalk.com, as she discusses the 11 skills young children use before first words emerge. In this show we're on skill #8 - helping a child learn to become noisy.  

Join pediatric speech-language pathologist Laura Mize, M.S., CCC-SLP as she discusses the 11 skills toddlers must master before words emerge. Today we're talking about skill #7 - understanding familiar words. SLPs refer to this skill as receptive language, language comprehension, or auditory (hearing) comprehension. Children must understand words before they begin to use words meaningfully. In this show we're talking about the significant role receptive language plays in developing early communication skills. Listen for tips for working with toddlers to make sure they learn to understand familiar words and complete simple requests. Read the full summary at Laura's website teachmetotalk.com. 

Join speech-language pathologist Laura Mize, M.S., CCC-SLP, of teachmetotalk.com as she continues her series about the 11 skills toddlers achieve before first words emerge. In today's show, Laura discusses the importance of beginning to understand gestures and nonverbal communication as a precursor for developing language skills.  Read the complete summary for the show at Laura's website here: #284 Understands Early Gestures

Join pediatric speech-language pathologist Laura Mize, M.S., CCC-SLP from teachmetotalk.com as she discusses how to teach toddlers to play with toys when they don't seem interested or have very few play skills. Read the post for more info at teachmetotalk.com.    

Join pediatric speech-language pathologist Laura Mize, M.S., CCC-SLP from teachmetotalk.com as she discusses skills that toddlers must have before words emerge. In today's show we'll be discussing the 5th skill - developing early play with toys. 

Join pediatric speech-language pathologist Laura Mize, M.S., CCC-SLP from teachmetotalk.com as she discussed the 4th skill babies and toddlers use before they begin to talk - joint attention. Joint attention builds on the previous skills we've discussed during the last few weeks in this series. Joint attention means that a child can share or shift his attention between objects or events and people. Listen for an in-depth discussion for how joint attention impacts language development and for strategies to improve this skill in young children. 

Join pediatric speech-language pathologist Laura Mize, M.S., CCC-SLP of teachmetotalk.com as she discussed the 11 skills children use before they begin to talk. Today we're talking about skill #3 - develops an attention span. Here's a recap: Read the written summary here: Get the child “warmed up” before he or she can play with us for any length of time. Listen for ideas! Body-on-body contact can also be very calming and regulating. You can hold a child on your lap, but for more active children who may resist this closeness initially, give them a game to accomplish the same goal.  For kids who will play for a minute or two with you and then quickly want to leave, use the “one more” rule.    BEST Advice for Parents for developing an attention span with your child. Keep your little one in close proximity to you all day. Don’t let them stay alone in their rooms or wander around the house, even if it seems like that’s all they want to do. Kids have to be social to talk! That begins by being with other people and learning to like being with other people, most of the time. Take them with you as move to different parts of your home. For some kids, better attention spans really do begin with "unplugging." While we know that some apps and DVDs can be beneficial for children, overuse of technology is associated with teaching "scan and shift" behaviors.

Join pediatric speech-language pathologist Laura Mize, M.S., CCC-SLP from teachmetotalk.com as she discusses tips for helping a late talker learn to communicate.  In this fifth show in my series 11 Skills Toddlers Must Use BEFORE Words Emerge, we'll be talking about the second skill: RESPONDS TO PEOPLE I can't overemphasize how important this skill is in helping a child learn to communicate. Here's why... Communicating always involves at least 2 people. When a child doesn't routinely respond and interact when you try to talk to him, play with him, or teach him something, it's highly unlikely he's learning. In my experience, parents first begin to suspect there's a problem with a child's development when he or she seems to ignore other people or avoid contact. Not responding to other people is a core deficit for autism. The good news is...YOU CAN MAKE IT BETTER! Using the simple, straightforward tips in this podcast, you'll help a child learn to notice you and eventually, begin to interact with you. Here's the post at teachmetotalk.com for this show. Need more help? I have a therapy manual designed to teach you how to help a child learn to respond. Here's the link to my book Teach Me To Play WITH You which will give you step-by-step instructions for 50+ different little social games and easy play routines for toddlers who don't consistently respond to other people.  

Join pediatric speech-language pathologist Laura Mize, M. S., CCC-SLP, as she continues her series 11 Skills a Toddlers Must Use Before Words Emerge. In this episode we're discussing skill #1 - Responds to Things in the Environment. Get ready for specifics! I have activity and toy recommendations as well as how to word goals to be sure you're effectively documenting these developmentally-appropriate strategies for toddlers with significant disabilities.

Join pediatric speech-language pathologist Laura Mize, M.S., CCC-SLP as she provides a list of the next 6 skills toddlers acquire before they begin to use words to talk. This list may also be a launching point for a conversation with your child's therapist. If you've all been hyperfocused helping a child learn to say new words with no regard for the all of the things that must come first, you may not be addressing the root cause of your child's delay. Again, listen to the show if you'd like more information!

Join pediatric speech-language pathologist Laura Mize, M.S., CCC-SLP as she provides a list of the first 5 skills toddlers acquire before they begin to use words to talk.   

Join pediatric speech-language pathologist Laura Mize, M.S., CCC-SLP as she begins a new series of shows to discuss that skills that children must acquire before they learn to talk and use words meaningfully to communicate.  While it is true that "All kids develop differently," there's a general pattern of development that children follow before we begin to hear words - whether kids talk late or on time. In this week's show, we'll begin this series with a brief overview of what happens when a child uses a word and then spend a good portion of the show looking at what's normal regarding vocabulary size from 12 months to 48 months.  Additionally, we'll review a few red flags that let us know a child is at risk for more than late talking. For a written summary of today's show, read the post below at Laura's website teachmetotalk.com: #275 Show Summary  

Join pediatric speech-language pathologist Laura Mize, M.S., CCC-SLP of www.teachmetotalk.com as she gives a mom guidance and ideas for working on improving her vocabulary. Mom's questions are below. Since this mom has previously purchased Teach Me To Talk: The Therapy Manual, we'll be elaborating on ideas from the book and giving her specific page numbers for directions. If you have a child who is at the 18 month to 24 month language level but is having a hard time learning to use phrases and seems to say more words than he/she really understands, then this show is for you! 

Join pediatric SLP, Laura Mize, M.S., CCC-SLP, of teachmetotalk.com as she answers a mom's questions about her 27 month old with autism.