3 Tips to Help your Child Generalize New Speech Skills
This blog post was written by Kindred co-founder Josh Cooper.
Generalizing new speech skills beyond the therapy setting is an important aspect of speech therapy. Here are three tips to help your child generalize new speech skills:
Practice in Different Contexts: Encourage your child to practice their speech skills in various real-life situations and settings outside of the therapy room. For example, if your child is working on articulation, have them practice their target sounds during conversations with family members, while playing with friends, or during everyday activities such as mealtime or storytelling. By practicing in different contexts, your child learns to use their speech skills in a variety of situations, increasing their ability to generalize those skills.
Provide Opportunities for Spontaneous Communication: Create opportunities for your child to spontaneously use their speech skills throughout the day. Encourage them to initiate conversations, ask questions, and express their thoughts and feelings without prompting. Foster a supportive and communicative environment where your child feels comfortable using their speech skills naturally. Praise and reinforce their efforts whenever they spontaneously communicate using their target speech skills.
Model and Reinforce Target Skills: Model correct speech sounds, language structures, or communication strategies that your child is learning in therapy. Use everyday situations to reinforce and practice these target skills with your child. Provide positive feedback and reinforcement when your child uses their target skills correctly, and gently correct any errors they make. Consistent modeling and reinforcement help reinforce new speech skills and promote generalization beyond the therapy setting.
By implementing these tips, you can help your child generalize new speech skills learned in therapy to a variety of contexts and situations, ultimately supporting their progress and success in communication.
