The MCICE Cochlear Implant Intensive Summer Program is available for children who have received or will receive a cochlear implant, and focuses on developing auditory, speech, and language skills! Donate today at the link below to provide children with this wonderful opportunity!

https://www.launch.umd.edu/project/15668

This is a list of specially compiled resources to look through regarding communication delays and activities for children. This handout was created by Karen Bien, a student in the Speech-Language Pathology Master's program at the University of Maryland. A downloadable version is available here: https://umd.box.com/s/pcyxdxtovnwpya5r8xt5sxycj5suwmxn

This handout provides a quick answer to a common question many parents ask. Take a look at the speech sound development chart for different sounds! Use the suggestions provided to support your child with articulation and consult a speech-language pathologist if you have further concerns. This handout was created by Brittany Beckford, a student in the Speech-Language Pathology Master's program at the University of Maryland. A downloadable version is available here: https://umd.box.com/s/qwdjk8zudy1l3qqav7ehcfivv4222r5k

Story telling is a powerful skill in which even children as young as preschool age can share their experiences. They can also retell an event from their favorite book or movie. The ability to tell an oral narrative is associated with academic achievement. Drel Guce, a student in the Speech-Language Pathology Master's program at the University of Maryland, explains how you can help your child tell a complete narrative. Encourage your child to tell you a story about an event and use props for support.

This video provides helpful suggestions for getting a child to initiate requests verbally. Techniques demonstrated in this video include enticement, sabotage, and expansion. These are techniques commonly used by speech-language pathologists. The child must communicate the word or short phrase in order to receive the action. These techniques can be easily incorporated into play. This video was created by Kayla Dunn, a student in the Speech-Language Pathology Master's program at the University of Maryland.

Below you will find a video containing a description and example of four different speech and language techniques we use in therapy to promote language. Try these next time you are playing with your kids, or are eating dinner with the family!

Abajo encontrarás un video que contiene una descripción y ejemplo de cuatro diferente técnicas del habla que usamos en terapia para promover el lenguaje. ¡Pruébelos la próxima vez que juegue con sus hijos, o cene con la familia!

This video was created by Sandra Guevara, a student in the Speech-Language Pathology Master's program at the University of Maryland.

Book reading should entail lots of back and forth interaction between you and your child. This interaction will promote further language development. Reading reinforces concepts that young children are learning about in the world. Try setting aside a time to read with your child everyday. You can make it fun by having your child choose the book. Ashley Booterbaugh, a student in the Speech-Language Pathology Master's program at the University of Maryland created this detailed demonstration of interactive book reading. 

This is a video demonstrating how non-verbal children can initiate a request using picture cards. It is important to create picture cards of the child’s preferred objects, place the preferred objects in a see-through container that the child cannot open, and only present a few picture cards at a time. In order for the request to be effective and complete, the child must place the card into the communication partner’s hand. Once the child has completed the request, reinforce the communicative act and reward him/her with the preferred object. This video was created by Lauren Eisner, a student in the Speech-Language Pathology Master's program at the University of Maryland.

There’s more to reading than understanding words on a page. Children also have to learn about books and text and how we can use them to learn about the world around us. Print knowledge refers to what children know about the forms and functions of written language (i.e., reading and writing). Print knowledge is a foundational skill for learning to read. Young children begin developing these skills even before they enter school. Take a look at this demonstration from Christina Bloomquist, a graduate student at the University of Maryland!

Aspects of print knowledge include: 1) book and print organization, 2) print meaning, 3)letter knowledge, and 4) word knowledge. Book and print organization refers to the ways in which print is organized in various texts. Print meaning refers to the knowledge of the functions of print as a communication device. Letter knowledge encompasses the knowledge of the distinctive features and names of individual letters. Word knowledge refers to the knowledge of words as units of print that correspond to spoken language.

Shared book reading activities are a great way for children to learn more about books and reading.Practice of print knowledge skills can be easily incorporated into book reading with your child. Below I’ve described the different aspects of print knowledge and examples of ways to practice these skills while reading a book. The video shows an example of what print knowledge practice could look like during book reading.

Book and print organization

Title

• What is the title of the book? From the title, what do we think this book is about?

Author

• Who is the author of the book? What does the author do? They write the words!
• Who is the illustrator of the book? What does the illustrator do? They draw the pictures!

Page order

• Which page do we read first? First, we read the left page, then we read the right page.
• Which page do we turn to find out what happens next? We turn the page on the right.

Page organization

• Where do we start reading on a page? We start reading at the top left corner of the page and read down the page.

Print direction

• In what direction do we read the words? We read words from the left to the right.

Print meaning

Function

• What are the words in the book telling us?
  • A speech bubble can tell us what a character is saying.
  • The type of font used can tell us about what someone is saying. For example, if a word is very large on the page relative to the other words, maybe someone is saying this word loudly.

Environmental print

• What are the words in the environment of the book telling us?
  • Words on buildings can tell us what they are (e.g., “School”)
  • Words on a sign can tell us something too (e.g., “Stop” on a stop sign)

Concept of reading

• How do we read a book to find out what happens in the story?
  • What do you think this book is about just by looking at the cover? Let’s look at the pages and read the words to find out!
  • If we start reading halfway through the book, will we know what happens in the story? No, we have to read from the beginning to the end to know what happens.

Letter knowledge

Upper-and lower-case forms

• Knowledge that letters have two different forms: upper-case (big) and lower-case (small).
  • How many M’s are in this word, “Mom”? Can you show me the big M? What about the little m? They’re both the letter M, but one is big and one is little.
  • Is this an upper-case letter or a lower-case letter?

Letter names

• Knowledge of all of the letters and their sounds.
  • What letter does this word, “mermaid” start with? “Mermaid” starts with the letter M.
  • What letter does this word, “team” start with? “Team” starts with the letter T.

Concept of letter

• Can you point to all the N’s on this page?
• "Tiger” starts with T. What other words can you think of that start with the letter T?
• How many letters are in this word, “swam”? S–W–A–M. 1–2–3–4. 4 letters!

Word knowledge

Concept of words in print

• I’m looking for a word on this page. Is this a word (point to the word “rock”) or is this a word (point to picture of a rock)? This is a word (point to word)!
• Most of the words on this page are black. There’s one word that’s white. Can you find the white word?
• How many words are on this page? Let’s count!

Short words and long words

• Look at these two words: “we” and “sharks.” Which word is the longer word? Right, “sharks” is longer than the word “we.”

Letters and words

• This is the word “scary.” How many letters are in this word? Let’s count!
• Can you tell me the letters that make up the word “no”? N–O. That’s right!

Word identification

• This is the word “we.” Can you find the word “we” somewhere else on this page?
• “She really is too fast!” Can you find the word “fast” on this page?

Tips:

1. Focus on two or three skills when reading a book. This will help your child learn these skills more easily. For example, while reading one book you could focus on counting the letters in long words and finding environmental print in the pictures. With another book, you could work on finding the letter M and remembering where to start reading on each page.

2. Be sure to provide supportive, encouraging feedback! These skills seem automatic to us now but learning them can be tough. Giving positive feedback is a good way to encourage your child to keep trying and learning, even if some questions are challenging.

3. Keep reading fun! Shared book reading is a great way to practice reading skills, and it can also be a fun activity for you and your child.

Sign language is a great way for children to begin communicating. Contrary to beliefs, sign language does not prevent verbal communication. In fact, the use of sign language has been proven in research to promote more talking in children. Avery Rain, a student in the Speech-Language Pathology Master's program at the University of Maryland created this video to demonstrate how to implement basic signs for emerging talkers.