Emily Stajov, Speech-Language Pathologist

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Perth, WA
Emily Stajov, Speech-Language Pathologist

I teach parents of toddlers strategies to improve communication and get their child talking

17/01/2022

When targetting first words for toddlers and early communicators, I make sure to use some core words and some fringe words.

CORE WORDS
- These are more general words that can be used across a range of environments and contexts
- These words make up 80% of what we say
- Examples include "go", "help", "like", "look"

FRINGE WORDS
- These words are specific to a topic, environment or individual
- They make up 20% of what we say
- Examples include "milk", "Julia", "Ball", Truck"

Core words are great because once the individual knows that word, they can use it in many different situations to communicate.

But Fringe words are also needed because these are often some of the most important items/activities/people in the person's life.

What fringe words are most important for your child?

18/11/2021

There are so many ways we can encourage communication!

Sometimes we just need to WAIT to give our little ones an opportunity to communicate.

When going outside, walk toward the door and wait…model "open door"

Start tickling them, then stop and wait…. Model "More tickles"

Hold the ball out to throw it then wait…. Model "throw ball"

If your child needs help to turn on the tap, stop and wait….Model "turn on"

Push them once on the swing, then wait….Model "big push!"

Follow for more toddler language tips

14/11/2021

Save this post and model new verbs for your toddler!

In order for you child to speak in phrases, they must know and say verbs!

These are a list of common early verbs that children learn:

- Go
- Play
- Make
- Come
- Get
- Open
- Run
- Help
- Wash
- Pour
- Eat
- Finish
- Give
- Throw

The best way to teach verbs? Model and repeat during activities that interest your child! Just think: what's the *action* in this activity?

27/06/2021

Try these tips to encouraging babbling in your baby!

Getting face to face is key, as this can encourage your baby to look at your mouth, and copy your sounds and facial expressions!

It may feel funny, but repeating your baby's babbles can encourage them to continue to babble!

Add new sounds by modelling slight changes in babbles. If your baby says "ba ba ba", try repeating back "ma ma ma"

Make silly sounds like "whoooaaa", "uh oh", or "vrooom" in playful contexts. Try facial expressions like an open mouth or kisses. Pause to see if your baby will copy you!

27/06/2021

NEW MOMS - Save for later!

A baby's first year of life is filled so many little communication milestones. These are the different stages of babbling that babies move through before they say their first words!

❤️ Vegetative Sounds

Newborns cry- no surprise there! During these vegetative sounds, their vocal chords vibrate. These structures will later be used to produce speech sounds.

❤️ Goo & Coo

You will start to notice vowel sounds like "oo" "eh" "ahh", when your baby seems happy and content. Typically the first laughter comes around 16 weeks!

❤️ Vocal Play

During this time, your baby's variety of consonant-like and vowel-like sounds increases. Consonants at the back of the mouth and sounds like "goo" might be apparent. Around 6 months is when consonants at the front of the mouth start appearing like "m", "p", "b". Babies often stop producing the back consonants for a while.

❤️ Reduplicated Babbling

This is when true syllables emerge. Babies will repeat the same syllables (da da da), but they are not yet saying "dada" to communicate. This is them developing their sounds so they can start saying words when they are ready!

❤️ Jargon

This is when babies produce long strings of sounds with intonation that sounds like real speech! It might sound like they said a sentence, but it is actually still random sounds.

24/05/2021

A frustration that parents share is that their toddler won't follow instructions.

There's a lot that goes into following instructions
- Is your toddler interested in the activity?
- Are they busy doing something else?
- Were they distracted?
- Did they understand what you said?

There is a big difference between a toddler who won't follow an instruction because they are not interested, versus a toddler who won't follow it because they don't understand what you're asking.

Here are some general tips to help your toddler listen and understand instructions:

1) Get their attention first
- How often have you been busy doing something and your partner or friend tries to talk to you, yet you did not even hear what they said? Get your toddler's attention first, and WAIT before giving them the instruction

2) Allow processing time
- Give your child time to process what you said before repeating the instruction or getting frustrated that they aren't responding right away. 30 seconds can feel like forever, but give it a try! Your toddler might surprise you

3) Say less
- Saying, "It's time to tidy up, you need to pack away your toys so we can go to the store" might be too much information. Try slowing down and saying less: "let's tidy up". Start putting a few toys in a box. Wait to see if they join in.

4. Use gestures
- Kiddos might need some extra visual support to help them attend and understand what you are saying. If you want them to stand up, say "stand up" while gesturing with your hands. Pat the floor when saying "sit down". Point to the ball when saying "get the ball".

21/05/2021

Tips for modelling 2-word phrases with Teddy! 🧸️

Remember, true 2-word phrases are when two ideas are put together. (Not phrases learned as a chunk like "bye bye" or "all done")

1) Speak in grammatically correct sentences, but emphasize the most important two words. Instead of repeating "go bed" or "wash hair", you can model "go to bed" and "wash your hair". We want our kiddos exposed to the correct grammar, as that will help them in the long run.

2) Use a variety of action words. It can be common to add on a colour when trying to expand language, but there are so many different action words we can model!

3) Be fun and playful. Kids learn best when they are engaged and having fun. Pretend play is a great way of modelling 2-word phrases (if they like to play that way).

Address

Perth, WA

Website

https://teachyourtoddlertotalk.lpages.co/leadpagejuly2020/

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