Zahava Friedman Speech Therapy

29/10/2021

Book sharing is a powerful way to build language skills, and there are ways to leverage how much learning your child gets out of the experience.

Just like you, your child has preferences, so let them choose the book! Their engagement will be stronger when it is a book that is of interest to them. When engagement is stronger so is the language learning!

Let your child hold the book and turn the pages to give them a sense of control and promote active involvement. The goal is for the experience to be fun and interactive, not to read the book exactly the way it was written.

Perhaps there are books that your child loves that are not at their developmental level. You don’t have to read the book as it was written. In fact, you can make it more interesting to your child by modifying it. This can be by simplifying the language in the story or it can be by simply talking about the pictures. Kids learn language by hearing it, so model your thoughts about the story using language that is at or just slightly above your child’s level. For example, if your child primarily uses single words, model mostly 2- or 3-word utterances.

When book sharing, another powerful strategy is to sit face to face with your child so you can read their facial cues and find out what piques their interest. Face to face book sharing also allows your child to observe your interest in the book. Face to face book sharing gives your child lots of cues about what your mouth is doing to make various speech sounds and can help with speech development. Finally, sitting face to face allows your child to observe your expressions, which promotes social thinking skill development.

Parents: Tell me, what has worked well, what hasn’t worked well, and what challenges you notice for you and your child during book sharing. Share your experiences in the comments. Your experiences can help us all learn how to be better book sharing partners with our kids! I can also help troubleshoot challenges you might be facing during book sharing with your child.

26/10/2021

Every child is a unique individual, which is something to celebrate!

At the same time, we expect kids to acquire specific skills within a certain timeframe. These skills are called developmental milestones, and they are helpful in determining if a child is developing typically.

Here are developmental milestones for the first 6 months of life in the areas of speech, language and play (swipe to see each area). For a more detailed list that covers birth to age 7, check out: https://www.zahavafriedmanspeech.com/resources

If your child isn't demonstrating skills expected by a certain age, not to worry... there is help! Providing early intervention can make a world of difference in the trajectory of your child's development.

If you are concerned that your child isn't acquiring milestones within expected timeframes, talk to your pediatrician and/or reach out to a specialist. I am a licensed and credentialed speech and language therapist with 15 years of experience working with kids with communication disorders. I offer a free initial phone consultation for parents in Massachusetts and California, during which I can help you determine if speech therapy is right for your child and connect you with services that will jump start their progress.

Check out my website: www.zahavafriedmanspeech.com for more about me and my services, and stay tuned for more developmental milestones coming soon!

29/09/2021

Proudly announcing Zahava Friedman Speech Therapy!

Hi, I’m Zahava. My students call me Ms. Z. I’m a licensed speech language therapist providing in-home and virtual speech therapy services in the Pioneer Valley.

I specialize in early language development, speech sound disabilities, social communication disorders like autism, and stuttering.

The individualized, family centered speech therapy and parent coaching I provide get results that can be life-altering, as reflected in the testimonials on my web site. My students love the learning process so much they don’t even realize how hard they are working and how quickly they are progressing, but their parents do.

By helping kids overcome their communication challenges, the therapy I provide has a ripple effect on confidence, coping skills, behavior, attention, and general skill development.

I offer parents a free initial phone consultation to see if my services are a good fit. Please contact me at 619-723-3021, or via my website, zahavafriedmanspeech.com.

I look forward to working together to give your child the jump start they need!

Specializing in early language development, speech sound disorders, social communication disabilities, and stuttering. Give your child the jump start they need with Zahava Friedman Speech Therapy.