Expressive/Receptive Laguage

[PhunandFonics]

My daughter is dyslexic and we were told during her testing that she should have a CELF test for expressive language delays. I've done some Googling, but all I am really finding is pretty technical stuff that doesn't mean much to me as a mom. Can anyone recommend resources for helping children with expressive/receptive language issues?

 

Thanks!

[Kathy in MD]

What I can do is tell you what my ds has done to go from speaking in only a few, highly practiced "canned" phrases to being a fluent conversationalist. However my ds had both expressive and receptive language problems so some of it might be overkill.

 

My ds's abilities improved with several years of ST, 1/2 hour per week, where the ST worked on sound discrimination, word retrieval, auditory memory (and techniques for dealing with a poor memory), and conversational skills among other things. Under the ST tutalage, my ds's conversation became fairly good.

 

This we followed with 3 cycles of The Listening Program. I'm not sure this did anything except make him slightly less sensitive to sudden, loud noises.

 

The final step was doing BrainSkills with my ds. The sound descrimination, auditory memory and processing speed excercises all contributed to letting him both understand and contribute to conversations more easily. He finally became fluent. Unfortunately BrainSkills, a parent administered program, is no longer available, but the 2 versions administered by providers are, PACE and Learning Rx. There is a new home-based cognitive program that might have the same results called Cognitive Calesthenics.

 

Currently we're working on increasing his vocabulary.

 

If your dc has problems with sound discrimination, you might consider doing Fast For Word before doing PACE or LearningRx, as FFW is a more intensive program in this area.

[PhunandFonics]

Thanks Kathy! It came as such a surprise to me when they recommended testing in this area, because she talks non-stop. But she has to pause after every few words and just sputters for a few seconds then restarts.

 

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll be sure to check them out!

[Kathy in MD]

Thanks Kathy! It came as such a surprise to me when they recommended testing in this area, because she talks non-stop. But she has to pause after every few words and just sputters for a few seconds then restarts.

 

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll be sure to check them out!

 

It sounds asif your dd won't need all the therapy my ds did, but I'd still have a speech therapist/pathologist do an evaluation.

[PhunandFonics]

Thanks Kathy, I agree that it doesn't sound like she has many issues in this area. But we are going to go ahead and have her evaluated. In fact our appointment is this Friday! The SLP is also a homeschooling mom, so I'm hoping for suggestions on how I can help her at home.

 

Thanks for taking the time to respond!