Partnering With Older Kids in Motor Speech Therapy

Full transcript

Hi, it's Nicole from the NYU Motor Speech Lab, coming in with a quick tidbit on working with older kids in motor speech therapy.

Childhood apraxia of speech really presents as a spectrum, and it can look very different in each child. In terms of skill level, some children are more profoundly impacted, and your target words are going to be "up" and "bye." Some kids have a lot more skill, and your target words are going to be more complicated. For one little boy I'm working with right now, some of our target words are "good guys," "get lost," "Netflix," and "fun."

As part of the study, I have to go back and look at my treatment videos, and independent reviewers look at my videos for fidelity, to make sure I'm following the DTTC protocol. No stress. One of my reviewers is Dr. Julie Case, and she gives me really good feedback after she views my sessions. One of the things she commented on with this older boy, older meaning around seven, was, "I love the way you partner with him."

I've been thinking a lot about this. Because he's a little older, I really am partnering with him. I'm talking to him about the treatment and about why we're doing it. He seems to be in a rush to get through the productions, and I'm slowing him down and telling him why we want to be more mindful. The other day I told him there's a protocol we have to follow and showed him what it looks like, and he was genuinely interested in what the protocol is. This has really helped our therapy, and it gives him a better understanding of why we're doing what we're doing.

So I just wanted to share that. For your older kiddos, this might work for you too. Happy Valentine's Day.