Want to help your little one with speech delay? Start here…
There are so many components that make up an effective communication which can make it hard to know where to start. If your little one is finding talking or understanding tricky, then a good place to start is attention skills, here’s why…
The Communication Tree (Communication Pyramid)
As you can see there are so many elements that contribute to effective communication. Attention and listening skills are the roots/ foundations of communication. Talking and speech sounds are the final components (the leaves).
If you want to learn more about the difference between speech and language skills - check out this blog post.
Why work on attention if my child’s “issue” is with talking?
You can get other skills ‘for free’.
By working on attention skills we often see progress in other skills higher up the tree ‘for free’ (i.e. without actively working on them). This is because attention skills are foundation skills for all other elements of communication.
Speech & language activities require good attention.
When working on speech sounds or language skills with little ones we require them focus for extended periods of time. The activities to develop these skills require good attention and listening skills. That’s not to say that we can’t work on these areas of communication if little ones struggle with their attention, but that they will be able to get the most from the activities if their attention skills are as strong as possible. So it is worthwhile spending the time developing these skills to get little ones in the best place possible to access the activities.
If these tips apply to your little one, check out my instagram for suggestions and activities to boost attention skills: @sw_speechtherapy.
