Speak with your child about language impairment

Before you speak with your child about language impairment, listen to what your child is saying. You’ll probably find that it’s critical to make an audio-recording of what your child says. The audio-recording is the best way to identify not only what skills your child has already mastered, but also the skills that they might be ready to master. after you have listened to the audio-recording a few times, let your child listen to the audio-recording too. it will help you to talk about language if your child has the chance to listen.

teaching and training

Here are some scripts that you can use

• Let’s talk about words. what words do you know?

• What words can you think of when you look at this picture? Ask the child to label nouns and words

• What words can you think of when you look at this picture? Ask the child to identify adjectives, or prepositions, or quantities.

• Tell me about what’s happening on this page. Ask the child to produce a sentence about whatever is happening in the picture. if your child is struggling with this request, give one or two models. then, turn the page and ask your child over again “What’s happening in this picture?”

Use audio-recordings to help your child understand the essential skills of language

• Tell your child what you’ve noticed. I noticed that you use words and phrases really well. Let’s listen to what you said. Let’s remember the words that you used

• Now, let’s remember the phrases that you used

• Now, let’s remember the sentences that you used. Let’s listen to some of your short sentences. Let’s listen to some of your long sentences

• Did you use the right word for this picture?

• Did you use the right phrase for this picture?

• Now, let’s remember the sentences that you used. Let’s listen to some of your short sentences. Let’s listen to some of your long sentences. Did you use the right sentences for this picture?

• Do your sentences sound ‘right’ or ‘not right’ to you? What’s another way you could say it?