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Show t i . :wts and touchers play "Simon says." practicing ' skills, and learning auditory discrimination, in : to having a gvxxi time. Physical activity, 0 C u,ent 10 helP a 7 ttudent ho has faT defecta- Not Sthe younger . 'Mditional attention. fcr children felt a C ?wt0 lass, as 1 O'anUgeofmore I iones?eilchilrei 'earned L C,1 UP to each N Pln8 clas flow i;i.tikenl explained children with ! L Ungua8e Po ; Sua! ""Panying 'l TvS0f dimina-'Chi dimina-'Chi ndo ot have V but rather can outaUthe sounds combined with singing and reciting riddlos, is used throughout each class period not only for learning purposes, but to maintain the interest of the children. Grand summer speech 1 program helps a lot of kids 1 Bt Lb Ruri v y spjifn Unjuig. that k rdisuXen for granted by .'. jj of us, cm hive very " j,;3itie psychological : jon those with speech rtcs- Communication is isA F1' infl""0 m -xoVrn day society, that nil spoken language jiii rpart not only on the j rici.'icil adjustment o a j AiM. hut through all i j ojm of W- A business- x ! sxwss depends great-! great-! i Vis ability to convey his 'ssijf quickly and accurate- : cm Einkfaigel. with a -jsiri in speech pathology , etiology, has dedicated t to helping people Ji jtrcoe speech problems. ) "aiis liaed her efforts at rnAool children, teaching I, . a ill to speak and helping tv. Kher speech imper-'.' imper-'.' Kcts in young children. i 'it teaching assistance : ;ie Grardieh, Ann Zufelt. : i Arehart, and Betty "irer, Norma has created llnvisve speech therapy rnz thai has been able to i 5 lie nearly all cases of ' J Kd fisibuities in the com-II com-II en dnricg the summer Ptnoul Atteotioo , ( therapy program is restd around the theory iwsocil attention for each it caiing them aware of j sfecfic speech problem. I stBcounging them to prac- IBcd mike continuing ef- to correct the problem. 'raEaakenagel trains her II assistU to deal I ispeciSc speech problems. iWchers then have time individually with the thus developing a student-teacher rela- Q Normaactsasthe over-wing over-wing in on each group : talent and marking pro- Stion to the assistance ! receives from teach-I teach-I t also relies heavily i 'be volunteers to give Ration to each stu- 5Sorma supervises the : ' T6". directing and giv-', giv-', Personal attention when-j:1 when-j:1 Problem might arise. !fflmented that she usu-; usu-; excellent help, and ' thanks to Sarah , i Pam Steele. Shelly 1 tod also Kristin Bohn. J RaagerfAgeg m the therapy ;V; .Blankenagel has ( to utilize this age f to the benefit of the 1 vitype of "dy sys- .... f U-,'"' 1 f i ;, , v- I During the auditory session of the speech therapy classes, Rhea Gramlich works with the children, getting them to listen closely to the record, repeat some sounds, and follow instructions. r Mike Arehart played his guitar and sang duirrig speech therapy classes held this summer. The students and teachers all joined in, singing and acting out the words to the songs. they hear and focus on what is being said to them. The child tries to listen but becomes easily distracted by other sounds. Often in these cases, the parents and teachers believe be-lieve the child is being disobedient, disobe-dient, when in reality, the child would like to do as he is told. Develop in Stage Children develop speaking skills in stages. Problems of articulation arise when any stage of development is altered, al-tered, or for some reason the child has not been able to learn a language sound. In these cases, the child needs the professional help of a speech pathologist to determine deter-mine when the problem began and how to correct the situation. situa-tion. Birth trauma, learning dis abilities or improper vi""6 may cause a child to be slow in gaining speaking skills. One of the most common causes of delayed language is also the easiest to correct, and can often be avoided. The problem usually arises when a younger child is not given the opportunity oppor-tunity to speak. Parents or older siblings anticipate the childs needs and talk for him. In some cases, an only chUd, or a child with older siblings is expected to speak and act as an adult. He may be afraid to speak for fear he won't measure mea-sure up to expectations. The result is that the child does not receive the language practice prac-tice he needs and may miss a stage of development. ' Mrs. Blankenagel also dealt with a few cases of deaf children. Although no language lan-guage development has occurred, with the use of modern techniques and lip reading, Norma has been able to teach deaf children to speak. Different Technique There are other rare causes of speech impediments that require various corrective techniques and different time limits. The summer therapy class deals with most problems pro-blems and when necessary, Norma extends training through the year. If parents have questions, or believe their child may have a speech or language problem, they should contact the county nurse. "I firmly believe the biggest problem, the one thing that brings more to me for speech and language therapy is this: We don't give our young children enough talking time during the first five years of their life. This is the time they automatically learn their grammer, and develop their speaking skills." Norma continued, con-tinued, "If we, with good intention, anticipate their needs so that the child does not have to ask for what he wants, we are depriving him of irreplacable language practice. prac-tice. It is very hard for him to "catch up" if he is delayed by lack of practice. Allow your child to speak. Encouraging cooing, jabbering, and talking. Talk to them on their level as much as possible. Encourage them to express their needs, thoughts and desires, and commend them when they do." The summer therapy classes class-es are held each morning for six weeks in the Sundwall center. Class time is structured struc-tured to get maximum cooperation cooper-ation and comprehension span from the children. Desk exercises exer-cises are rotated with 20 to 30 minute periods of singing exercises. When I arrived to sit in on a class, the students and teachers were all in a circle, singing and clapping. Varied Program The students then break into groups, separated by age and specific speech problems, and did a series of listening and speaking exercises. The children then came back together to-gether for what seemed to be the most popular part of the class for both students and teachers. Mike Arehart played his guitar as the group sang and danced around the room. "Mr. Mike" was able to get complete class participation participa-tion with the charm of his voice and guitar. This was followed by another ano-ther auditory study session. Records, drawings and card games derived with cards picturing animals were used to get the children to speak and ask questions. Teachers encouraged special sounds and complete sentences. This was Friday, so in addition to the other activities, activi-ties, the children put on a show-and-tell. This activity each week is important in marking the progress of the students. Mrs. Blankenagel listens for consistency in the childs speech patterns and notes their weekly progress. The teachers and volunteers volun-teers use a reinforcement system in the class. Achievement Achieve-ment earns the child a piece of dry cereal, or a safety pin which can be accumulated and exchanged at the end of the week for a small toy. Norma cemmented that this same system can be used in the home with even more success if the parents reinforce positive posi-tive behavior with praise, pointing out that children will go out of their way to please their parents if they become aware of the gratitude good behavior will earn. |