Keeping your online therapy sessions engaging can be a struggle. It can require creative strategies to address literacy through a camera. But fear not! There’s a treasure trove of FREE online literacy resources waiting to be discovered at your local library. Websites like Internet Archive also provide these resources. These free online literacy resources offer a vast array of materials to target various speech and language goals. This keeps your students motivated and learning actively.

Online Libraries – The Best Free Tool for Reading

Now, we all know that books are one of the greatest tools to grow our students’ language, right? We can reach pretty much any goal  with a well-planned literacy unit: articulation, fluency, auditory skills, comprehension, memory, critical thinking, inferencing, prediction, and story craft. Also, story grammar, figurative language, vocabulary, prefixes and suffixes, and even pragmatics. Try getting all that in one breath!

Have you ever considered the library as one of the best-kept secrets in the world of online teletherapy for accessing free online literacy resources? Believe it or not, your local library – especially if it’s a large metropolitan one – is a treasure trove of FREE online resources just waiting to be tapped into! The online resources available have exploded in the past couple of years. So, if you haven’t checked yours out lately, do so.

Picture this: your middle school students engrossed in graphic novel versions of classics like The Odyssey, Anne of Green Gables, or Sherlock Holmes. Or, your emerging language learners delighting in interactive stories.

Boost Engagement & Stretch Your Budget:

• Cost-Effective Magic: Budgets are tight! Online libraries provide a massive selection of resources at no cost. This allows you to create dynamic learning experiences without breaking the bank.  Often, libraries offer reciprocal memberships. This greatly expands your selection of free online literacy resources!
• Content for All Ages & Styles: From interactive stories for beginners to captivating graphic novels for middle schoolers. Online resources cater to diverse age groups and learning styles.

Highlighting Powerful Reading Sites for Teletherapy:

• Local Library Gems: Your local library’s online branch is a hidden gem! Explore their website to unearth a universe of resources waiting to be used in your sessions. Explore the website or talk to one of the librarians eager to get these resources into your hands.
  • There’s more than just print books waiting for you – there’s audiobooks, graphic novels, and easy-read versions of the classics.  These free online literacy resources are incredibly diverse.
• Interactive Storytelling with TumbleBooks: For younger learners, platforms like TumbleBooks offer a delightful world of interactive stories. These bring learning to life. This platform is often a free offering from your local library system. 
• YouTube Read-Alouds: Many engaging YouTube channels offer high-quality read-alouds of children’s books. Find stories that target your students’ specific interests and age groups to add variety to your sessions. For video playlists, check out my YouTube channel – Mrs. Speech!
• Dive into the Internet Archive: This vast digital library holds a wealth of books and learning materials. Explore their collection of ebooks, audiobooks, and even teacher resources like curriculum materials and literature notebooks from top publishers.
  • Need a ready-made literacy lesson?  IA has the Teacher’s Editions of many Literacy Textbooks!  Plus, my middle school students can’t get enough of the classic short stories. These include ones by Saki, Poe, Thurber, Twain, O’Henry, and more. There’s a reason they’ve stood the test of time!
• Try ESL sites like Voice of  America:  VOA has a multitude of famous American short stories that have been simplified.  And bonus, they have an audio version and supplemental materials as well!

Empower Your Students with a Free Bonus!

View my curated list of 85+ FREE resources from the Internet Archive, featuring a variety of short stories and adapted novel collections! This list gives you a head start on incorporating these valuable materials into your teletherapy sessions. FYI – Check out my Lesson Guides to some classic short stories on TPT: Ultimate Short Story Comprehensive Lesson Guides Bundle.

Visit my other posts on using short stories in therapy:

• Why, and How, I Started Using Short Stories in Therapy
• Unlock Student Engagement: The Magic of Short Stories in Middle School Speech Therapy
• Activity Magic: Short Stories for Multi-Goal Mastery in Speech Therapy

Update 12/24

I recently found the free internet browser Brave and have been using it the past couple of weeks.  It was simple to move my Google bookmarks into Brave, and I am using it solely for use with the kids. This streamlines my therapy sessions too.  I haven’t had a single YouTube ad. Also, I haven’t noticed other ads popping up on websites.  I will say that, while it does block the ad on a website, there is often still the space where the ad would be.  Often, a reader extension like ReadBee will remove those spaces and focus on the text.

Stay tuned for more insider tips and resources to level up your teletherapy game!

Happy Teletherapy,

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Motivators

Just like our younger clients, older students love a good reward at the end of a challenging session. The beauty? They’re experts at navigating YouTube, so they can easily cue up their favorite vids. But wait, there’s more! I love introducing them to some lesser-known gems that pack a powerful punch:

Flexible thinking and how the mind learns new things:

Backwards bicycle: this was mind-blowing to watch!

How mistakes are okay and help you learn:

OK Go Rube Goldberg Machine (I talk about how you can see the evidence of how many previous tries – 85 to be exact – they had to get it right, but how awesome it was when they got it right.  BTW, the song itself has a great message of how bad things are only temporary.) It’s also useful to see the TEDTalk on how it was engineered. (Caution, the TEDTalk has one minor cuss word and the band is having a drink of champagne at the end.)  If you don’t know what a Rube Goldberg machine is, it is a YouTube rabbit hole.  I warned you.

The Power of a Stutter

A TedTalk on how accepting your insecurities and even embracing them allows us to become better communicators.  How it frees us from worrying about hiding them to think about how we can speak to and help others. (BTW, she has a very noticeable stutter so this is an excellent video for your fluency students.)

Teaching Support

How to make sounds

I’m probably not alone when I say that I turn to these when I have a kid I just can’t get to make the sound, especially now that I am wholly teletherapy.  My camera just isn’t as professional as what I can find on YouTube.  The two best sources for sound instruction I’ve found are Sharon Turner, who has a animated video model of the tongue inside the mouth for each sound, and Peachie Speechie, who has great teaching videos for each sound.  But there are many, many options to choose from.

Read-Alouds

I’m using short stories in most of my older groups.  When we first read a story, I want it to be a dramatic, cohesive reading, so I actually don’t want the students to read it.  I want them to listen and be drawn into the story.   But you know, a day of that and my voice gets tired.  Cue YouTube read-alouds!  You can find an audiobook of most popular short stories on YouTube pretty easily.  And bonus – most you can turn on Closed Captioning so students can read-along if you don’t have a text that matches well.  And the students actually love being read to.  If I have a student who needs to read for a goal, then I can stop and have them read a paragraph or so, then return to the read aloud. I have playlists of some of my favorites at http://www.youtube.com/@Mrs.Speech-wk4mr.

Background Knowledge

To go along with the read-alouds, a well-made video to give background knowledge is worth so much more than me droning on about what life in a lighthouse is like.  You know what they say, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”  Well, a video must be worth a million, right?!  And they are so much more willing to watch a video than listen to me (and let’s be honest, it gives my voice a break).

Movies

And if at all possible, I like to find at least a clip of a movie or animation to go with the story.  It provides so many opportunities for language-rich discussion, with opinions (Which did you like better, and why?) comparing and contrasting, and inferencing (Why do you think the director made this change?).

Social Skills

There are SOOOO many social skills videos out there.  Some of them are tailored toward our autistic population, some are more for introverted young adults, and some are for the ESL population.  Don’t just stick to the videos that tell how-to do something.  Sometimes the awkward videos offer great teaching moments too.  This one is one of my favorites.  While I do touch on what he does wrong, I mainly use it to talk about other people’s responses, and how they are generally kind about it and make an effort to not make him feel bad even though everyone feels awkward.  People are typically kind, so you might as well go out there and try.

Pro Tips 

Now, I mentioned in Read-Alouds to turn on the Closed Captioning if you don’t have a text that matches the reading.  It might be useful to do so with the other videos as well, to make the speech/text connection and fill in any missing gaps in the auditory information.  

I also suggest you turn the speed to 75%.  This is usually not noticeable to the kids, but it allows them more time to process what is being said so they get a better understanding of the information.  

I have more tips in my previous post: Unlocking Language Learning with YouTube: A Speech Therapist’s Guide.

Update 12/24

I recently found the free internet browser Brave and have been using it the past couple of weeks.  It was simple to move my Google bookmarks into Brave, and I am using it solely for use with the kids, so it streamlines my therapy sessions too.  I haven’t had a single youtube ad, and I haven’t noticed other ads popping up on websites.  I will say that, while it does block the ad on a website, there is often still the space where the ad would be.  Often, a reader extension like ReadBee will remove those spaces and focus on the text.

So, there you have it, folks! These are just a few ways to leverage the power of YouTube in therapy sessions with older students. But hey, the possibilities are endless! Got some killer ideas of your own? Drop ’em in the comments below!

Until next time, my e-speechies – keep on clickin’!

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The post YouTube in Therapy: Engaging Older Students with Smart Strategies appeared first on Mrs. Speech Online.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “We’ve all used YouTube with kids before.” But bear with me, because there’s more to it than just plopping them in front of the screen while we sip our coffee (although, let’s be honest, sometimes that’s exactly what we need).

Here’s some of the things I’ve found out there in the big wide ‘Tube.

So…while nothing I share here is exactly news-breaking, I hope I have some ideas and links that give you a bit of a boost to your everyday!

Youtube for motivation

First off, there’s the motivator videos, the ones we can offer as rewards or to have kids request. We all know the kids love the great fun stuff out there, and it can be tricky finding what catches each kid’s attention – and it can change rapidly (because nothing is easy!). Depending on what each student likes or needs, it can range from the catchy, energetic songs…

…to repetitive, predictable, calming sensory videos (seriously, I sit back and watch these and am surprised when I look back at the clock at how much time has passed)…

YouTube for concept teaching

Then we have the fun concept teaching videos. These teach concepts in an enjoyable, engaging way that kids don’t realize they are learning. The repetition of each concept is what makes it beautiful, and more often than not, the children will be imitating by the end of the song.  We have core vocabulary songs…

More and All Done Sign Song

…body part songs…

FUN parts of your body song

…Farm animal songs…

Old MacDonald | Real Animals | Jack Hartmann (Love this one, because so many of our kids haven’t actually seen a real pig, let alone heard one)

…Action word songs…

If You’re Happy and You Know It

Story Videos

But what I like best are the story videos, that offer a treasure-trove of language-rich content.  Some of them are musical, like Pete the Cat and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom…

Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes

…And others are simply retold with animation. I love the learning English videos, like the ones from English SingSing…

The Three Little Pigs

I find that switching between all of these, and using a mix of planning and using my super SLP thinking skills (because we all know how these best laid plans often go, especially with kids involved), I can hit so many emerging language goals like attending, labelling, requesting and commenting. 

Pro tips for YouTube in therapy

Interactive Viewing

You can pause the video and talk about it, or wait for a request. Or you can watch the whole thing at one time, then use the precise seeking (or link at different times in the video) to go back to different moments to talk about.

Slow it down

Another great thing about many of the English learning videos is that they are told at a slightly slower rate of speech.  But if they aren’t, experiment with using the speed setting.  I find that going to 75% doesn’t usually affect the quality of the speech, but allows the listener more time to process. 

Split your screen 

Divide your screen into two, as to display two different videos side by side, as seen in the first screenshot at the top of this post. This gives. kids a visual choice so they can see what you are offering and point. You can find screen split options by hovering over the square next to the close window ‘x’, as seen in the partial screenshot to the side.  

Theatre Mode

And if you’re worried about distractions, try Theater Mode view to help keep things focused.  It presents the video screen the entire width of the window, so it squeezes out the ads on the side.  

So if I’m able to to have a few moments to reset things before a session, I have the screen split to show two videos side by side in Theater Mode so the child can make a choice.  

If you select full screen, it will fill the entire screen, regardless of whether it is split or not.  So I use that after the child has chosen.  Then I hit escape when we are ready for another choice, to return back to the split screen.

Reduce Inappropriate Ads

Create a separate “school” YouTube account to help reduce the number of inappropriate ads and video suggestions.  

Advertising Hacks

Now, there are some tricks for eliminating ads from YouTube videos, like adding a dash to the url or using a website or browser extension.  Unfortunately, I’ve found that they either don’t work with the Kids videos or they are so unwieldy to use with the short attention spans that it isn’t worth it.  Not to mention YouTube is actively working to block the adblockers.  But you can definitely try them if you’d like!

Update 12/24

I recently found the free internet browser Brave and have been using it the past couple of weeks. It was simple to move my Google bookmarks into Brave, and I am using it solely for use with the kids, so it streamlines my therapy sessions too. I haven’t had a single YouTube ad, and I haven’t noticed other ads popping up on websites.

I will say that, while it does block the ad on a website, there is often still the space where the ad would be. Often, a reader extension like ReadBee will remove those spaces and focus on the text.

Turn Autoplay Off

You don’t want your videos moving on without you.  Go to the settings icon to turn autoplay off.

Organization Tips for Therapy Videos

Now, I know what you’re thinking: how do I keep track of all these fantastic videos? 

Playlists

Yes, YouTube has playlists, and those are great, if you can use them.  Unfortunately, most of these videos are considered YouTube Kids videos, which means you can’t save them to a playlist.

Quick-Access Links – Essential Hack for YouTube in Therapy

Well, fear not! While you can’t save kid videos to your YouTube playlists, you can easily share them, copy the link, and paste it into a handy document for future reference. Don’t forget to set the start time for an even more streamlined list.

I have a document for my Emerging Language Classes that I keep on Outline Mode, and each of the above videos are under their own headings, so they are easy to find while I’m in a session.  It’s a simple trick that keeps everything organized and ready to roll whenever you need it.   

Want to see my list?  Subscribe below for my Early Learning Links and other exclusive freebies.  

Oh, and here’s a bonus hack: before you share and copy the link, set the video to start at exactly the right second to skip any unnecessary chatter at the beginning. Efficiency at its finest!

Want more Youtube resources for therapy?

Visit my Mrs. Speech Youtube Channel for playlists, or check out my next article: YouTube in Therapy for Older Students.

So, there you have it—YouTube isn’t just a time-sucking vortex; it’s a valuable tool for nurturing language development in our young ones. So go ahead, dive into the ‘Tube, and let the learning—and the fun—begin!

Until next time, my e-speechies,

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The post Unlocking Language Learning with YouTube: A Speech Therapist’s Guide appeared first on Mrs. Speech Online.

We all know practice is key in speech therapy & skill development. But what if we could supercharge your sessions and enhance results even before students utter a sound? Enter mental rehearsal (visualization)!

What is Mental Rehearsal?

Mental rehearsal is exactly what it sounds like – practicing a skill in your head. Imagine yourself saying a tricky sound, reading fluently, or delivering a captivating presentation. It’s like daydreaming, but with a purpose!

The Science Behind the Superpower:

Mental rehearsal isn’t just wishful thinking; it’s backed by neuroscience! When you vividly imagine performing a skill, you activate similar brain pathways as when you perform it physically. This strengthens those pathways, making the actual skill execution smoother and more efficient.

Benefits of Mental Rehearsal:

• Boosts Confidence: Feeling successful in your mind translates to real-world confidence. You approach challenges with a “been there, done that” attitude.¹ 
• Improves Skills: Strengthens brain pathways involved in the practiced skill, leading to faster progress and better outcomes.² 
• Reduces Anxiety: Calm pre-speech jitters by rehearsing success. Visualizing yourself handling challenging situations calmly reduces anxiety and promotes a more relaxed state of mind.³

• Reduces Incorrect Practice: Minimize bad habits by focusing on the correct way. Mental rehearsal allows you to hone the perfect technique, reducing the risk of accidentally practicing and reinforcing mistakes.
• Convenient: Practice anytime, anywhere – waiting for the bus, before bed, etc. Mental rehearsal offers ultimate flexibility, allowing you to fit in practice sessions even with busy schedules.

Mental Rehearsal in Therapy & Education: Applications for Diverse Needs

Mental rehearsal can be a powerful tool for a wide range of situations in both therapy and education settings:

• Generalization: Bridge the gap between the controlled environment of therapy and the real world (e.g., rehearsing using new skills on the playground or in the classroom). Students can mentally rehearse using their newly acquired skills in different settings, promoting carry-over and generalization.
• Limited Therapy Time: Make the most of short therapy sessions. While in-person practice is crucial, mental rehearsal allows students to keep practicing and improving their skills between sessions, maximizing progress within the limited timeframe.
• Fear and Avoidance: Overcome fears by mentally rehearsing success. For students struggling with social anxiety or stuttering, visualizing themselves confidently engaging in challenging social situations can equip them with the tools to face their fears in real life.⁴
• Physical Limitations: Allow everyone to participate and improve regardless of limitations. Students with physical limitations that hinder certain types of practice can still benefit from mental rehearsal.
• Waiting Time: Engage students in mental rehearsal during group activities or while waiting for their turn. Minimize idle time by having students rehearse target skills in their minds, promoting active learning and maximizing every minute.

How to Use Mental Rehearsal: Techniques for Different Skills

Here are some specific ways to use mental rehearsal in therapy and education, tailored to different communication skills:

• Speech Sounds: Imagine your mouth making the correct shape and feeling the airflow for a tricky sound. This is particularly helpful for sounds that are hard to see or feel, giving you a clearer mental image of the correct production.⁵
• Fluency: Picture yourself speaking smoothly and confidently in a challenging situation, like ordering food at a restaurant. This can help reduce anxiety in situations that usually trigger stuttering or disfluencies.
• Reading: Visualize the words on the page and hear yourself reading them fluently with expression. This is especially helpful for kids who get nervous reading aloud in class. Imagine yourself captivating the audience with your clear and engaging reading.
• Language Skills: Rehearse using target vocabulary words or sentence structures in different contexts. Imagine yourself participating in a conversation and seamlessly using the newly learned language skills.
• Social Skills: Play out a social interaction in your head, like introducing yourself to someone new or joining a group conversation. This is perfect for practicing skills that are difficult to replicate in a therapy session. Visualize yourself navigating social situations with ease and confidence.

• Relax and Get Comfy: Find a quiet, comfortable space to minimize distractions and maximize focus.

Tips for Effective Mental Rehearsal:

• Vivid Visualization: Engage all your senses for a clear mental image. Imagine not only the visual aspects of the task, but also the sounds, smells, and even the emotions you want to experience while performing the skill.

• Focus on Success: Imagine yourself doing it perfectly, with confidence and ease. Fill your visualization with positive emotions and a sense of accomplishment.
• Regular Practice: The more you rehearse, the better the results! Just like building a muscle, mental rehearsal strengthens neural pathways with consistent practice. Aim for short, regular sessions throughout the day.

Explaining Mental Rehearsal to Students: Making it Fun and Engaging

Here are some tips to explain mental rehearsal to students in a way that is both engaging and relevant to their age group:

• Relatable Examples: Talk about athletes or actors and their mental preparation routines. Discuss how athletes visualize themselves performing their winning moves or actors rehearse their lines in their heads before a big performance.
• Interactive Activities: Play games where students take turns visualizing simple tasks. For example, have them close their eyes and imagine themselves making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, step-by-step. Discuss the different sensory details they might experience during this visualization.
• Positive Reinforcement: Focus on the benefits of mental rehearsal, like feeling more confident and prepared. Help students understand how mental rehearsal can be their “secret weapon” for success.
• Age-Appropriate Complexity: Tailor the explanation to the student’s age and cognitive skills. For younger children, keep it simple and focus on basic visualizations. As students mature, you can introduce more complex scenarios and strategies.
• Make it Fun! Use props, silly voices, or movement to keep students engaged. You could create a “mental rehearsal superhero” character who helps students visualize success.
• Start Small & Build Up: Begin with short, simple tasks and increase complexity as students gain confidence. This helps them experience success early on and motivates them to continue practicing.

Want a ready-made resource to help you teach your students about mental rehearsal?

Check out Mental Rehearsal – Your Hidden Superpower!

“Mental Rehearsal – Your Hidden Superpower!” is a downloadable resource designed for students in 5th grade and up. It includes:

• Engaging explanation of mental rehearsal and its benefits for communication skills.
• Fun & interactive activities to practice mental rehearsal for various tasks, like articulation, fluency, reading comprehension, and social skills.
• List of links to other resources
• Comprehension & critical thinking questions to promote deeper understanding of mental rehearsal and its applications.

Empower your students and unlock their potential! Download “Mental Rehearsal – Your Hidden Superpower” today! Check out my 2-part YouTube series:

• Your Hidden Speech Superpower! (Mental Rehearsal Part 1/2)
• Shhh… It’s a Hidden Superpower! (Mental Rehearsal Part 2/2)

You may also like LEVEL UP SPEECH! Wait Time Hacks: Metacognition Lesson, Poster & Journal!

Ready to Give it a Try?

Mental rehearsal is a powerful tool for both SLPs and educators. It’s a simple yet effective strategy that can be easily integrated into your existing therapy or classroom routines. Give it a shot and see how much it helps you and your students achieve your communication goals!

Best imaginings!

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Resources

1. Shearer, D. A., Holmes, P. S., & Thomson, J. A. (2007). The effect of self-modeling on self-efficacy and dribbling performance. Journal of Sports Sciences, 25(14), 1587–1594. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640410701257406 ↩︎
2. Saimpont, A., Malouin, F., & Jackson, P. L. (2013). Brain activity during motor imagery: The impact of motor expertise. Journal of Motor Behavior, 45(6), 563–573. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222895.2013.842797 ↩︎
3. Makarova, E., Makarova, A., Kulagin, V., & Koroleva, E. (2024). The Effectiveness of Mental Rehearsal to Reduce Performance Anxiety: A Systematic Review. Psychological Reports, 133(1), 183–208. https://doi.org/10.1177/00332941231174987 ↩︎
4. Makarova, E., Makarova, A., Kulagin, V., & Koroleva, E. (2024). The Effectiveness of Mental Rehearsal to Reduce Performance Anxiety: A Systematic Review. Psychological Reports, 133(1), 183–208. https://doi.org/10.1177/00332941231174987 ↩︎
5. Maring, J. R. (1990). The effect of imagined practice on articulation in hearing-impaired children. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 33(4), 856–861. https://doi.org/10.1044/jshr.3304.856 ↩︎

The post Rethinking Practice: The Power of Mental Rehearsal in Speech Therapy appeared first on Mrs. Speech Online.

Let’s face it, aspiring communicators (a.k.a. our adorable clients) on their speech therapy journeys can sometimes feel like they’re translating Martian. Mastering those tricky sounds, like the elusive “/r/” that makes “robot” sound more like “wobot,” can be frustrating. But fear not, fellow SLPs and educators! We’re here to be their speech therapists in shining armor (or maybe speech therapists in comfy clothes with endless supplies of stickers, because let’s be real).

Building a Speech Therapy Dream Team: We’re All in This Together

Feeling alone can make anyone want to clam up (pun intended). Here’s how we can help our little language warriors see they’re surrounded by a cheer squad:

Championing Role Models

Create a “Communication Champions” wall of fame! Think actors who rock a stutter like Emily Blunt, or athletes who triumphed over the “/r/” sound like Michael Jordan. These champions prove that even superstars sometimes need a little extra practice!

• The Stuttering Foundation’s list of famous people who stutter 
• Top Inspired’s list of celebrities with apraxia of speech
• Speech Therapy PD’s list of celebrities with speech disorders

Building Buddies

Pair up kiddos at similar stages for peer support. Role-playing silly scenarios and practicing communication tricks together fosters camaraderie and makes therapy feel less like work and more like, well, playing pretend (but way cooler).  If not possible, think about creating “speech pen pals” or having a monthly lunch meet up.

Story Time with a Twist

Ditch the boring bedtime stories and grab books with relatable characters who face speech challenges. Discussing how they tackled their communication battles and celebrating their victories together makes learning fun (and secretly educational!).  There is a wonderful list of these books on Speak. Play. Love.

The Magic (and Occasional Silliness) of YouTube:

The internet is a treasure trove of resources. Find YouTube videos that resonate with your child’s struggles. Seeing others conquer similar challenges is like watching a superhero origin story, but instead of capes, they gain the power of clear communication! See my articles: YouTube in Therapy: Engaging Older Students and Unlocking Language Learning with YouTube

Celebrating Every Milestone, Big or Small (Even the Ones That Sound Like a Cat)

Acknowledging progress, no matter how seemingly insignificant, is key. 

Here are some tips for highlighting their achievements:

Visual Triumph Charts

Create engaging charts where children can track their progress with stickers or markers. Think “graduating” levels or silly monster drawings that grow with each success! Even young children understand the joy of seeing progress visualized (and the power of stickers, obviously). Here’s my free pocket graph chart, simple enough for young minds to understand.

Positive Reinforcement

Celebrate even minor improvements with specific praise and encouragement. Tailor your praise to the specific effort the child is making. For example, “I see how hard you’re working, even when it’s tough. That’s super-duper brave!”  For the trickiest goals, use matrices or rubrics, to show even a small amount of progress. See my article: Mastering the Art of Measurement: A Guide to Creating Rubrics in Speech Therapy (with Bonus Example!)

Connecting Therapy to Everyday Goals

Help them connect their therapy work to real-world goals, like confidently ordering their favorite food at a restaurant without accidentally asking for a side of socks (because let’s be honest, that’s a conversation nobody wants to have). This connection boosts motivation and makes them feel like therapy is all about unlocking superpowers, not just mastering sounds.

Superpower Spotlight! 

Speech therapy isn’t about making everyone the same. We celebrate how each child uses their unique strengths to conquer communication challenges. Teach them about Multiple Intelligences (check out this article explaining on Psychology Today) – some whizzes with words, others shine with numbers, and some are body or nature superstars! Help your child discover their own superpowers and celebrate their differences. Have them create a poster of their talents and start a bulletin board!✨

“I Can Do Hard Things”: Fostering a Growth Mindset

Building a positive mindset is key. Here are some strategies to empower children with a “can-do” attitude:

The Power of Positive Affirmations

Model positive self-talk like “I can do hard things” or “I’m getting better every day.” Encourage them to repeat these affirmations themselves. Hearing and believing in their own potential is empowering (and way cooler than a boring old pep talk).

Equipping Them for Challenges

Provide coping mechanisms for dealing with frustration. Techniques like deep breathing exercises or a calming mantra (maybe something funny like “Sock monster go away!”) can help them navigate difficult moments. Pointing out your own mistakes or frustrations and how you deal with them models coping mechanisms and realize that no one is perfect!

I recommend these fun YouTube videos to demonstrate:

• The Backwards Brain Bicycle – Smarter Every Day – YouTube video highlights how the brain creates “ruts” and has to relearn new habits, great for children learning new speech sounds.
• OK Go – This Too Shall Pass – Rube Goldberg Machine – I have students watch this video for the multiple broken TVs and pianos to highlight that our first attempts may have a lot of mistakes but if we keep working we will get it.

Visualization Techniques

Encourage children to visualize themselves successfully mastering sounds or speaking fluently. Visualization strengthens their belief in their ability to achieve their goals (think of it like training for the communication Olympics!).

For more information on this, see my previous blog post “Rethinking Practice: The Power of Mental Rehearsal.”  Or check out this blog post by Maggie Dent on using mental rehearsal in the classroom.

Keep It Ongoing

Remember, reassurance is an ongoing journey. By incorporating these strategies throughout your therapy sessions, you can empower children with speech and language difficulties to embrace the journey, celebrate their progress, and ultimately achieve their communication goals.

Share your experiences! What creative strategies have you used to empower children with speech and language difficulties? Leave a comment below and share your ideas with our supportive community.

Keep on keeping on!

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