At our Midwestern University Mutlispecialty clinic I work along with a SLP graduate student in therapy sessions. For our child clients, we first want to build rapport and trust.
We build the sessions around the child’s interest, allow the child to choose the activities, provide verbal praise beyond speech productions and provide a supportive environment that we practice our words together. In sessions we use quick highly preferred reinforcers so that the child is having fun as they are given multiple opportunities to practice target words and phrases. Target words and phrases are functional words that the child can use frequently and will help build that confidence and make them feel proud. Words and phrases are determined along with the family as well as based on prior assessments of mastered sounds and syllable productions so that the child is successful. These words and phrases are then practiced in functional activities so the child is practicing words with a purpose. We work on principals of motor learning using Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing (DTTC) providing multisensory cues that best relates to the child.