This post is in response to a question that someone asked. We had an email from someone on our mailing list who asked how they could encourage their child to imitate speech sounds. Here are some ideas.
- Start by copying them. Copy what your child does and the sounds that they make. This is something we often naturally do with babies – we copy back their babbled sounds. However, as kids get older we often stop doing it. Start by copying what they are doing with toys and move on to copying the sounds they make.
- Practise general copying. Play other games where you copy each other. Pull silly faces at each other in a mirror and see if your child will copy you. Copy their faces too. Copy each other moving around the garden, jumping, doing silly movements, blowing raspberries etc. Just play around having fun and copying each other. Every now and again add a sound in with one of your faces or movements and see if your child will copy that too. Suddenly the pressure is off and it’s just a game of making each other do silly things. You may be surprised at what they can do.
- Make sounds during play. Take any opportunity to make sounds as you are playing with your child. For example, make all the trains say “ch…ch…ch…ch”, or while you are pretending to fry sausages say “ssss”. Don’t ask your child to make the sounds, but just say them each time you do this thing. They don’t all have to be speech sounds, just any kind of sound you can make with your mouth. For example, I always make a creaking sound when I open the door of my toy postbox. Occasionally, do the action with the toy but don’t make the sound. See if your child will fill in the gap. You may find they start trying the sound when they are playing with the toy themselves.
- Don’t ask them to perform. Don’t ask your child to perform for family and friends by saying different sounds and words. It tends to make the child feel under pressure and they are less likely to do it. It is not motivating for the child and it is not communicative. Also, being able to repeat a sound or word is a very different skill from being able to say it to communicate something.
Eventually, your child will be ready to try imitating some sounds in a slightly more formal way. Here are some tips for how to do this.
- Praise all attempts. When I do an assessment with a child whose speech is unclear, I often ask them to imitate some sounds back at the end. They are often reluctant to try. Once I have managed to persuade them to have a go, I say “well done, great try”, no matter how far their attempt was from the target sound. Often you can see the child visibly relax. They are often aware that they find it difficult. It’s brave of them to have a go at something they think they won’t succeed at. Acknowledge that they have tried their best and praise them for it. The more they try, the clearer it will get.
- Get eye contact with your child. Watching someone else saying a sound as well as listening really helps to be able to say it more clearly. Get on the floor with your child so you are at eye level. Wait for them to look at you before making the sound. There are more tips on encouraging eye contact with children whose speech is unclear in this post.
- Reward them for trying. Play a game while doing it. When we are repeating sounds in therapy sessions, we always play a game while we are doing it. For example, we might blow some bubbles after each attempt or stamp a stamper on some paper or put a piece into a puzzle – whatever they enjoy! If the activity is fun enough, they will often be happy to have a try.
- Practise easy sounds not just hard ones. No-one wants to do things that are tricky all the time. Keep your child’s confidence up by asking them to say sounds you know they can say well, and try the tricky ones every 3rd or 4th sound. Praise the easy sounds too.
What other tricks and tips do you use to encourage children to imitate speech sounds?
Ujumbe huu ni jibu kwa swali ambalo mtu aliuliza. "Mmoja wa waandishi wa barua pepe aliuliza jinsi ya kumtia moyo mtoto wake ""kuiga sauti za usemi.""" Hapa kuna mawazo fulani. - Anza kwa kuiga. Fanya kama mtoto wako na ufuate sauti zake. Hii ni kitu sisi mara nyingi asili kufanya na watoto wachanga <unk> sisi kunakili nyuma sauti yao babbled. Hata hivyo, kadiri watoto wanavyokua, mara nyingi tunaacha kufanya hivyo. Anza kwa kuiga kile wanachofanya na vitu vya kuchezea na uendelee kuiga sauti wanazofanya. - Jizoeza kunakili kwa ujumla. Kucheza michezo mingine ambapo wewe kunakili kila mmoja. Fanya nyuso za kipumbavu mbele ya kioo na uone kama mtoto wako atakuiga. Fanya nakala ya nyuso zao pia. Kunakili kila mmoja kusonga kuzunguka bustani, kuruka, kufanya harakati silly, blowing raspberries nk. Kucheza tu kuzunguka kuwa na furaha na kunakili kila mmoja. Mara kwa mara, ongeza sauti kwa moja ya nyuso au harakati zako na uone kama mtoto wako ataiga hiyo pia. Kwa ghafula shinikizo linapotea na ni mchezo tu wa kufanya kila mmoja afanye mambo ya kipumbavu. Huenda ukashangaa kuona kile wanachoweza kufanya. - Kufanya sauti wakati wa kucheza. Tumia fursa yoyote ya kutoa sauti unapocheza na mtoto wako. Kwa mfano, fanya treni zote ziseme <unk>ch...ch...ch...ch<unk>, au unapojifanya kuwa unaoka soseji sema <unk>ssss<unk>. Usimwombe mtoto wako atoe sauti hizo, lakini sema tu kila mara unapofanya jambo hilo. Si lazima zote ziwe sauti za usemi, ni aina yoyote tu ya sauti unayoweza kutokeza kwa mdomo wako. Kwa mfano, sikuzote mimi hutoa sauti ya kupiga kelele ninapofungua mlango wa sanduku langu la barua la kuchezea. Mara kwa mara, fanya kitendo hicho kwa kutumia kichezeo lakini usitoe sauti. Angalia kama mtoto wako atajaza pengo hilo. Huenda ukaona kwamba wanaanza kujaribu sauti hiyo wanapocheza na kichezeo hicho wenyewe. - Usiwaombe wafanye kazi. Usimwombe mtoto wako atende mbele ya familia na marafiki kwa kusema sauti na maneno tofauti-tofauti. Hii inawafanya watoto kuhisi chini ya shinikizo na kuwa na uwezekano mdogo wa kufanya hivyo. Hii haipendekezi kwa mtoto na haipendekezi kwa mawasiliano. Kuweza kurudia sauti au neno ni ujuzi tofauti sana na kuweza kusema kitu. Mwishowe, mtoto wako atakuwa tayari kuiga sauti fulani kwa njia ya kawaida. Hapa kuna madokezo kadhaa ya jinsi ya kufanya hivyo. - Sifa kwa majaribio yote. Wakati wa kufanya tathmini na mtoto ambaye hotuba yake haijulikani, mara nyingi huwauliza kuiga sauti fulani mwishoni. Mara nyingi wao hukataa kujaribu. Mara tu ninapofanikiwa kuwashawishi wajaribu, nasema <unk>watu wamefanya vizuri, jaribio zuri<unk>, bila kujali jinsi jaribio lao lilivyokuwa mbali na sauti ya lengo. Mara nyingi unaweza kumwona mtoto akipumzika kwa njia inayoonekana. Mara nyingi wao hutambua kwamba wanaona ni vigumu. Ni ujasiri wao kujaribu kitu ambacho wanafikiri hawatashinda. Tambua kwamba wamejitahidi kadiri ya uwezo wao na uwasifu kwa ajili ya hilo. Kadiri wanavyojaribu, ndivyo mambo yatakavyokuwa wazi zaidi. - Mtazame mtoto wako kwa macho. Kuangalia mtu mwingine akisema sauti na pia kusikiliza kwa kweli husaidia kuwa na uwezo wa kusema kwa uwazi zaidi. Piga mtoto wako chini ili uwe sawa na macho yake. Ngoja wakutazame kabla ya kutoa sauti. Kuna vidokezo zaidi juu ya kuhamasisha mawasiliano ya macho na watoto ambao hotuba yao haijulikani katika chapisho hili. - Zawadi yao kwa kujaribu. kucheza mchezo wakati wa kufanya hivyo. Wakati tunarudia sauti katika vikao vya matibabu, sisi daima kucheza mchezo wakati sisi ni kufanya hivyo. Kwa mfano, tunaweza kuvuta Bubbles baada ya kila jaribio au stampu stamper juu ya baadhi ya karatasi au kuweka kipande katika puzzle <unk> chochote wao kufurahia! Ikiwa utendaji huo ni wenye kufurahisha vya kutosha, mara nyingi watafurahi kujaribu. - Jizoeze sauti rahisi si zile ngumu tu. Hakuna mtu anayetaka kufanya mambo magumu wakati wote. Msaada wa mtoto wako wa kujiamini: Mwambie atoe sauti unazijua anaweza kusema vizuri, na jaribu sauti ngumu kila baada ya sauti ya tatu au ya nne. Sifa sauti rahisi pia. Ni mbinu gani za kuchochea watoto kuiga sauti za usemi?