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Partnering with families to enhance children's communication.
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Speech Development Guidelines
By age 3
- vowels, dipthongs, and consonants /p, b, m, d, t, f, h, w, “y”/ should be clear
- produce all consonants at the beginning and end of words (not “ha” for “hat”)
By age 4-5
- all of the above and /f, k, g, n, sh, ch, zh, dg/
- Should be able to produce all clusters (i.e. “star”)
By age 5-6
- all of the above and /v, ng, l/
- No lateral lisp (i.e. slushy sounds)
By age 7
- All sounds should be clear!!!!!
- No dental lisp (i.e. “th” for “s”)
Speech Intelligibility Guideline
- 2-2 ½ years – 50% intelligible to strangers, 80% to parents
- 3 ½ years – 80% intelligible to strangers, 95% to parents
- 4 ½ years – 100% intelligible to all
* If your child is making uncommon errors at any age take them to a Speech-Language Pathologist right away!
We feel so blessed to have Andrea as our son’s speech therapist
“We feel so blessed to have Andrea as our son’s speech therapist. In the past our son did not do well in the clinic setting and it has been a huge relief to have a therapist come to our home. Nick is much more relaxed and willing to work now. Our son has autism; he is nonverbal and very stubborn. Andrea has a ton of patience! She is very kind but firm and consistent which is exactly what Nick needs. We believe that she has been instrumental in helping Nick learn how to functionally communicate through his I-Pad. We have not given up on the hopes that someday Nick will be able to speak but now that he has a functional way to communicate he is happier and his behaviors have decreased. We are very thankful for Andrea and all that she has done to help our son and our family!”
Being a Good Speech Model
Avoid saying “Say ____”
Use short simple phrases
Speak slowly and deliberately, clearly articulating each sound and syllable
Repeat key words frequently
Get down to the child’s eye level when you are speaking to them so they can see your mouth
Use an animated voice with lots of inflection to make words sound more interesting
Simplify words to make them easier to say
Avoid quizzing the child, i.e. “What’s that?”
Don’t withhold items if he doesn’t say the desired word
Allow the child to “steal” language by modeling the words you want him to say
Prolong vowel sounds and enunciate consonants
Praise any attempt at talking
Use is more important than accuracy
Preschool and Kindergarten Activities That Promote Reading and Writing
What Children Do |
How it relates to Reading and Writing |
| Make a pattern with objects (i.e. buttons, beads, etc.) | By putting things in order, children gain an understanding of sequence. This helps them discover that letters in words must go in a certain order. |
| Listen to a story and then talk about it with their families, teachers. Children might talk about the plot, characters, what might happen next, and what they liked about the book. | Children enjoy being read to. They learn that books can introduce people, places, and ideas and describe familiar experiences. Listening and talking helps children build their vocabulary. They learn basic literacy concepts such as: print is spoken words that are written down, print carries meaning, and directionality when reading. |
| Play matching games | Seeing that some things are exactly the same leads children to the understanding that the letters in words must be written the exact same way every time to carry meaning. |
| Moving to music while following directions | Children gain an understanding of concepts such as: up/down, front/back, and left/right. |
| Recite rhyming poems and making up new rhymes on their own. | Children become aware of phonemes – the smallest units of sounds that make up words, which leads to reading and writing success. |
| Make signs for a pretend grocery store, restaurant, etc. | Children practice using print to provide information. |
| Retell a favorite story to another child or stuffed animal. | Allows children to gain confidence in their ability to learn to read. They practice telling the story in the order that it was told to them, many times using the “story book” language. |
| Use invented spelling or scribbles to write a grocery list, letter, etc. | Children learn that they can use writing to share information with others. By watching adults write, they learn to imitate the conventions of writing. Using invented spelling encourages phonemic awareness. |
| Signing their names (by scribbling, drawing, using some or all of the correct letters) on an attendance chart, painting, letter, etc. | Children learn that their names represent them and that other words represent objects, emotions, actions, etc. They see that writing serves a purpose. |
We value Andrea’s commitment and the support she has provided our family over the years
“Andrea has been a part of our son’s life for over 3 1/2 years, she is a big part of our son’s success and accomplishments. We value Andrea’s commitment and the support she has provided our family over the years.”
I highly recommend Andrea Crislip and Crislip Speech Therapy
“Five years ago, we hired Andrea to work with our second child, Landon. He barely spoke a word and what words he did speak you could hardly understand. She jumped right in, developing a solid, consistent and sweet relationship with our little boy. She has patiently endured yelling, teasing, crying, and laughing in order to help Landon reach his full potential. She sees beyond the diagnosis to the successful young man that we know is inside. We also worked for a time with her reading specialist, Monica Holland, whose unique approach to reading and writing were pivotal in helping Landon be successful in school. We attribute much of his amazing growth to the work both women have done with him. He is verbal, he is charming, and he is at grade level in all but one area in school. Not only has Andrea supported him, but also she has been a valuable resource and now a friend to me. As a mom with a special needs child, finding someone who appreciates the life you have and supports you through it all is invaluable. I go to her for advice about therapists, medicine, behaviors, and more. What she doesn’t have the answer to; she either finds or is a sounding board while I have muddled my way through all of the options. I highly recommend Andrea Crislip and the group, Crislip Speech Therapy.”
Andrea is a huge factor in his continuing success
“Our son has moderate autism and has worked with Andrea for 4 years on articulation and functional language. His skills have greatly improved, and Andrea has been a huge part of that. She customized his therapy to meet his needs along the way, and I’ve found her to be incredibly professional and dedicated. She is always striving to continue her education in order to help her clients in new ways and works with with his school team to ensure our son’s home program compliments his school program and addresses issues not covered in school. She has guided Our child from identifying common items, using pronouns appropriately, sequencing, all the way up to conversational language and social thinking. He will be entering middle school next year close to grade level, and Andrea is a huge factor in his continuing success.”
Her approach is both personal and professional
“In the last 1 1/2 years, Andrea has helped our son with severe apraxia progress from making no purposeful verbalizations to saying intentional sounds and some intelligible words. Andrea has systematically targeted the speech intervention that he needs, and at the same time has given me the tools for working with him to keep him progressing through the week. She has been flexible in trying a different approach when progress slows. She was a valuable resource for us in setting up and using an AAC app with our son. Although our son is ten years old and has profound delays due to his syndrome, Andrea always remains positive and is determined to keep expecting more from him. Her approach is both personal and professional. “
Crislip Speech Therapy is wonderful!
“Crislip Speech Therapy is wonderful! As the mother of a 4 year old boy I am amazed at the progress he has made in the last 2 years. He absolutely loves his time with Ms. Andrea and Ms. Michelle, and they are so wonderful to him. He doesn’t even realize he is working because of how fun they make the sessions.”
Crislip Speech Therapy
- Email: acrislip@crislipspeech.com
- Phone: (314) 479-0306
Speech Therapy
710 Abbottsford Ct.Lake St. Louis, MO 63367