LANGUAGE PRACTICE FOR
HOME J
FAVORITE ACTIVITIES OF THE SEMESTER: here are a few of the activities that we did in therapy
throughout the summer that J seemed to favor. You can replicate them at home or put your own
spin on them!
- BUG HUNT – paper cut outs of “bugs” were taped to the walls around the room, with
picture cues for different verbs on each one. J got his own fly swatter and hit the bug he
wanted to catch! He named the verb, and then put it in his “bug box” (we used a tissue box,
you could use anything!) He loved being able to smack the bugs and be in charge of
choosing the word to produce! (you could do this outside, on a porch, or even hide
cards/small items in the grass!)
- SENSORY BIN PLAY – we used a few different sensory bins throughout the summer,
including a sand box and a plastic tub filled with pinto beans! A great way to elicit language
is to bury pictures or items of some vocabulary that you want to work on and challenge Joe
to go on a digging expedition! Have him try to name each hidden treasure before he moves
on to the next! Playing with trucks in a sensory bin is also a great way to target prepositions
and verbs! (ex: in, under, on, up down, dig, look, find, get, dump, drive, etc.)
- LANGUAGE FISHING – J loved fishing for picture cards during one of our sessions this
summer! Our fishing pole was made out of a small stick with string tied to it, with a
refrigerator magnet tied to the other end! I used paper vocabulary cards with pictures of
nouns on them to target labels such as house, socks, shoes, drink, etc. You could use any
kind of pictures you wanted to work on, such as pictures of family members or J’s favorite
locations. Just put a paperclip on each picture and you have a “fish!” As J catches each fish
prompt him to tell you it’s name/label before you can “take it off the line” and catch another
one!
- BALL TOSS – this was a favorite from the beginning and something we repeated several
times, and probably the simplest activity to create! I taped picture cues of different verbs
and labels on to plastic solo cups, set them upside down on a table, and had J throw a ball
to knock them over! As we set up the cups he produced each targeted word, and we
continued to practice them and elaborate on them each time he knocked them down. You
could use an activity like this to practice anything you want at home, it’s a great rainy day
activity!
METHODS:
There are some great and simple methods to use throughout the day to facilitate the emergence of
language! Try to pick a time of day, such as snack time, a play activity, bath time, etc., and focus on
using a few of these methods to increase Joe’s expressive language!
Saturation – this seems like a such a simple idea, but it can be so effective! There can never be too
much exposure to language, especially when it first emerging. Saturation is exactly how it sounds,
saturating J’s surroundings with your productions of words that you would like him to produce. Pick
something you would like to target, like prepositions, verbs, or descriptive words, and use some as
much as you can in as many naturally occurring contexts as you can. The goal is to provide tons of
auditory stimulation!
Ex: At bath time you could target prepositions. I am filling up the tub. The tub is filled up. Are you
ready to get in the tub? Let’s get in the tub. Joe is in the tub! Put the soap in your hair. The soap is
in your hair.
It might seem excessive, but any exposure to words in natural contexts is great!
Verbal/Visual Prompting – when J is trying to communicate through gestures instead of
verbalizations it can be easy to just “give” him the word he is looking for to repeat. If it is a word
that you think he knows, try to prompt it out of him using verbal and visual cues!
Ex: If J is communicating that he wants a toy dinosaur by holding up his hands and producing
“roar,” try to get him to say the actual label before you respond to his request. “Oh I think I know
what you are talking about. It says roar, but what is it called?” “There is a picture of it on your shirt,
what is it?” You can even act out a dinosaur right back to him, “What am I? What says roar?”
Sometimes he just needs a little prompting to produce the word independently!
Withholding/Sabotage – this is a great method to work on requesting that J has responded really
well to within sessions. When engaging in a play activity or a family activity like meal time, simply
require him to request objects that you would normally just give. Instead of reaching for a toy on a
shelf or giving him a spoon to eat with, just sit there and see what he does. Try to not accept
gestures or pointing as a request, just act like you don’t know what he wants until you get a
verbalization! After a few minutes it’s great to give him an example, “You need to tell me ‘I want
spoon.” Have him repeat the requests to you to gain his object or activity that is being withheld.
While “please” is a great word for manners, try not to accept it as a request. More specific things
like “want ___,” “open,” “mine,” “want more,” will be more beneficial to him!
THINGS TO PRACTICE:
Here are a few suggestions of areas to target in between therapy session!
NOUNS/LABELS – This is something that has seen a great improvement this summer, and should
keep on getting better with practice! Encourage J to verbalize labels as much as possible, especially
two word combinations. Ex: “Grandma’s house,” “Dad’s shoes”
DESCRIPTIVE WORDS – going off of the previous area, encourage J to start giving detail to his
utterances. He is doing great with colors! Keep working at areas such as size, shape, and quantity.
Ex: “Tall tree,” “Small ball,” “A lot/A little”
VERBS – Verbs are necessary for describing events, requesting activities, and expressing wants
and needs. Encourage J to start pairing verbs with the nouns that he is already using.
Ex: instead of “pool” for requesting that he wants to go swimming, try to get the verb “swim.”
Instead of “car” give the example, “the car drives.”
PREPOSITIONS – Encourage more specifics within J’s language by practicing the use of
prepositions. The use of prepositions will start building language into phrases and sentences!
Encourage J to describe his play activities, such as” car on chair,” “dinosaur under table.”
REQUESTS – Try to encourage verbal requests to be as specific as possible! A great way to
encourage these is to pretend you don’t understand. Require J to use language to guide you to
exactly what he wants. Ideally, we want to get a combination of a request word (want, more, open,
give) and the preferred label/activity (drink, toy, ball, outside).
