Speech and language therapy is a powerful tool used to help children with speech or language impairments. These impairments can be developmental, or they can be the result of an illness or injury. Speech and language therapy programs are typically in place for people who have suffered from strokes, brain injuries, or oral cancer. The techniques used in these types of therapies are designed to improve communication skills, cognitive functioning and social interactions.
These therapies can be very beneficial for kids suffering from speech disorders such as autism spectrum disorder, expressive language disorder and stuttering disorders. They can also help people with certain types of hearing loss to improve their communication skills by improving their ability to hear sounds around them. These therapies can help adults with severe communication problems such as autism, cerebral palsy and other neurological disorders that affect their ability to communicate with others. These therapies can also be helpful for adults who have lost the ability to speak due to a stroke or other injury.
Reading is an integral part of speech and language therapy. It can be a challenge to find books that are both enjoyable and educational, but these four books are the perfect place to start:
- Swallowdale by Arthur Ransome
This novel is the second of a series titled Swallows and Amazons, which is about children who live on boats called rudderless scows. They sail, cook their own meals, and travel to different islands nearby. The characters are something like the Swiss Family Robinson—the older kids take care of themselves and each other while their parents are away from home. Readers will love the adventure and independence in this book.
- Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
This classic bedtime story is about a bunny who says goodnight to all the things in his room before going to sleep, including his red balloon and his old lady whispering hush. The rhyming text makes it easy on younger readers, and it’s also a great choice for toddlers just learning to speak as they can practice identifying objects in the illustrations on every page.
- The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
This is a very simple story that can be used to work on understanding basic narrative structure, as well as practicing pronouns (his/her) and possessive nouns (mama’s). It can also be used to help practice things like using adjectives, as well as following directions and answering questions about what happened in the story.
- Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
This book is another classic, which can be good for practicing narrative structure, but also for describing emotions. It works especially well for children who may have recently experienced a big change in their lives or have otherwise struggled with expressing their feelings.
- A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon
This is a fun book that can be used to talk about emotions and how they can affect us. It also mentions other health concerns, including allergies, asthma, and diabetes. This can be helpful for kids who have these conditions themselves and may feel more understood after hearing them mentioned in this context.