Conversational Skills Speech Therapy, or CSST, is a form of speech therapy that focuses on improving the ability to communicate with others and engage in productive conversations, rather than meaningfully speak. Conversations are a complex skill that require active listening, appropriate non-verbal communication, effective verbal communication, and more. For people who have difficulty with any of these skills, CSST can help.
CSST sessions are typically led by a speech therapist or a conversational therapist. These sessions usually take place one-on-one or in small groups, and they allow patients to practice their conversational skills in a safe environment.
Conversation is an integral part of human interaction. Whether you are trying to make friends or interview for jobs or have a productive meeting at work, your ability to converse well will affect the outcome of your interactions. Having poor conversation skills can result in people perceiving you negatively and avoiding interaction with you. If you struggle with conversation skills, CSST can help you progress and improve so that you can be more successful in life.
Conversational Skills Speech Therapy helps develop the skills that people need to have more successful conversations. These skills are broken into three categories: verbal, nonverbal, and listening.
Conversational skills speech therapy is typically provided to children and adolescents who have difficulty interacting in social situations. These situations may include interactions with family members, peers, teachers, coaches, or other individuals that are encountered in the home or school setting. Social situations can also refer to other settings such as restaurants, church, and sporting events.
To improve conversational skills, a speech language pathologist will first assess the child’s current level of social skill development. A speech language pathologist may observe the child or adolescent during a play session or at a birthday party. If a child is having difficulty with conversation during play time, then the therapist will help implement strategies for initiating conversation and maintaining conversation during playtime.
The speech language pathologist may provide coaching for parents to implement strategies at home that are consistent with what is being taught in therapy. The therapist may also recommend that the child be involved in group therapy where they can practice their conversational skills with other children who have similar difficulties.
Conversational skills are the lifeblood of social interaction. Unfortunately, for some, it can be difficult to pick up on the nuances of conversation. This can make it difficult to form friendships, succeed in school, and find success in the workplace. If you or your child is having trouble developing conversational skills, speech therapy may help.
Conversational skills speech therapy is a type of speech therapy that focuses on improving the way a person carries on conversations with others. This type of speech therapy can be used to help people who have communication disorders such as autism spectrum disorder or other developmental disabilities, as well as people who have suffered a stroke or spinal cord injury.
Conversational skills speech therapy involves working with a therapist who will work one-on-one with the patient to develop their conversational skills through a variety of exercises and activities. Some exercises involve using flash cards to learn whether an answer is appropriate for a question. Other activities may involve role-playing conversations with the therapist to practice speaking in various situations. The types of exercises involved in this type of therapy will differ depending on why the person is seeking out treatment.
These skills include the ability to engage in conversations, to follow social rules, and to understand and use both verbal and nonverbal communication. This type of therapy may be used when an individual has difficulty communicating with others due to a variety of reasons (e.g., autism spectrum disorders, hearing impairments, or chronic pain/illness).
The focus of this therapy is not necessarily on improving an individual’s speech sounds or articulation skills—the focus is on improving his or her ability to communicate effectively with others in various social situations. While this type of therapy may address some articulation issues (such as intelligibility), it typically does not involve the use of flashcards or other types of visual supports like those used in traditional speech and language therapy settings.