Improving Language Skills

By Maria Bernabe, M.S., CCC-SLP

Speech and Language Pathologist

About six thousand babies are born with Down syndrome each year in the United States. These babies thrive and become adults with the average life span being about 60 years of age. It is important for individuals with Down syndrome to have the tools they need in order to successfully participate in their communities. Children and adults with Down syndrome face many challenges across their lifespan and communication is one of them. So what can we do as parents, caregivers, teachers and friends? We can start teaching language skills at an early age by emphasizing specific communication goals. Below I have provided just a few quick tips for general age groups.

• Infants: Sing to your baby and play little games like peek-a-boo. When appropriate, teach them to imitate your body movements through songs and dances. Provide oral motor stimulation by massaging the cheeks and lips. Individuals with Down syndrome have low muscle tone and this includes the muscles that help us eat and talk. Consult a speech-language pathologist and ask them to teach you oral motor stimulation exercises.

• Toddlers: Teach sign language and/or gestures in conjunction with words. Individuals with Down syndrome are really good at using gestures to communicate. Use this strength to teach new words. Use straws and open cups instead of sippy cups for drinking liquids. This will help promote adequate development of the muscles for speaking and eating. Read to your child every day. I recommend continuing to encourage your toddler to imitate body movements and words through dancing activities.

• Children: Reinforce the use of pronouns (i.e. he, she, they) and prepositions (i.e. in, on, off, out). These “little” words are often produced out of order in sentences or simply left out. Practice comprehension of instructions by using words that describe appearance or location when giving your child instructions (i.e. bring me the purple coat that is under the table). Speak slowly to help your child speak more slowly too. When we reduce our rate of speech we are more easily understood. When reading books together, ask your child one question after every couple of pages to help with comprehension. Help them use pictures to figure out the answers.

• Teens: Talk about everyday social situations and work on identifying problems and solutions. Rehearse what you would say in certain situations. You can also practice taking turns asking each other questions about a topic selected. This will help prepare your teen for social situations at school and in the community. Teenagers love YouTube! Take advantage of this and use age-appropriate videos to teach social language skills. For example, watch a movie trailer and take turns asking each other questions.

• Adults: Encourage friendships and help with planning gatherings and outings. Teach how to use cell phones to schedule reminders and set alarms. We live in a world that is connected to the internet and it will be important to talk about internet safety. It is also important to teach how to use the internet to look up information. If a person knows how to use the internet, they can look up bus routes, restaurants, words, movie times, recipes, etc. Another thing you can do is cook healthy recipes together. This helps with reading and following instructions. Cooking is a great way to teach the meaning of sequential vocabulary (i.e. before, after, first).

The one thing I recommend across all stages and ages is reading! Expose your children to books since birth and teach them literacy skills no matter how old they are. Improving language skills is a lifelong process. Individuals with Down syndrome will always benefit from participating in programs that help increase and maintain language expression and comprehension. Speech-language therapy is important but it is just as important to maintain skills by participating in community events and speech-language therapy maintenance programs. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out by sending me an email at telehealthspecialists@gmail.com.

Bio:

Maria Bernabe, MS, CCC-SLP is a bilingual, Speech-Language Pathologist in Naples, FL helping children, adolescents and young adults with a variety of speech and language disorders or delays. She also provides feeding and swallowing intervention. Maria specializes in early intervention and teletherapy services. She has worked in hospitals, schools, private practice and outpatient facilities. Maria also has experience in providing speech and language services via teletherapy which utilizes live video conferencing to provide therapy. She is the recipient of an ACE Award from the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association for her dedication to continuing education in the field of Speech-Language Pathology.

Maria is the founder of Toddler SLP, a website dedicated to providing parent education about speech and language development and delays. She is also the co-founder of Telehealth Specialists which is dedicated to providing education to Speech and Language Pathologists seeking information about the field of telehealth. When not at work, she enjoys volunteering in the community and spending time with her family.