ASSOCIATED SPEECH & LANGUAGE SPECIALISTS, LLC
IMPROVING communication. Transforming LIVES.
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Building a Language Rich Environment: Every Word Counts
We strive to improve our patients’ ability to understand and use language. Language is our life.
Language is in everything we do… and language is in everything you do!
Studies have found that quantity and quality of words in the first three years of
life are strongly associated with a child’s language skills, vocabulary size, and IQ
later in life. A solid language foundation is important during child development
as it carries forward throughout their life.
The words directly spoken to a child are responsible for vocabulary growth.
Passive exposure such as watching TV, iPads, or being around others who are
talking does not have the same effect. Talking to your child throughout the day
does have an impact on their language. A solid language foundation is
important because we use that information to understand the world around us
as well as connect our old knowledge with new ideas we learn each day.
Spring 2014
Building a Language 1/2
Rich Environment
Employee Spotlight
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Star client
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Celebrating May
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Reminder
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Apps we like
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Contact info
Misc office notes
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Choose a task or time during your everyday life and include your child. For example, when you are
doing dishes have your child in the kitchen with you and talk about what you are doing. Another great
time to talk with your child is when you are running errands. You can talk in the car about the sequence
or plan for the day. When you go in the store talk about what you are looking for, “Help me find the
___”, or “What do you think will be next to the ketchup?” On the way home retell the places you went
or the items you found using terms like first, next, after, and last. Lastly, during bath time, you can tell a
funny story or describe what you see in the bathroom.
Interestingly, the research does differentiate between quantity and quality, but what does that really
mean? If your child is between 12 and 24 months, the number of words they hear is the most important
and you can incorporate this in many ways.
Quantity:
Play with your child! The best way is for YOU to get on the floor, be at their eye level, be present,
without electronics, and take their lead. You never know what will catch their attention. For example, if
they look towards a ball on the floor, describe what it looks like. If they hear a noise, talk about what
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made that noise and what it sounded like. This is a fabulous time to read aloud. You can read children’s
books, magazines, manuals, text books, really just about anything. You can also talk about what you are
doing as you are going about your day. For example, “I smell a stinky diaper. Let’s go change you. Up
on the table you go. Where are the snaps on this shirt? Let’s go get a diaper. They are under the wipes.
These wipes are wet. Brr! I will warm these up! Ok, put your legs up, here we go!” There is no right or
wrong way as long as you keep describing; it will feel more natural with time.
Quality:
When your child is moving around and exploring their environment more, the quality of what we say
becomes more important. What does that really mean? (If your child is between 24 and 36 months, the
richness of words they hear is the most important, and you can incorporate this in many ways).
Continue to describe. Make your descriptions more vivid. Use child level and adult level words while
you talk about the world around you. For example, “There’s a dog! It’s brown. He’s a chocolate lab like
Grandpa’s. He’s bigger than the chihuahua next door. I wonder where they are going? Do you think he
knows any tricks? Remember the time you played fetch with Grandpa’s dog?” You provide the child
level information by stating the color of the dog. Then, you expand the vocabulary by introducing terms
such as the breed and later make connections and build in similarities and differences when you talk
about Grandpa’s dog. Expanding vocabulary at this stage is fun! Your conversation may jump around as
you comment on what captures your child’s interest in the moment. Continue a conversation about
something they point out. Your child may say “da” and point at something. You can respond with “I
love the pretty flowers in the garden.” They may or may not maintain interest in that object; if not,
move on. Match your descriptions to what captures their interest.
Growing older:
As you child grows older, their language grows as well. A beautiful way to continue to expand the
vocabulary they are exposed to is to read aloud to them. It is never too early to start reading to children
and they are never too old to benefit from listening to books. Books read aloud by adults or audio
versions can expose children to vocabulary that is beyond the level at which they are currently reading.
Radio programming allows them to listen and make pictures in their mind of the stories they hear while
enhancing their vocabulary and language skills.
Stephanie works in the Shoreview office.
Family: Stephanie has two sisters, two cats, and a fiancé
Born and raised in: Platteville, WI
3 things she can’t live without: She can’t live without binoculars, coffee, and books.
Favorite restaurant: Happy Joe’s Pizza – they have really good taco pizza.
If I had a million dollars: Stephanie would build a bird sanctuary, give some of the
money to her parents because they have 3 weddings this year, and make sure all
children everywhere have all the speech and language services they need.
Favorite book: The Glass Castle.
Favorite movie: P.S. I love you.
People don’t know this but: Stephanie plays the violin.
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Stephanie has the pleasure of working with T.R. every week. They started working together at the
U of M Clinic (Julia M. Davis Speech-Language-Hearing Center) in 2009 and at ASLS in 2010. T.R.
has made tremendous progress towards his goals. He is working on answering questions,
describing locations, retelling stories, and asking questions. T.R. and Stephanie like to play with
puppets in therapy.
FUN FACTS ABOUT T.R.
T.R. is 15 years old. He likes eating hamburgers. His favorite
colors are purple and green. He enjoys playing games like Pop
the Pig, and Candyland. He likes to watch public television.
T.R. knows a lot about Disney movies!
May is Better Hearing and Speech Month!
We will be celebrating all month long with fun
activities and projects at all of our offices.
Visit www.IdentifyTheSigns.org to learn about the
signs of communication disorders.
**REMINDER**
Our summer
schedule starts
June 9th.
For additional resources, please visit www.asha.org
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Apps we like:
Avokiddo Emotions – Interact with a zebra, giraffe, or sheep by placing various items on
them and see their reactions. Describe what they’re doing: i.e. The zebra is wearing a
cowboy hat. The sheep is talking on the phone. $2.99
Toy Repair Workshop – A boy or girl comes into the work shop with his or her broken toys.
Practice pronouns and reasoning (e.g. He is sad because_____), negation (e.g. the bear
doesn’t have a ____), and past tense verbs –ed (e.g. I sewed on a button). $1.99
My Play Home Stores – Player gets to go to various stores (clothing, ice cream, market, and
grocery). Talk about sequence of events (First, get a cart, then put the groceries in the cart;
put the food on the conveyor belt, check-out, etc). $2.99
News ELA – News articles for kids. Each article allows you to adjust the reading level of the
text so it can fit all age groups. It also generates quizzes for you and is aligned with the
Common Core Standards that are coming to Minnesota schools next year. Free, website is
www.newsela.com
St. Paul – Phone: 651-225-4558, Fax: 651-225-9474
Email: stpaul@associatedspeech.com
Maplewood – Phone: 651-773-3208, Fax: 651-783-5612
Email: maplewood@associatedspeech.com
Shoreview – Phone: 651-639-0942, Fax: 651-639-1718
Email: shoreview@associatedspeech.com
Plymouth – Phone: 763-551-3652, Fax: 763-551-1334
Email: plymouth@associatedspeech.com
*For our mailing addresses, please refer to our website.
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Please Note: Please let your child’s clinic know about any absence before their
scheduled appointment time to avoid any additional charges. Thank you.
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VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT:
http://www.associatedspeech.com
Please notify the front desk promptly
with any changes in your insurance.
Thank you.
PLEASE NOTE:
ASLS follows the same guidelines as the schools in regards to a sick
child. If your child has vomited, had a fever, persistent cough, or had persistent diarrhea in
the last 24 hours, he/ she will be unable to attend therapy. Also, if your child has been
diagnosed with a contagious illness (i.e. strep throat), we are unable to see them until after
the child has been on prescribed medication for 24 hours. Please follow the above
guidelines to keep our other patients and our staff healthy. Thank you.
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Copyright 2013 Associated Speech & Language Specialists, LLC, All rights reserved.
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