Drill works…just make it fun
There is no doubt that drilling over and over again works. Research has proved it. Making a child practise their talking really does help.
By drill, I simply mean lots of repetition. You absolutely need to practise whatever your speech pathologist has suggested.
There are a few tricks to drilling when children have dyspraxia.
Firstly, when children are really struggling with dyspraxia, you CAN attempt to say something too many times. Dyspraxia is variable by nature, but repeated practise can result in a higher error rate. So when your child starts finding it harder, rather than easier, leave it and try something else. Better to come back to it in a few minutes or a few hours and take a fresh approach.
Secondly, drill needs to be very supportive. When children have dyspraxia, you can’t just say, “Say it!” They usually need the support of being shown how to do it, or picture prompts to make a word in steps, or they may need starting off. Whatever strategies your speech pathologist has found works for your child – always implement them in your practise.
Incentives make drill fun
The last applies to drilling anything with children (or adults, for that matter). Make it fun! Children who are enjoying themselves actually learn faster. They are also more likely to be willing, of course, if they are happy with what they are doing. Ideas for fun drill are as limitless as your imagination.
If you are running out of ideas, try some of these:
- Post anything. Most children will do something over and over if they can they ‘post’ an item, in a fancy post-box or a cardboard box with a clown face stuck with a hole where the mouth belongs. You can post tokens or pictures of the words being practised (target words).
- Put your target words or sounds on cards and have your child shine a random torch on them to select which one to practise next.
- Pull target words out of a ‘feely’ back, glittery on the outside, soft and furry on the inside.
- Throw a bean bag onto target words turned upside down.
- Hide the target words under cups or containers.
- Offer a reward or token every time a word is said or a number of targets are reached. This can include new pieces of lego, stamps, stickers or anything else that is motivating for your child.
- Have a ‘colour by number’ page handy and colour in a section every time a goal is reached or a word is practised x many times.
- Have your child pick a number. Say, “Pick a number between 4 and 7″. That is the number of times each item is practised.
- M&Ms are the best therapy tool I have. Not much kids won’t do for a chocolate!
Rewards are usually of short-term benefit, but they do help to get kids over some difficult humps. As your child finds they are having success, this becomes motivating in itself.
If your child has a smile on their face, then they will be making progress!