Today, one in four children struggles with sound or speech disorder as they grow. These can cause anxiety to parents since they are not entirely sure how to cope with the challenges for their child. There is also a stigma associated with a child having speech disorders and some parents may not know about their options for speech therapy in CT. Speech disorders in children also mean that schools budget systems will be affected in the process too.
Up until recently, schools had to incorporate the use of flash cards to children with speech disorders and that meant that some time would be taken off from the school program to help them in their speech therapy.
Now technology has enabled biofeedback tools to come up with a way to help children with speech disorders by making personalized gadgets to help these children. One of the advantages of this advancement is that parents do not need to always take their children in to see a therapist and they can exercise at home although, it is advised to visit one before trying to use these gadgets at home. In this article, we look at some of these gadgets and how they help the children learn about speech therapy.
The use of ipads to replace flashcards
An ipad contains an app to help children with speech disorders. This app uses brain rehabilitation exercises to create tasks for the children and they can exercise anytime. For now, it is a free app but with time the company plans to charge a small fee to their patients. The major advantage of this technology is the fact that if the child is old enough to handle the ipad, they can work on their own and this gives them a sense of responsibility.
“Speech buddies”
These are a set of tools that are hand held and they are used by children to determine where they need to place their tongues so that they can produce hard sounds like ‘S’, ‘L’ and ‘R’. The tools resemble Popsicle sticks with a tip on the end. Children need the help of a parent or therapist to do this well and to attain the required results. However, some parents say that it can turn to be a frustrating venture since you constantly need to show the child where to place the tongue and this can be frustrating to both the parent and child. A therapist is more qualified to handle this kind of issues and it would be best if done in his presence.
KIDIinsight
This free online screening tool was recently launched to help parents monitor the progress of their children’s speech development. A child can end up being frustrated and discouraged if they feel they are not making any progress with the exercises. A parent needs to constantly assure the child and commend them on their effort as they go through therapy. However, it is good to note that these biofeedback tools do not work for everyone and that the results differ from child to child.
