Mariposa Speech and Language Clinic
3498 Shadow Creek Rd L3V0V8 Severn, ON, Canada

This month, at the Mariposa Speech and Language Clinic, we are talking about speech development. In our last post, we discussed the Early 8 - the 8 speech sounds which children typically develop first, usually by age 3. The Middle 8 group of speech sounds usually develop by the time a child is 6 years old. This group includes: "t", "k", "g", "f", "v", "ch", "j", and "ng".... If your child is over 6 and has trouble producing any of these sounds, it might be a good idea to see a speech-language pathologist. A child who has difficulty producing certain sounds will also likely have difficulty with sounding out words when reading or spelling words containing those sounds. Do you have concerns about your child's speech/articulation skills? Call or email us today - we are happy to answer any of your questions or you can even book a free phone consultation! We are here to help: 705-999-9125 or [email protected] Visit our website to learn more about the services we provide: mariposaslp.com

Today, we are continuing our informational series on Speech Development. We mentioned in our last post that children typically develop speech sounds in a particular order. Consonant sounds are often grouped together into "Early 8", "Middle 8", and "Late 8". The consonant sounds which a child typically develops first are: "p", "b", "m", "h", "w", "d" and "n". A child typically develops these sounds by the time they are 3 years old.... Are you concerned about your child's speech development? Contact a speech pathologist or speak to your family doctor about your concerns. Call our office at 705-999-9125 or email us at [email protected]. We are here to help and happy to answer any questions you may have! Visit our website for more information: mariposaslp.com

This month, the Mariposa Speech and Language Clinic is focusing on Speech! In previous posts, we have discussed early language development and how you can support your child as they learn. Now we are shifting our focus to the speech or articulation side of things. Children typically develop speech sounds in a particular order. As infants, they begin by making sounds such as 'goos' and 'coos'. Then, you will start to hear babbling, like "babababa" or "mamama". When an infant r...eaches about 7 months of age, you will start to hear more variety in the sounds that they make when they babble. As an infant gets closer to 12 months, you will start to hear jargon, or word-like utterances with adult-like intonation, and eventually first words are heard. This is an exciting time for both you and your infant. If you are a parent of a young one at this stage, you can support them in their development. If your infant is quite young, for example, you can focus on interaction. Respond to their goos and coos, get face-to-face and imitate what they are saying - turn it into a conversation, taking turns back and forth. These early interactions help to form the basis for later speech, language, and communication development. Do you have questions or concerns about your child's speech development? Contact our office today! We are here to help! Call 705-999-9125 or email [email protected]. Visit our website to find out more about our services: mariposaslp.com Photo Credit: Polina Tankilevitch from Pexels

Today's post is all about Teletherapy! During the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of therapists have moved to a teletherapy or virtual care model - including the Mariposa Speech and Language Clinic! Teletherapy involves the use of a variety of video conferencing platforms and allows you to access speech-language pathology services from the safety and comfort of your own home. If you live in a rural location, teletherapy is also a great option to save you time and travel costs.... Not sure if teletherapy is a good fit for your child? Many families have found that their children respond well to 'seeing' their therapists online. Research shows that children make progress on their goals even when services are being delivered through teletherapy. We can still play games and have fun while working on speech, language, and communication goals. Teletherapy can even be used with young children. One of the benefits of this is that the therapist can see what communication looks like in your child's day-to-day life at home. If you would like to learn more, give our office a call and we'd be happy to chat with you about what teletherapy looks like. If you would prefer in-person sessions, we can show you where to look to find a speech-language pathologist in your area. Speech and language therapy is covered by most health insurance plans - and that includes teletherapy! Contact our office to learn more: call 705-999-9125 or email [email protected]. Visit our website: mariposaslp.com We look forward to hearing from you!

Today, we are wrapping up our series on Literacy. We have talked about supporting your child in various stages, from developing Emergent Literacy Skills to Learning to Read. We move now to the next stage, Reading to Learn. In the elementary grades, children usually become more fluent readers and begin to gain information from what they read. Some children can have difficulty understanding what they have read, especially if they have had difficulty in the previous stages of l...iteracy development. If you have concerns about your child's ability to understand what they read, or concerns about their writing abilities, speak with your child's teacher or a speech-language pathologist. Here are some tips to help you support your child: * When your child is learning new material at school, activate prior knowledge and try to help them connect the new information to something they already know. * When reading together, point out unfamiliar or new words/vocabulary and talk about the meaning of these words. Help your child to find contextual clues to find the meaning of new words. * Use graphic organizers to help your child organize new information visually. * After reading or learning new material, have your child reflect on what they have read or learned. * Even if your child can read on their own, continue to read together - you reading to your child, and your child reading to you. * Before you read a new book, look at the cover and the title together and make predictions about what you think will happen in the book. Pause during reading to make predictions about what will happen next. * After reading, have your child retell the story or parts of the story in their own words. We hope you've enjoyed learning a little bit about literacy development this month. Stay tuned for our next series - All About Articulation - in which we will talk about speech sounds and their development. Would you like to learn more about the Mariposa Speech and Language Clinic? We are open for telepractice/virtual visits during the pandemic. Contact our office to book a free phone consultation. We are happy to answer your questions! 705-999-9125 or [email protected]. Visit our website for more information about our services: mariposaslp.com Photo Credits: August de Richelieu, Arthur Krijgsman from Pexels