Often parents wonder how they can help their child incorporate skills from the
speech therapy room into their daily lives. This is known as the
carryover process. Carryover refers to a client’s ability to take an
individual speech skill learned in the therapy room and to apply it broadly in
all speaking situations (Marshalla, 2010). Parents find this
particularly difficult when their child avoids speech homework between sessions
and/or while practicing the speech sounds in social interactions. Therapists and parents are asked to work together to find ways to motivate the
child outside of the therapy room. It is the goal of our speech therapists at MedCare to find ways to make this process
fun, functional and effective. In order for us to meet this goal, we need the parents of our clients to work with their speech therapist to make sure the client completes his/her speech homework or uses
his/her speech strategies in all speaking situations.
As a parent you will see your speech therapist demonstrate creative ways to
promote carryover activities. For example, your son may love
sports. An assignment may be to use the correct production of the /r/ and
/l/ phoneme during short conversations about sports. Or you may have a
three year old working on producing two to three word phrases; the therapist may
have your child say that phrase while playing his/her favorite game. At
MedCare we believe in a team effort, and as a parent of the
client who receives therapy with MedCare you are on that team. Please
feel free to provide your therapist with as much information as possible about your child so we can
design treatment specifically for your child.
Van Riper and several other researchers have suggested some
speech production activities for the promotion of carry over including:
·
Describing objects as a way to begin the process
of spontaneous productions.
·
Chanting to encourage memory and automaticity.
·
Playing with an error sound or word to
facilitate control.
·
Tongue twisters to teach children to control
their speech.
·
Storytelling and re-telling to cause stimulate
spontaneity and to cause a breakthrough in carry over.
·
Singing to help children remember their speech
work and to encourage effortless practice.
·
Create a script to practice at a favorite
restaurant.
·
Use the carryover phrase at a department
store.
(Marshalla, 2010)
In 1947, Charles Van Riper wrote that “We cannot rush the
carryover process.” Therefore, a critical component to the carryover
process is patience. Your child may make mistakes, but eventually with
practice and in their own time they will get better at this goal. Patience is
the first step in the carryover process. Please do not give up! Practice,
practice, and practice!! If parents encourage their child to engage in
carryover activities, the overall quality of your child’s understanding and
speech production will improve. Through games, books, and
functional daily activities you are assisting with the growth of new neural
connections. This in turn will enhance the speech production in your
child’s daily life, not just in the speech room.
By: Brittney Donielle Goodman M.S., CCC-SLP
