For most of us, this whole idea of teletherapy is a new thing. We can wrap our minds around how to intervene with an older child pretty quickly. Even a bilingual older child makes sense, well, for 1: they talk! and for 2: which we can’t take for granted, they can use technology. But what about teletherapy with young children.
I don’t know about you, but my caseload is pretty heavy on the younger kids. Luckily, there are some SLPs out there who have been working with younger kids in a remote setting. And, there are also a lot of free resources out there to help us share strategies and developmental milestones with parents.
I am going to jump right in and share what we have gathered to help us effectively do teletherapy with young children.
As was prepping for a teletherapy session with a 2-year old tomorrow, I came across this youtube channel. They recently posted some examples of teletherapy with toddlers. I found them helpful and I’m hoping you do too!
Teletherapy Early Intervention Speech Therapy
Teletherapy Activities for Preschoolers
I created a library of resources on my computer for my families that have 2-year-olds and I wanted to share. I rounded up early intervention resources from ASHA, SuperDuper, and from other speech therapists of functional activities for them to do at home.
This is from a nice article for activities for a late talker:
Top 15 “Play” Games To Encourage First Words
This one is from ASHA and is divided into Birth-2, 2-4, and 4-6 year groupings:
Activities to Encourage Speech-Language Development
Downloadable Resources for Working with Younger Children
Language Development Through Reading English Spanish
The Importance of Play-Based Therapy: English Spanish
Predictable Books: English Spanish
Imagine the Possibilities with Pretend Play: English Spanish
Singing Songs and Nursery Rhymes: English Spanish
Apps to Use in Teletherapy with Young Children
And let’s finish up with some great apps to use with the little guys. These suggestions came from Top 5 Apps for Toddlers in Speech Therapy
Level 1 -contains instructions of 1 main word and is suitable for children at a developmental level of about 18 months onward, e.g. “find the apple”
Engages in story time while teaching them cause and effect, turn taking, identification, and counting to 10.
You can tap on different animals to hear the sounds that they make to practice speech sounds like “moo,” “baa,” etc.
You can practice labeling colors and nouns. This is also great for modeling simple sentences.
This is a great app if you’re looking for picture cards. You could focus on age-appropriate sounds, which include “p, b, m, and w.” You can make simple sentences with the picture cards after showing her i.e. “I see the pig” or you can use their ready made sentences. The cards are English only.
A way to expose and practice the ABC’s.
If you want more apps, check out our Speech Therapy Apps Page.
Information was helpful.