Who we are
We're a team of speech and language specialists - working to make Hull & East Yorkshire a better place
Who we are
We're a team of speech and language specialists - working to make Hull & East Yorkshire a better place
Who we are
We're a team of speech and language specialists - working to make Hull & East Yorkshire a better place
What are home therapy packs and why are they beneficial?
Speech and language development takes practice, persistence, and repetition.
This 'reinforcement' of speech and language skills is incredibly important for your child's progress and success. Using a Home Therapy Pack can not only help your child achieve their communication goals (and ultimately graduate from speech and language therapy quicker), it can also help to maintain the progress they've already achieved. In other words, repetition can help ensure this newfound skill "sticks."
Obviously, speech therapy at home cannot and should not replace getting professional help, but it can be a great way to supplement the work of Speech and Language Therapists. Think of it in the same way you use homework as a way to support your child’s education in school. Homework alone cannot teach your child, but it is a great way to spur them along in their learning.
Research shows that caregiver involvement leads to better outcomes, so it makes sense to involve as many loved ones as possible during therapy sessions.
Who should use a home therapy pack?
A grown up will need to help the child with their therapy pack so they can guide them through the activities and give them feedback on what went well and if they have made a mistake.
Your child may already be receiving speech or language input from a therapist and working on a specific therapy target. You can select a Home Therapy Pack that links in with their current target to help practise at home. Our Home Therapy Packs are also available for families who are just looking to boost specific skills at home.
You are the expert of your child - you will know if they will prefer 'special time' when just the two of you play with the pack together...but don't be afraid to include other family members, especially siblings - it helps to make it more like your are playing together rather than doing 'work'.
If you're not sure what to do, please get in touch with our friendly team who can chat with you and offer free advice.
When should I use a home therapy pack?
Working on your games and activities at least 2-3 times a week would be great if you have the time...a little bit every day can make a huge difference but it can be hard to juggle everything so whatever extra support you can do is great - the main thing is to have fun!
Start with just one game - don't try and do the whole pack in one go. Just 10-15 minutes playing the activities will help to keep your child focussed and interested.
Remember that you know your child best! Think about what time of the day might be best to work on your Home Therapy Pack? You may choose to use active tasks that can help to burn off excess mental and physical energy, or sit-down tasks at a table to calm them down before bed.
What is in a home therapy pack?
Each pack will vary slightly in it's contents but as a general guide your pack will contain:
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A small step therapy guide – Book ‘A’. This explains how we do our therapy.
Your child might be making good progress with their therapy, so they might not be starting at the beginning of the programme at home – (For example your child may be stronger in the comprehension tasks and so might need to focus on the expression tasks which are explained in the book.) so you can select the tasks that are most useful at home.
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Game ideas and activities – Book ‘B’. This book includes handy hints on using your pack. We’ve included a variety of game ideas - some are active to burn off excess energy and some are better completed sat on the floor or at a table for quiet time! Some will focus on comprehension tasks, others will focus on expression tasks.
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Workbook – Book ‘C’. This has additional activities for you to enjoy at home!
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Resources. This may be picture cards which focus on your child’s programme topic and/or some other useful resources and pictures such as spinners or counters.
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(Small children will need supervising when using the packs due to them containing small parts.)
How do I use a home therapy pack?
Before starting to support your child, take time to familiarise yourself with the pack and activities before using them with your child so you feel confident in using it.
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Select a game or activity and make sure you have all the items you may need. (We use games and activities as the child can then see the game coming to an end as they collect pieces/progress through the game, rather than doing something just for a set amount of time.
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Set up the game or activity before encouraging your child to come and play - this can help children who have limited attention as the task will be 'ready to go' so their focus will be on playing, rather than on waiting for it to start!
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Explain what your child needs to do in the game and what words/sounds you be looking out for them to find or listening for them to use.
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Play the game/activity - don't forget to give them praise and feedback on how they are doing.... "Oh well done, you found the right one/used your sound!" or "Oh that was a great try - can you say it like me (repeat the words for them) /Oh nearly, it was this one." If we don't gently correct children, they won't know they've made an error. Try and focus on specific times to give feedback so they're not constantly being corrected.