Written by Jill Hicks, Speech-Language Pathologist, September 2024

Practicing speech in the clinic vs outside the clinic

If your child is being seen by a speech-language pathologist, you've likely been given some targets to practice.  If you're fortunate enough to observe your child's sessions with the SLP, you can see how they practice with your child.

There are three main ways to do effective speech practice outside the SLP clinic.  Please note this is not a discussion of what to practice.  The targets, or speech and language goals, will have been carefully chosen by your SLP.  Instead, this is a discussion of how to practice – the most effective ways to practice targets.  Each of these ways has its own merits and in combination is likely to result in the fastest progress.

The top 3 ways to practice speech targets are situations of High Repetition, High Interest, and High Utility.

High Repetition

It has been said by various people that in order to completely master a complex skill, we need to put in 10,000 hours devoted to learning that skill.  Whether it’s learning to play soccer, draw horses, or do complex mental math it makes sense that the more we practice the closer we’ll get to achieving a skill.  The more we repeat over and over swinging a golf club or balancing on a beam, the easier it becomes.  This principle of success with repeated practice also applies to learning new speech and language targets.
I’m not suggesting a child needs 10,000 hours of practice for each target.  But I am suggesting that repetition yields more opportunities to practice and have success. 
This first method "High Repetition" can also be called a Structure Practice Session.  During a structured practice session the adult assembles the required materials  and sets aside a block of time to practice.  The child is given numerous, repeated opportunities to practice their target.  Because the materials  are chosen by the adult there are a high number of targets represented by the materials.
In a structured practice session it’s often easier to pay close attention to how your child is speaking, and to model refinements.  If makes sense to do Structured Practice when your child is not tired, hungry or upset.

Many children may not be internally motivated to repeatedly practice targets.  Especially, young children may find it difficult to attend to repeated opportunities to say their target. This is where reinforcement can be very valuable.  Giving the child a turn doing something he or she likes is usually enough to motivate a child to attempt a target.  Let’s give an example.  Sue deletes final consonants.  Sue’s SLP has set the goal of Sue learning to say the /t/ sound on the end of words.  In the High Repetition method, the adult collects  items (or photos) that end in the /t/ sound.  For example, the collection of items could include:  hat, cat, mat, pot, mitt, net, nut, etc.  The adult has the items in a box or bag and pulls out one at a time and gives the child the opportunity to say the word.
[Please note:  Whether the adult models the word or expects the child to say it on his own depends on the child’s level of mastery of the target.  Please see the November 8, 2022 blog post entitled, “How much support is too much?”]
Sue’s parents know Sue loves puzzles.  So as soon as Sue attempts to say a target, she is given a piece to put in the puzzle.  This immediate positive reinforcement helps Sue stay focused and motivated to keep trying to say target words.
For young children, it is very important during the High Repetition method that the adult controls the toy.  So the puzzle is out of Sue’s reach except when she has just attempted a target.  Once Sue attempts the target, the puzzle is placed in front of her and she is given a new piece to put in the puzzle. 
Some other ideas of high interest turn-taking games to use as reinforcement are stacking blocks, a ball drop, blowing bubbles, taking a turn in a game, stamping or putting a sticker in one square of a grid.

Structured practice sessions don’t have to be 60 or 30 minutes long like your sessions with the SLP.  High Repetition sessions at home or school can be shorter for children who lose interest more quickly.   So, for example, you could do a 15 minute High Repetition session in the morning, a 10 minute session in the afternoon, and a 10 minute session in the evening.

High Repetition sessions take effort on the part of the adult.  They require some preparation to assemble materials, organize a quiet distraction-free place to practice, and figure out what toy(s) to use as reinforcement.  Although it takes some effort to prepare, High Repetition opportunities will help your child move closer to achieving their targets.  And you'll feel empowered knowing you have the skills to set everything up, and practice with intention.

In the next blog post I will discuss the other 2 effective methods of practicing speech:  High Interest and High Utility.  Stay tuned.....

How providing the right amount of support enhances skill development.  Written by Jill Hicks, November 2022