Years ago parents of the children I worked with were in need of ideas to help them carryover the therapy goals at home. I came up with a list of “50 activities to promote language learning at home” and then the list kept growing. It wasn’t until I was in a personal development class with an emphasis on what I could do to enhance my business where I thought of using those lists to create a book to help families. Once the first book was done, my publisher had the idea of creating a second book of just the illustrations and other activities as a resource for kids to enjoy. My third book coming out April 2024 will have a more hands on application of the ideas mentioned in the original book. It will give the audience suggestions on what to do in everyday situations to help promote language development.

My book “The ABC’s of Speech – Tips and Trips to Help Your Child Communicate,” is one of the best advantage speech therapy services that provides parents/caregivers/teachers hands on ideas on how to help kids who struggle with their words a way to communicate and express themselves. As the author, I give you ideas on how to break down words to improve articulation and I provide you with suggestions on ways to make learning fun!

Parents, grandparents, babysitters, teachers, coaches and anyone who works with a child that struggles to communicate or needs a little extra boost to help them learn would benefit from this book.

Parents of kids that have a child who has a lot of tantrums and doesn’t have a way to express themselves is a perfect type of candidate to read this book for ways to help their child. Behavior is communication and kids act out and have tantrums when they don’t know what to say to get what they want. My job, and what I help parents with in this book, is a way to give their child a voice. We may start with basic signs or imitation of sounds that connect meaning to words. Slowly but surely the child is realizing that they don’t have to “act out” to get what they want – it’s much easier to just “talk”. Its a work in progress to shape what they say into meaningful speech but its a beautiful process to watch unfold.

Readers will get hands on ideas and suggestions on how to incorporate language learning in the home. They will get Ideas on how to make everyday activities learning opportunities to help carryover goals at home.

My main goal for giving advantage speech therapy services, and ultimately this book, is trying to make learning fun – to take everyday interactions, things that the kids are interested in and use that as my focus for therapy. This way, the children are learning but it doesn’t feel like “work”. I talk to kids and have conversations with them to get them using THEIR words rather than the words on a worksheet. For example, a child that loves Paw Patrol we will talk about that or read a book and answer questions about the characters and what they do on their adventures. For a child who plays tennis and has an /r/ weakness, we will practice words like “shorts, court, shirt” etc. so that words they will be using will be produced with clarity. Therapy, in my opinion, has to be individualized to the child you are working with and tailored to their interests and goals.

I want to get this book in the hands of people on a broader network/spectrum in order to share the information and help those who feel like they are at the ends of their rope and just don’t know what to do a way to feel supported. 2024 marks 20 years that I will be self-employed, while I have been in the field for 27 years. I have served children in both the school system as well as private practice settings. I feel much more effective as a private therapist as the parents are more involved and the older children request the therapy so there is more investment on the family to create change.

My website www.advvantagespeech.com has a number of valuable advantage speech therapy services resources available on it – testimonials, a list of suggested resources, free coloring pages a link to be notified with future announcements, a quiz to help you understood what type of breakdown your child is having, a link to free videos, a link to amazon author page, as well as a link to an online course that dives deeper into speech and language and provides the audience with ways you can help your child communicate. You can find me @AdvantageSpeech on FB, IG, TikTok, and LinkedIn. I also have a Language Connection FB page.

Thank you to the Author’s Lounge for providing this platform for me to share my book with a wider audience!