Do Our Speech Pathologists Do Speech Therapy With Their Own Kids?

As a Speech Pathologist one of the questions I am frequently asked is ‘are you doing speech therapy with your child, as your child seems to be talking more than mine?’

When I first got asked this question, I had to stop and take a moment to analyse my parenting. Do I add an element of therapy when I’m playing and interacting with my children? I quickly came to the realisation that no, I’m not using therapy as a part of my everyday communication, I’m just interacting with my kids. I’m spending quality time playing and building a beautiful relationship to enrich their skills.

I guess there is a misconception. As therapists, we do have background knowledge about a child’s development, and how to support and enhance their communication skills. But, simply playing with your child is the most important interaction they can have as they grow. Through play, a child learns through their communication partner, as they are listening, copying new vocabulary, learning facial expressions, social skills, emotions and using their imagination through actions, play and storytelling. AND LOT’S MORE. Play is an essential part of early learning in supporting a child's communication skills.

So if you take one thing away from my experience, it’s to get down and play with your child at their level. Yes that means getting down onto the floor and off your phones. We are all guilty of using our phones or technology too much, although your child will benefit and enjoy interacting with you.

Don’t get me wrong, we all have those days where we want a break and find ourselves sitting the children in front of the television, whether it’s to ‘finally’ finish one cup of coffee before it goes cold, or hanging the washing out. We aren’t perfect, we are humans, we are prone to make mistakes, buts it’s still important we take the time to spend quality time playing with our children.

Firstly, I’m a mother to my two beautiful children and secondly a Speech Pathologist.

Hayley