When a parent visits our speech therapy clinics with their little one, they’ll sometimes bring along a sibling or two. While the first couple of sessions are focused on assessing and getting to know the little one that needs our services, over time it can be helpful to get siblings involved in different aspects of speech therapy.
From in-clinic speech therapy sessions to telehealth and even home practice, involving siblings in speech therapy can be beneficial for the child receiving therapy and their family.
In today’s article, we’re going to share some of the recommendations and success stories from our team of passionate Speech Pathologists. We have three clinics across Queensland, and our team support a wide range of clients (and their families!) to achieve the best outcomes possible.
Keep on reading to find out how you could include your child’s siblings in their speech therapy journey to keep things fun and help them to achieve their goals.
How to Involve Siblings in Speech Therapy and Home Practice
1: Include siblings in therapy games
One of the easiest ways to involve siblings in speech therapy is to make them a player in a game. This can have many benefits from helping the child to practice turn taking skills to keeping the child engaged in a therapy session.
2: Have the child attending speech therapy teach their sibling
This strategy is great to use with children who love to take charge. If your child is doing speech therapy, they might like to involve their sibling by “playing teacher”. After they’ve gotten familiar with their therapy target (a sound, a word, or a concept) they can ‘teach’ their sibling! This can be done in a therapy session or at home during home practice.
3: Encourage older siblings to help with positive reinforcement
If your child in speech therapy has siblings that are a few years older than them, this can be a great opportunity for their siblings to provide encouragement and support. If your little one has a speech delay or disorder for example, anytime they produce the correct target sound or word at home or out in the community, their siblings can help to give them praise! This positive reinforcement can go a long way in building your child’s confidence as they progress through speech therapy.
4: Have siblings get crafty during speech therapy sessions
One of the ways our Speech Pathologists like to get siblings involved in speech therapy is setting up crafty activities for them to complete during the session time. Kelsey, from our Mackay clinic, enjoys printing out a ‘certificate’ for the sibling (or siblings!) to colour in that they can give their loved one. Once they finish the speech therapy session, the client and their sibling can put stickers on the certificate! How cute is that?
5: Become a speech therapy cheerleader
Sure, sometimes being the sibling and waiting for a speech therapy appointment to be finished can be a little boring. A good way to encourage siblings and lift their mood is to give them a new important role – being the cheerleader! If they join a speech therapy session but aren’t involved in the session, they can cheerlead by being great listeners. When their sibling is finished with a session, they can be the cheerleader by celebrating their hard work.
We hope you’ve found some helpful ideas for involving your little one’s siblings in their speech therapy journey. For more tips and tricks to help you make the most of your child’s time in speech therapy, visit the SpeechEase blog.
