Fun Games To Play    
Matching Pairs
Using double copies of pictures containing target sounds or words turn cards upside down in a random order and take turns finding a pair that match. Say the words as you turn them over. You can make it harder by increasing the number of pictures.

Snap
Deal out all the cards and play each card one at a time and say the word. If a matching card is placed down, then call "snap" and that player gets the cards. The game ends when one player has no cards left.

Hide and Seek
Hide pictures of target sounds or words around the room. Your child must find the pictures and say the word when they find it.

Posting
Using a shoe box or tin, your child can help decorate it, post pictures into the box after saying the target sound or word		  

Fishing Game
An inexpensive fishing game can be purchased from supermarkets or two dollar shops. Place a picture under each fish and use the magnetic rod to catch the fish. The child then turns the picture over and says the word.

Skittles
Skittles can also be purchased from the supermarket or "two dollar" shops. Place the pictures under each skittle and as the child knocks the skittles down they say the words.

Guessing Game
This is a fun game for older children. Take a picture, but don't let your child see it. Give clues to describe the picture and see if your child can guess what it is. Let your child have a turn giving you clues.
 

Useful Links

Upper Harbour Primary School - Find out more about our Albany clinic location.

Orewa Primary School - Find out more about our Orewa clinic location.

Sunderland Primary School & College - Find out more about our Henderson clinic location.

DLTK Teach - Free educational activities.

NZSTA - Website of the New Zealand Speech-Language Therapists' Association.

Pro-Ed Centre - Educational Psychologists and Occupational Therapists "helping to solve your puzzle".

A-to-Z Phonics - Free phonics activities.

Auckland Kindergarten Association - Auckland's largest kindergarten association.

Do2Learn - Educational resources for special needs.

Solutions NZ - Resources and solutions for people with special needs.

www.starfish.org.nz - A multi-disciplinary team for beautiful and healthy minds.

www.littlies.co.nz - New Zealand's favourite practical parenting magazine.
 

Terminology

Here are some terms that your health or education provider might use when talking about speech, language or swallowing difficulties.

  • Receptive language is another way of saying understanding of language, including understanding what words mean, understanding sentences, instructions and conversation.
  • Expressive language is verbal expression, i.e. the words, phrases and sentences we use to communicate. Expressive language includes phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics.
  • Phonetics refers to the production and perception of speech sounds.
  • Phonology refers to the way sounds are put together to form words in a language. Each language (such as English) has an inventory of sounds, i.e. sounds that exist in that language, and rules that govern how the sounds are put together in words.
  • Morphology refers to the structure of words, specifically the rules for how words can be structured and meaning changed, e.g. "walk" versus "walked" changes the meaning of when it happened.
  • Syntax refers to the structure of sentences, specifically the rules for how sentences are put together in a language.
  • Semantics refers to the knowledge of word meanings, including the category that a word fits in to. For example, the word "dog" carries lots of extra semantic knowledge, it is an animal, it barks, it has four legs, a tail and it lives in a dog house. All this extra information about a word is called semantic knowledge and is stored in the 'semantic library' in our brain.
  • Pragmatics refers to the social use of language to communicate. It involves using language for different purposes, e.g. to request, to comment, to greet, to inform; understanding the rules of conversation, e.g. turn taking; and adapting language to match the listener, e.g. talking to a baby versus talking to an adult.
  • Articulation refers to how the sounds are produced using the muscles involved in speech production, e.g. lips, tongue, palate, uvula, vocal tract, vocal cords.
  • Phonological Awareness is the ability to identify and manipulate sounds in a language (including identifying same and different sounds), understanding the concepts of syllables, rhyme, identifying sounds in various positions in words, and blending and segmenting sounds in words. Phonological Awareness is one of the foundations of literacy development.
  • Aphasia is an acquired language impairment that results from damage to the language centers in the brain. It can affect understanding and expression in spoken and written language to different degrees. The terms aphasia and dysphasia are used interchangeably.
  • Apraxia/Dyspraxia refers to difficulty with executing motor plans for movement. Verbal dyspraxia specifically refers to difficulty with motor programming and planning for speech movements. Dyspraxia can be acquired, for example as a result of a stroke or other neurological event, or developmental when a child is developing language. Various terms are used to describe Developmental Dyspraxia, such as Childhood Apraxia of Speech, Developmental Verbal Dsypraxia or Dyspraxia of Speech.
  • Dysarthria refers to weakness or incoordination of the speech muscles. It can result from an acquired neurological injury such as a stroke, or can be associated with developmental disorders such as Cerebral Palsy.
  • Dysphagia refers to swallowing or feeding difficulties as a result of impairment in the muscles, reflexes and systems that support safe swallowing.