Speech Therapy – Parent Letter

Dear parent, family member and/or caregiver,

Included are handouts that Racker’s Speech Therapy Team has carefully selected as excellent resources to expand knowledge on Speech, Language, and Feeding skills. Below is a breakdown of the use of each handout. To access the handout, click on the link associated with the name of each file.

1. Developmental Milestones for Communication: This ‘Mommy and Me Milestones’ resource breaks down language development between birth and 36 months. Each page describes the milestones you would typically expect to see within the age range and provides you with 3-5 tips or activities to work on those milestones. Depending on the range of communication skills your child is currently demonstrating, you will have an array of tips and activities to work on with your child.

2. 25 Speech and Language Activities: This fun and engaging document consists of 25 different speech and language activities to try at home. These activities can be worked into your everyday routines (e.g., play, mealtimes, reading, bath time, in the car, etc.). They address various goals (e.g., using visuals, giving choices, repeating, modeling).

3. Speech and Language Tips: The Hanen Centre is a great parent friendly resource that provided parents/caregivers with tips and tricks to support a child communication. There are 3 separate additional links to look into if your child communicates without words, is just starting to talk, or is talking in sentences. Each link has a recommended activity or strategy to do to aid in speech and language development.

4. 15 Food Play Ideas for Picky Eaters: Is your child a picky eater? Do they avoid certain foods? This resource guides you to introduce food through play-based activities (e.g., painting with food, building castles, guessing games, etc.). The expectations are to expose your child to new and different foods through play and let them touch, or taste the food as desired. There is no set expectation of them to eat the food; rather, encouraging them to by fun, creative and silly with food.

If you continue to have questions or concerns, please reach out to the Racker Speech Therapy team at the email address or phone number listed below.

Thank you,

Racker’s Speech Therapy Team

Email – speechtherapy@racker.org

Phone – (607) 753-9375 or (607) 272-5891