Talking Tots

There are several reasons as to why I intentionally hold objects near my face when working with kids:

👄 It naturally promotes eye contact expected for typical communication and takes the pressure off the child to make eye contact.
👄 It directs the child’s eye gaze from the toy or picture to my mouth without having a power struggle for attention.
👄 With their attention, I am able to model how to produce a sound with my mouth so they can imitate it.
👄 I am modeling how to say or use an abstract word paired with a tangible object to increase language skills.
👄 It encourages the child to watch my facial expressions to anticipate what might happen next.

I come from an era long ago where we had to write our own research papers using our own 🧠 to put our own words together down on paper.

So go ahead and run my speech goals through your fancy AI technology. It will never replace the expertise or experience behind the clinician.

📸 Ashley | Olive Branch Photography