Strategies to help children

develop expressive language

Identifying processes in expressive language

Encouraging children to use gestures, drawing or
writing to aid understanding of their speech

Helping children to develop strategies for word

finding

Helping children to develop narrative skills

Developing strategies for helping children promote

discourse competence

Children with expressive language difficulties

If a child's speech and language production appears to be delayed
or disordered in any way when compared to other children their age,
this is called an expressive language difficulty.
You may find that a child speaks normally, but sounds like a much
younger child. Perhaps they are only using one or two words together
or perhaps they are speaking in short telegrams, rather than fluent
sentences when compared to the others.
You may notice that some children speak unclearly, cannot coordinate their speech sounds correctly, consistently swap sounds or
seem unable to 'get their tongues around' certain sounds.
Some children appear to speak nonsense and may even have
developed their own bank of words for certain things - we call this
'jargon'.

Supporting children with expressive language

difficulties
What to do?
keep a note of the speech sounds a child can make. It is useful
to tape record these, taking a sample both in the setting and at
home where the child will be more relaxed.
If word that is not clear, do not ask them to say it correctly.
Instead, repeat the word clearly to them so that they can hear
the correct version.
use puppet play and telephone play to encourage vocalisations.
play together in small groups so that the child has a better
chance to listen carefully and respond.

Supporting children with expressive language

difficulties
When to seek help
At first, toddlers may repeat the first syllable of a word,
perhaps saying 'bobo' for 'boat'. They may also repeat a
consonant in different positions by saying 'gog' for 'dog'.
Seek helps if it continues up to the age of 3.
Two-year-olds still tend to miss off final consonants, such as
'ca' for cat, or shorten words, such as 'boo' for 'blue
All children start with single words, move on to double words
and then try short phrases followed by longer sentences. It is
normal for them to sound like little telegrams at first, but
seek help if this persists to age four.

 Typically, 'm', 'p', 'b' and 'w' sounds

develop first, soon followed by 'n', 't' and
'd' when the child is one-to-two-years-old.
The two-year-old begins to use 'k', 'g', 'h'
and 'f' sounds, followed by 'y' and 'I' when
they are about three. It is very common for
three-year-olds to say 'lellow' for 'yellow' or
to find it hard to say 'th' or 'sh' - these are
simply immaturities that generally clear up
by school age.
If help may be needed, enquire about a
referral to speech and language therapy

Supporting children with expressive language

difficulties
When the child is reading a story (or reading to), use these stories
to develop her/his language, thinking and reading skills. Some
ideas to help encourage these skills are listed below:
Ask Questions- Use those who, what, when, where and whys
to ask about the characters and events that took place in the
story. This is a good model to show your child how to
formulate questions and will encourage your child to ask
questions to seek needed information and gain knowledge.
Predict the Outcome of the Story- Ask your child to guess

 Retell the Story- After the story (or

chapter) , have the child re-tell it (or
give a brief summary for older
children) in sequence. Encourage the
child to give details.
For young children not yet reading ,
have them create their own picture
book, by drawing. They can then,
read their story and can use the
above suggestions.
Word of the Day- Introduce a
vocabulary word of the day and see
who can get the most points by using
the word correctly during that day.
Technology assistance tape

How to Help Children With Expressive Language Delay

Talk About It
Step 1: Talk to your child about everything you do, whether driving in the car,
shopping or going on a family outing.
Step 2: Make picture books about a family outing or vacation. Encourage your child to
write a sentence for each picture.
Step 3: Listen to what your child has to say. When children believe that their language
attempts are acknowledged and appreciated, it encourages further attempts.
Step 4: Tell stories to help your child develop an understanding of sequence. Pause in
your storytelling, giving him the opportunity to make comments.
Step 5: Expand on his communication attempts by making comments and asking
questions. Ask questions that require more than a yes-no response to encourage
conversation.
Step 6: Provide a good communication model - Use correct grammar when you talk

Read, Read, Read

Step 1: Read books that provide your child with good grammatical
sentences and new vocabulary to develop expressive language
skills. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends daily
reading beginning at 6 months of age for the development of
language and literacy.
Step 2: Talk about the plot as you read. Wonder aloud, I wonder why
he did that?" or That doesnt make sense to me." Wait for his
response or add your own response to demonstrate appropriate
comments and the give-and-take of conversation.
Step 3: Stop throughout the story and ask questions. What do you
think will happen now? to give him the opportunity to express his
ideas.

Playing

Step 1: Talk about activities or

games as you play with
your child. Playing one-onone gives him the
freedom to talk about an
activity without
having to compete with
more verbal siblings.
Step 2: Play word games such as I Spy or Twenty Questions that
require your child to assimilate information to make reasonable
guesses. Take time to help him see relationships between clues and
the answers he gives. For example, point out that if the object is red,

VISUAL SUPPORTS
Visual supports can be used as they are adaptable, portable
and can be used in most situations.
We see and use visual prompts every day, for example road signs,
maps and shopping lists. They help us to function, to understand the
world around us, and provide us with valuable information.
Many people with an autism are thought to be visual learners, so
presenting information in a visual way can help to encourage and
support people's
communication, language development and ability to process informa
tion
. It can also promote independence, build confidence and raise selfesteem.

STRATEGY TO USE VISUAL AIDS