Recently, I have started seeing several Early Intervention aged patients who are not only non verbal, but are almost completely silent. They make a few noises out of frustration, but are otherwise silent. I've been trying every trick I can think of to get them to make some noise! Here are the ones I have found to be the most effective and engaging for my patients.
1.) Fly Swatter - We have been whacking fake bugs with a fly swatter. I've been able to get "ew" and "whack" out of some of the kids. Some have used "no" or head shakes to indicate they were scared of the bugs. I've also been able to get some squeals and laughter.
2.) Echo Microphones (affiliate link) - There is something so fun about echo microphones. Plus, they are a super cheap addition to your therapy room. I picked mine up at DollarTree. We've yelled various vowel sounds, multisyllabic gibberish, and exclamatory phrases into them. Pro tip: Cut off the little "cord" on the bottom. I can't believe how many of my patients thought that was a straw!
3.) Voice Changer (affiliate link)- Same idea as the echo microphones, but with a fun, electronic voice. I picked up a kids one on Amazon for around $15. It has 5 different "voices" and a megaphone setting.
4.) Mirror - This worked with my super little ones that didn't wear masks or was a fun activity to encourage parents to do at home. Get super close to the mirror and make the /h/ sound onto it to fog it up. It also worked with some vowels and popping sounds. Stridents/blowing worked well if the child was able to do it motorically. The visual feedback of the fog was highly motivating!
5.) Stacking Cups (affiliate link)- We yelled or made "sound effects" into stacking cups (any kind of cup would work). It distorts the sound just enough to make it fun for your kiddos.
6.) Play Food - Rather than focusing on vocabulary, we focused on making "sound effects" while "eating" our food. You can make chomping noises, slurping noises, etc. We also used "ew" and "mmmm" to tell if we liked something or not.
7.) Animals - Making animal noises while playing with them was super fun for a lot of my kiddos. But some just weren't ready for that. We made eating noises, stomping noises, snoring noises, etc.
8.) Slide/Swing - These were great for eliciting "wee." Not to mention all the squeals and giggles!
9.) Fan - Do you remember talking into a fan to hear how it changed your voice? We did the same thing in therapy. Just bring in an table top fan and start having fun! It's great because ANY noise that you can get out of the child will work! And it encourages them to hold the noise out for longer stretches of time to get the maximum effect. This even worked with masks!
10.) Cars - There are so many environmental sounds you can target with cars if your kiddos just aren't ready for words yet - vroom, screeching, beep, honk, ahhh, wee, etc.
11.) Oral Motor Noises - Sometimes I can get those weird oral noises well before I can get environmental sounds or words. Think tongue clicking, smooching noises, lip smacking, raspberries, etc. They are fun to do and encourage oral motor play!
12.) Whispering - There is something so fun about being told a secret - even if it is gibberish! Model whispering a secret to the child - even if it's just babble. Then encourage them to return the favor!
13.) Pretending to be Hurt - Any little touch can be a dramatic affair! You can model "ow," "ouch," "oh," crying noises, etc. Then give them a little poke so they can imitate you! You can also have cars crashing into you or run over you. Pretend to fall down or bump your head. The more dramatic the better!
14.) The Dropsies - Get a case of the dropsies! With each item you drop, you can model "uh oh," "oh no, " "oops," etc to encourage some early exclamatory phrases.
I hope this gave you some fun ideas to use in your own therapy room! Thanks for stopping by!
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