19th December 2024
Speech and language therapists within the Southern Health and Social Care Trust’s Sure Start programme are reminding parents that they are the key to “supporting their children with speech and language” ahead of the toy giving season.
Simple interactions during everyday activities can significantly enhance and help children thrive in speech and language development rather than relying solely on toys or digital devices.
Speech and Language Therapists from the Trust work across nine Sure Start projects – which are designed to try and help children flourish and develop to the best of their ability – and have said that to develop speech and language therapy “you don’t need anything fancy.”
Debi, a Trust Speech and Language Therapist with the Sure Start project in Banbridge ‘Star’, said that “one of biggest messages I try to give is that parents really are the key people to support their children with speech and language.”
“When babies are born there are some instinctual things that are already in place in the brain like breathing or knowing you are hungry and that you need to cry and similarly settling back down after that need has been satisfied but all the rest of the stuff is kind of only developed through experiences.
“When you think about those early years and what experiences you are providing for the child, it’s those experiences that will shape any learning that they have.
“One of the things we try to do in speech and language is try and say how can we make your everyday experiences, whether its bath time or changing nappies or a trip to the grocery store, as kind of meaningful as we can.
“You might not think that when you are pushing the shopping trolley or changing a nappy, that it’s an opportunity to develop speech, language and communication skills but by simply following the ‘Smile, talk, laugh and sing’ message that we give, it changes the experience and makes it an opportunity to develop speech language and communication skills.”
Mum Deborah has been involved in Sure Start for almost three years.
“There is a saying that it takes a village to raise a child, and it really feels like Sure Start is your village, from a supportive point of view from parents as well as the little programmes they do for children.”
Claire Bailey, Trust Lead Speech and language therapist for Sure Start, said:
“Within Sure Start we want to support parents and children in four main areas – education and wellbeing, speech and language and communication, social interaction and also to support families with any support they might need.
“Each of the Sure Start projects offer similar broad range of programmes but are tailored to each individual area’s needs. If anyone wants to find out if there is Sure Start in their area, they can search online.”