Tele-Practice Tips and Tricks for Early Intervention
Is tele-practice impossible for children ages 5 and under? In my opinion, NO!
The most important tips I can provide are engage the family in the planning and be flexible.
Here are a few more "must dos" for virtual treatment in early intervention:
Use the camera to your advantage... get close, get very close! Move your toys and activities close to the camera for maximum effect!
Use a headset with microphone.
Plan to use toys and activities that the family also has access to, or send ahead anything the family will need to print prior to your session.
Use REAL Books. Virtual books are great, and can be very interactive; however, if you are seeking engagement, and your plan is to elicit speech and/or language, there is nothing better than a real book....especially, if it has repeatable lines or musicality (e.g., Brown Bear by Eric Carle, Pete the Cat I love my White Shoes by James Dean)
Did someone say PUPPETS? Puppets are an incredible way to manage a young child's engagement. They can sing, they can dance, they can "eat" things, they can help read books or show you how to make different sounds... Don't underestimate the power of the PUPPET! Coming soon... Puppets that have the capability to "eat and swallow"... Available for purchase on this site! Please send a request on the website if interested.
Play-Doh and Cookie Cutters: Think of the all the words and sounds you can elicit... "Roll it, push it, smash, cut, out/in." I also love homemade play doh! I add food coloring and essential oils for a sensory experience. Keep in an air tight container. Here's a great recipe. makeandtakes.com/3-ingredient-play-dough
For virtual activities, specifically for speech, I Love Feed the Fox on boomlearning.com You can choose the sound you want to address, and feed the fox pictures with the desired sound depicted, while on the hunt for the elusive gingerbread man! The one draw back of this boom card is that it doesn't separate the words into initial, medial and final positions. If you are working on a sound in a specific position of a word, you would have to regulate that.
Virtual, wordless picture books and/or videos... I love these because you can pause the video during different scenes and ask questions or help the child elicit a verbal narrative. Many can be found on YouTube.com Here is a list of my favorites:
a. Found on YouTube channel Northern Bright Bookshelf
b. The Umbrella on YouTube channel Northern Bright Bookshel
c. Chalk by Bill Thomson
d. Ormie by Arc Productions
Here's to fostering effective communication at any age, under any circumstance! Communicate 2 Grow!!
