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3 Easy Steps to Carry Over Any Skill

Carryover and generalization are often the most difficult stages of therapy. It is easy for the child to produce a sound during drill and practice in therapy, but how do you get her to correctly produce it in spontaneous conversation? How do you get a child to use a social skill outside of a scripted practice conversation? How do you get an elderly patient to use compensatory memory skills out in the community? Here are three steps to take to target carryover skills:

 

STEP 1:

 

Establish the environment

A child spends almost all his time in two places: school and home. Therefore any skill you want the child to carryover should focus on these two environments. Is the child working on a social skill? Then you need to consider who that child will be socializing with. Parents? Siblings? Teachers? Peers? The child’s carryover practice should focus on who he will be interacting with and adjusted accordingly. If the child is working on greeting, then he needs to learn how to appropriately greet not only a peer, but an unfamiliar adult. This means the child should practice when it is appropriate to say “Hey, what’s up?” versus “Hi, how are you?” Alternatively, a dementia patient living in a skilled nursing facility does not need to work on navigating a grocery store. Carryover activities should focus on things applicable to the skilled nursing environment, such as remembering the way to the dining hall or recalling the name of the therapist.

STEP 2:

The More, the Merrier

Expand practice to include other people. Someone who stutters may feel comfortable using fluency strategies when speaking to her therapist, but becomes anxious ordering food in a restaurant. Once a client learns a skill, practice using it with different people in places outside the therapy room. A person with Parkinson’s may speak at an appropriate volume when conversing with the therapist because he is mindful that his voice is being assessed, but then drop back to a whisper when asking his wife where the newspaper is. Get family members, friends, teachers, and caretakers involved on the therapy goals.

STEP 3: 

Self Monitor, Self-Assess

Encourage the client to self-monitor and self-assess. Instead of giving feedback on a skill, ask the client how he thinks he did. Ask him what he thinks he did well, and what he needs to correct. You, the therapist, will not be with him all the time to model skills, correct mistakes, or confirm mastery of a target. Once you have taught him the skills and strategies he needs, it is his job to remember and employ them.

Independence is always the ultimate goal!

 

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Crystal Scheibe

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Great place, glad we found them. Been going to Medina over 2 months now and he loves Lauryn and Kyler. Wish they had more ABA therapy places available... live in Wooster and long drive everyday.

Karrie Swan LaRock

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My 11 year old son has dyslexia and has made noticeable gains in working At LLA THERAPY. Katie is strong in her approach toward him and also keeps him comfortable enough to perform well. We will continue visiting both the Fairlawn and Hudson offices and recommend them highly.

Ron Monroe

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My 9 year old just completed about 9 months of weekly speech sessions (due to his stuttering) with Matt Hagge at LLA and we are thrilled with the experience and results. What I thought might be a negative (what kid really wants to go to speech class?) was made very positive by Matt, and my son never hesitated or complained when we talked about class. He really enjoyed it and really took what Matt taught him to heart. His speech has been greatly improved and we definitely recommend LLA. Thank you so much!

Heather Dougherty-Pantoja

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My son’s Occupational Therapist, Jess, is an amazing OT! She gives practical tips on working with my son at home and school!

Terri Apgar

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I cannot say enough good things about LLA Therapy. My daughter was a client of Teal Simmons’ for approximately 2 years and was just released from speech therapy! She was diagnosed with Apraxia in 2015 and worked with Teal twice a week. Through Teal’s application of PROMPT therapy, my daughter had age-appropriate speech after one year. All of the staff we interacted with at LLA were absolutely wonderful. They really care about what they do and making sure your child achieves their goals.

Kelli Geisler Davisson

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LLA Therapy has been an excellent experience for my son as well as my family! My son always asks, "When can I go see Ms. Jeannine again, is it Monday??" He has also made huge gains in only 5 months! I would highly recommend LLA and have already shared my experience with friends looking for services!

Victoria Hansford-Price

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We are so grateful for our Speech Therapist Ms.Teal. We have seen a great improvement with our sons confidence and communication abilities since we have started "Prompt" therapy. What we love the most about LLA and Ms. Teal is that Kohl feels comfortable and relaxed which has played a critical role in his progress. Thank you Ms. Teal for all you have done.

Laura Lee Hogsett

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They have helped in numerous ways. Speech, OT and behavioral. I've had numerous compliments on my son's progress thanks in very large part to LLA. I would recommend LLA before I recommend our local children's hospitals, though they are good, they don't have the staff that LLA does.

Amy Furukawa

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We had a great experience with Matt Hagge at LLA! Our Middle School age son was becoming very conscious of his voice, which is nasal due to a cleft palate. Matt helped him to better form his sounds and project his voice in a way that makes the unavoidable nasality less noticeable.Our son is more confident and outgoing & even took on a speaking role in the church play. Matt has the perfect personality to relate with our son, and we would recommend him to anyone needing speech therapy services!

Jessica Havalotti

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LLA Therapy has been an excellent experience for our daughter. I would highly recommend LLA. Miss Grace was so amazing and I can't believe how quickly our daughter showed improvement. Thank you!
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