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How to: Keep Your Kids Sounding Their Best!

 
It is important to teach our kids the importance of taking care of our bodies, and our voice is no exception!  Voice disorders are not just limited to adults, so it is crucial for children to be conscious of how to avoid vocal abuse and take care of their voices.  With summer fun in full force and back to school approaching, it is important to be aware of causes and symptoms of vocal issues in addition to tips to practice healthy voicing.

Causes of Voice Issues:

Allergies, Large tonsils or adenoids, Illness (respiratory infections), Reflux Issues, Nodules and polyps on vocal cords, Poor voice habits and voice misuse.

If your child is experiencing any of these symptoms persistently, it is important to consult an ENT or Speech-Language Pathologist to identify a cause and treatment plan.  To prevent a vocal misuse or problems caused by poor voice habits, encourage your child to practice good vocal hygiene with the following 7 tips:

1. Hydration:

Encourage your child to drink lots of water. Hydration is super important for our vocal cord to vibrate correctly and safely when we talk.  Without hydration, our vocal cords do not function properly.  

2. Say no to caffeine:

Limit your child’s caffeine intake. Caffeine naturally dehydrates our body, in addition to our vocal cords.  

3. Quiet down!

Avoid yelling and screaming. In order for us to yell, our vocal chords crash into each other rapidly to produce our loud volume.  This behavior can cause vocal cord damage and issues.  

4. Give It a Rest:

Incorporate vocal rest into daily routine. It is important to allow our vocal cords and voice adequate rest time during the day.  Whether that be an hour or so before bedtime, or quiet time in the afternoon, resting our voice throughout the day can prevent overuse.  

5. A-hem! Avoid throat clearing:

Avoid excessive coughing and throat clearing: Just like yelling, coughing and throat clearing are produced by the vocal cords rapidly moving and crashing into each other.  This movement can cause damage to our cords and voice.  Consult an ENT if these behaviors are excessive to identify the cause.  

6. Turn down the background noise:

Talk in quiet spaces and avoid areas with loud background noises. This will encourage your child to not yell or feel the need to talk over background noise.  Avoiding these areas will help your child not strain their vocal muscles to speak.  

7. Relax those muscles:

Practice muscle relaxation techniques. If you notice your child exhibiting strained behaviors in the neck and facial areas, encourage them to practice relaxing their face and neck muscles during down time and incorporate during speaking activities.

Katie Sinclair, M.A., CCC-SLP

 
Katie Sinclair, M.A., CCC-SLP
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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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