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What’s at Stake If You Don’t Regularly Read to Your Child

We first learned about “The Word Gap” in the famous 1995 study by Betty Hart and Todd Risley entitled “The Early Catastrophe”. The results of their research indicated that low income babies and toddlers are exposed to 30,000 fewer words than their higher income peers by age 3.

This gap in vocabulary reaps havoc on overall language ability and ultimately, future literacy and learning skills.

To boot, we are rapidly becoming a “screen-society.” Look around your local park or a restaurant and you will find toddlers on devices. There are certainly benefits to educational and learning apps, but they do not even hold a candle to the effectiveness of adult interaction.
In addition to talking and interacting with toddlers regularly, engaging in a shared story time and reading to your child daily are essential for language, speech, learning, and literacy development.
There is a heck-of-a-lot to risk otherwise!

Speech & language benefits of reading to your child regularly

1. Promotes vocabulary growth and strengthens existing vocabulary
2. Introduces literature and story elements (characters, setting, conflict, etc.)
3. Introduces phonological skills such as rhyming
4. Provides children with a model for proper use of pitch, inflection, and volume to emphasize the meaning of words and phrases.

Parent tips & guidelines to reading to your child

1. Rituals

– Creating a story-telling ritual is very important in preparing your child to listen and engage in conversation.

2. Child involvement is key

– It is important to engage the child in the story and allow them to actively participate. This could be as simple and engaging in early literacy skills (turning pages, pointing to words, etc.) or answering questions about the story the ensure comprehension.

3. Use repetitive and predictable stories

– This will allow children to easily follow the story, repeat newly learned words or phrases, and emphasize rhyming words.

4. Change inflection, pitch and volume

Use these changes to indicate the tone of the character and story, highlight the character’s feelings and emotions, and maintain your child’s interest.

Material suggestions

The beauty of story-telling is that it requires little to no materials!  You can create a story using you and your child’s imagination, or read a favorite book.
Here are some book suggestions that are easy to implement the tips and guidelines above:
1. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See?
2. Very Hungry Caterpillar
3. There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly

Katie Sinclair, SLP

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Patient Reviews

LLA Therapy

Patient Reviews

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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