Summer is upon us yet again, and I don't know about you, but the year for me has FLOWN by. You want your kids to relax and have fun over the summer, you think about next school year and how your kids could continue to move ahead over the summer.
It's unfortunate that, in the public schools, summer goals for kids with special needs don't extend beyond reasonable maintenance of skills gathered over the previous year. The vast majority of special needs children being served in schools cannot get therapy through the school over the summer. It is difficult to find summer therapists through the schools, and even harder to prove the kind of regression it takes to get a student qualified for summer services. I used to give the speech myself as a school-based SLP.
If you ask me, there's something amiss there. Kids with speech delay take a three-month break over the summer, come back to school with the same delays they had the year before (minus typical regression), and the cycle starts all over again. It's one of the reasons that kids who only get school services have a tendency to stay in speech for so long. Add in a new teacher who may not know your child's history very well, possibly a new speech teacher (school therapists get moved around a lot), and it gets even more complicated.
Many different studies have shown that students with communication disorders are perceived as less successful in the classroom (Bennett & Runyan, 1982; Cummins, 1986). There has also been a demonstrated mismatch between teachers' expectations of children with communication disorders, and what those children are actually capable of. Research has even shown that a connection between teachers' expectations and student classroom performance, which can lead to self-fulfilling prophecies (Braun, 1976; Brophy & Good, 1970; Good, (1970).
Language disorders affect how well a child is able to express themselves and understand expectations in the general classroom, but that does NOT mean that they are not capable of performing in the classroom.
So what do you do? While summer needs to be a bit of a break from all the pressures of school, summer should not be a time to push aside your child's needs and education.
Private speech therapy over the summer can be a great option for kids. 1-3 visits per week with a therapist can help to take the summer from reasonable maintenance to reasonable progress. Alternatively, you can have a speech pathologist take a look at your child and their goals and develop a home program for the summer. This option takes more personal commitment on the part of the parents, since the entire burden of summer practice rests with you and the people caring for your child over the summer. At the very least, you should spend a lot of time over the summer talking to and with your child - about everything you do!
When it comes to language, children are often able to learn through experience rather than things like drills. Summer is a fantastic time to have new experiences. Visit a museum, an aquarium, the zoo, the pool! You can have new experiences even at your own home. Bubbles in the backyard, playing in the sprinkler, even walking around the neighborhood or riding a bike is perfect for language enrichment.
Articulation delays and disorders often require a lot of drill and practice to make improvements. This kind of practice isn't the most fun activity in the world, but there are ways to make it enjoyable for your kids. Practicing articulation skills can keep a little routine in your summer, and keep your child in the habit of doing homework, without all the pressure of school. Again, this is where a program or some intervention from a speech pathologist can be invaluable.
The goal for summer shouldn't be maintaining (or not losing many) skills. The goal of summer should be starting your child's next year ahead of where they ended the last year. Special needs do not just go away over the summer. Our children, especially our special needs kids, still need help and guidance when school is not in session. Some creativity, and a little help from an SLP, can make your child's summer fun AND beneficial for them all at the same time.
REFERENCES:
Bennett, C.W. & Runyan, C.M. (1982). Educators’ perceptions of the effects of communication disorders upon educational performance. Language, Speech and Hearing Services in Schools, 13, 260-263
BROPHY, J. E., & GOOD, T. L (1970). Teacher’s communication of differential expectations for children’s classroom performance: Some behavioral data Journal of Educational Psychology, 61, 365-374.
BRAUN, C (1976) Teacher expectation: Soclopsychological dynamics Review of Educational Research, 46, 158-213.
GOOD, T. L. (1970). Which students do teachers call on2 Elementary School Journal. 70, 190-198.
MARRS, Isa. (2013). Summer and Speech Delays. Retrieved from http://www.speechlanguagefeeding.com.
RIPICH, D. N. (1989) Building classroom communication competence: A case for a multi-perspective approach Seminars in Speech and Language, 10, 231-240.
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