Super-Sensory Speech

Students with speech and language disorders communicate differently from their peers. For example, when it comes to the classic issues — lisping, turning Rs into Ws, stuttering — speech-language therapy makes an enormous difference to students’ confidence. These things may be cute at four years of age, but for adolescents these lead to serious problems. Communication disorders significantly erode student confidence.
Early intervention in a proper environment can reduce communication disorders in children and adolescents. Communication is an essential life skill affecting every aspect of academic success. Communication disorders not only affect oral/verbal communication but written communication as well. Good communication, oral and written, is necessary in the development of soft skills, attributes that enable someone to interact effectively with other people. Good communication is essential in high school to assure college and career readiness. Speech therapy in an innovativ sensory environment will increase student learning, build confidence, ensure school success, and give students tools they need to combat their speech disorders for the rest of their lives, college, careers and beyond.
This grant will be utilized to create and establish a sensory environment within the speech therapy resource room. A sensory environment will allow the therapist to provide more intense speech therapy services that uniquely tailor to individual student needs and learning styles. Not only will the sensory speech therapy room impact those students on our current caseload, but will continue to be utilized for years to come.
Research has proved that early intervention programs demonstrated significant and often sizable benefits in at least one of the following domains: cognition and academic achievement, behavioral and emotional competencies, educational progression and attainment, and labor market success. In adults, good communication skills are essential for both labor market and social relationship success. Though we will focus on speech and language development in our pre-school thru 8th grade students, the art of communication continues to evolve through high school, college and life experiences.
The sensory speech therapy environment can/will be utilized by the school speech therapists, students, related service providers such as OT & PT, paraprofessionals, regular and special education teachers, parents and peer tutors. Not only will this sensory environment impact students receiving speech therapy services, when not in use for therapy others can utilize the area for tutoring, individual and/or small group instruction, or any way to address IEP goals of students with disabilities to increase academic success thus improving graduation rate and college and career readiness.