Speech therapist, Bronwen Campbell and I, have designed a unique oral sensory motor game called Drop the Spot, which will be available through Smile Education in South Africa from 3 September 2006. Bronwen is also the innovative therapist behind the Chat Pack concept which is used by speech therapists and parents. Here is some background information from Bronwen about the Chat Pack. For more information contact broncam@iafrica.com.

ABOUT THE CHAT PACK

Early in 2005, I got my hand on some wonderful speech equipment from America. My intention was to utilize these tools in therapy in an attempt to enhance my therapy techniques and to try new methods, which are not widely practiced in South Africa. This however, was not the case…the “Chat-Pack” came into fruition due to a number of children, their parents, and my colleagues encouraging me to provide the speech equipment for them, and to bring them into the country for wider use. What was a small exercise has become a challenging and incredibly exciting project! I am now able to provide home programmes that include speech devices for children. This certainly enhances their practicing and is thoroughly entertaining!

The Chat-Pack© consists of the some therapy tools in a handy carry bag, as well as a manual outlining the usage and aims of these tools. Parents are encouraged to really get involved in the therapeutic process and to add to the Chat-Pack© should they find extra whistles and straws. Through the use of tactile, visual and auditory feedback, the Chat-Pack© will provide cues for different oral postures and movement patterns. The Chat-Pack© will also help to lay down motor plans that are similar to speech sounds, increase tone, improve lip closure and tongue muscle tone and posture. Proprioceptive and tactile feedback is an important motor learning principle, which is part of articulation and phonological processing therapy. The Chat-Pack© is a fun way to establish motor learning and facilitate articulator placement.

Object of the Chat Pack:

To suck, swallow, breathe and blow as much as possible! Children will master the integration of these skills, which are necessary for speech development. How to use the Chat Pack: The beauty of the Chat-Pack is that it is easy to implement and is a fun way to exercise the oral cavity. The Chat-Pack can be played almost anytime and any place. The manual provides several examples of learning opportunities, during which the Chat-Pack can be played, with or without parental facilitation. The fun part of this game is simply in the blowing of the whistles. Children can even blow on these whistles, without even having to hold them in their mouths. Skills developed by the Chat Pack:

• Improve voluntary control of oral movements in non-speech processes.
• Improve motor planning of oral functions: sucking, swallowing, breathing.
• Improve voluntary control of oral movements for speech processes.
• Improve motor planning to establish a phoneme repertoire for language.
• Improve synchrony of airflow and vocalization patterns for speech.
• Improve ribcage mobility and stability for effective breath control.
• Improve laryngeal control.
• Improve speech sound awareness.
• Improve postural aspects affecting speech production.
• Retrain tongue position and habitual movement for incorrect sounds.
• Eliminate or reduce the open mouth posture.
• Improve muscle strength, tone, co-ordination and synchrony of oral movements.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 1st, 2006 at 9:17 pm and is filed under General, Speech & Language, Toy Talk. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.