Language Book: Teach Me How to Say It Right
A Synopsis of the Book by Dorothy P. Dougherty
The clear language in the book Teach Me How to Say It Right by Dorothy P. Dougherty, MA, CCC-SLP [New Harbringer Publications, Inc., 2005] fully explains terms thrown around in the industry in a way that even the layperson can fully understand. The book provides checklists, activities, and resources for parents of children who are both normally developing and having some articulation problems. It is also a valuable resource for educators who are concerned about the speech and language development of their students.
About Dorothy P. Dougherty
Dougherty has been a speech-language pathologist for over twenty-five years. She works with both children and adults. Her experience has included work in schools, clinical and private settings. She co-founded Atlantic Behavior Care, which provides consultation, psychological, and speech and language services to people aged preschool to adult. She has also written the book How to Talk to Your Baby: A Guide to Maximizing Your Child’s Language and Learning Skills [Perigee Trade, 2001]. She has also posted articles on a variety of parenting websites.
Speech Development in Children
In the first three chapters, Dougherty provides clear definitions of speech and language. She outlines common mistakes found in children’s speech and provides timelines for them to self-correct. She also details common speech problems that can develop.
To prevent parents from becoming “speech hypochondriacs”, she breaks down typical speech development, starting from birth up through older than six years old. She also provides a checklist for parents that can be used to indicate a potential problem. She provides tips for parents to enrich their child’s language environment.
Articulation Problems
Next, Dougherty explains the various functional problems, environmental factors, and organic problems that can contribute to an articulation problem. This is basically when a child is unable to correctly produce all of the sounds in the spoken language. To further explain these problems she includes case studies of children with whom she has worked.
Language Development
Language consists of speaking, reading, writing, gesturing, listening, and watching. Receptive language is the language being taken in by the child; expressive is the language coming out of the child. Often, articulation problems come hand-in-hand with a language disorder.
Dougherty takes the time to break down typical language developmental milestones. Again, she provides checklists for parents to use as they assess their child’s development. For both parents who suspect an issue, and for those who are just looking to enrich their child’s language experience, she gives several examples of activities to do at home.
Learning to Talk and Phonological Awareness
Teaching your child to talk goes hand-in-hand with developing phonological awareness. Modeling correct speech patterns and emphasizing sounds helps your child as he learns how to speak and pronounce words. Emphasis on sounds also trains his ear for the different sounds he will encounter when he learns how to read.
Dougherty divides sounds into categories, based on their similar formation and difficulty, and provides lists of activities to help practice them all.
Getting Professional Help for Speech Problems
Dougherty concludes by providing a generic list of resources for finding help. The parent will have to look for specifics within her own geographical area.
Dougherty also gives lists of questions for both the parent to ask herself, as well as the evaluators and service providers, to guarantee the best fit and most productive experience.
The glossary in the back will also help the parent understand the jargon as she pursues help for her child.
This comprehensive overview of speech and language development, appropriate activities, and where to find help when needed, is a beneficial resource on the bookshelf of any parent or educator.
My Well-Worn Copy
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