Your one stop for all things child speech, language and communication skills!
Do you have questions about ‘where to start’ or how best to nurture the speech, language and communication skills of your child or a child you educate? If so, the Chatterbox is the place for you. We aim to answer these questions and build capacity in both parents and educators to support the development of communication skills for all children.
Ways to Engage Your Reluctant Writer
Does your young child or a child your educate need assistance, not just with writing, but to find the 'joy' in writing? This is a dilemma we face frequently particularly when working with school aged children who have struggled with speech and language skills since their preschool years. They [...]
My child speaks in ‘gobbledygoop’!
Does your young child 'sound' as though he or she is telling you a long story and yet you can't understand a word of it? Perhaps your child uses amazing facial expressions and gestures to help communicate his or her message but you can only make out a word [...]
Pop up Pirate
Ever wondered why every Speech Pathologist you have ever met has Pop up Pirate in the cupboard? This little guy has a tough life getting nudged with swords of every colour on most days of the week until he finally pops out of the barrel! Whilst it might just [...]
Struggling to fit a Speech Home Programme into your life?
So you want to help your child make steady progress towards improving his or her speech but..... Another week has passed by and you haven't managed to do much practice at home. Most parents, carers and educators we work with as Speech Pathologists come to us with the very [...]
“I don’t want to!” When Children won’t do their Speech Home Programmes
Your child or a child you educate is hard to understand. He or she may have a speech sound difficulty and you want to help. You have made a start by isolating this area of your child's development for specific attention as you know that speech that is easily [...]
Kicking Goals in Early Childhood Communication
So now you have profiled a child's communicative strengths and challenges and have some ideas brewing for where you would like to start. Things can get pretty overwhelming at this stage so here a few helpful suggestions for communication goals that can be targeted in early childhood settings during [...]