Oct 18th, 2012 Newsletter - "The Teaching of Talking"
Carry Over
The word carry over may be unfamiliar to many. It is a term most speech and hearing professionals know and understand because they were trained with its terminology. Unfortunately for many lay people the term carry-over is often confusing and misunderstood.
The word carry over is learning something at an automatic level. Most of us remember learning how to count to 100, the times tables, riding a bike, and learning how to use a computer or smart phone. For me, one of the major challenges was learning how to type, and wondering how I would ever be able to sit down to a keyboard and type with the speed of 40-60 words a minute. But I went to typing class and did it almost every day, over and over and had a set strategy of sequential exercises or typing experiences that followed a logical sequence. Carry over in speech therapy is like learning how to type, drive a stick shift, or learning how to do something so that it occurs, automatically, with little conscious thought. The interesting thing about carry over is that it requires practice and repetition. It's somewhat difficult in the beginning and you have to think consciously about what you are going to do next. With practice the act becomes easier and soon you don't even have to think about how to do it.
One of the critical points about carry over of any new speech behavior is that it requires repetition. If you are doing something one way it is often difficult to change something that is automatic. We must practice the new behavior that is desired many times until it is learned; then carry-over occurs. Many people who undergo speech therapy believe all they have to do is show up, and somehow they will get better or develop the new speaking behavior. In some rare cases it happens. The truth is, the new speaking behavior must be repeated until it is learned or until it replaces the old behavior.
For the purpose of this article, I would like to review the concept of learning how to type or keyboard. Most courses meet almost every day for an hour, and with that daily practice the skill of using a keyboard slowly develops. Weekly typing or keyboarding tests show a progressive improvement in the speed of typing and a gradual reduction in the number of errors. Speech therapy is similar. It's fortunate many people who learn how to type or keyboard have access to a machine at home, where they can also practice.
The point I wish to make with the concept of carry over is we are all familiar with the concept of learning anything new. We must desire it to happen, and do the work that is necessary. Being successful in speech therapy is like learning anything new. It must be presented in a simple and logical manner with a gradual progression to more complex tasks. In my new book, The Teaching of Talking we present single words to the person who has difficulty talking, and then progress to word pairs, phrases and sentences with those individuals who can imitate sounds, syllables and multi syllables. We then progress to increased speed, sentence length, or word complexity. For those with cognitive, memory, or motor issues caused by stroke or aphasia, the process of learning may take additional time and practice.
As written in previous articles, learning for those with brain injury is possible and may take more simplicity or repetition. Always remember that repetition is the mother of all skill, and if you keep the tasks simple enough, the person who is undergoing the speech or language stimulation will stay challenged and hopeful due to the confidence that occurs when there is success at every step of therapy. An exceptional therapist should be able to present a sequence of speech tasks to address a specific problem. You as a caregiver or family member should understand what the goals of therapy are and why they were chosen by the therapist. Finally there should be success in the sequence of speech therapy, like learning how to do anything, with the desired speech behavior occurring on a consistent and regular basis. When that occurs speech and language stimulation is a wonderful experience because the therapist has made sure that the tasks presented were easily mastered, meaningful and appropriate. But remember it is vital that the person with the communication difficulty is able to accomplish the desired task at every step of the way and practices or uses it often. That leads to learning or carry over.
See the rest of the Oct 18th, 2012 Newsletter - "The Teaching of Talking" including:
- Breakdown
- Continuing Education
- Please Share With Friends and Institutions
- Special Offer
Mark
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