Talking and Feeling Better

Mark A. Ittleman
The Teaching of  Talking

August 25, 2013

Being halting in speech is not fun for anyone. It is frustrating to want to speak, attempt, and not be able to express oneself completely. The act of talking is smooth and effortless for most of us. Wanting to talk and express oneself, and being thwarted in attempts to speak is frustrating and often causes anger, frustration, and wanting to give up or cease communication entirely.

When children or adults are receiving speech and language stimulation that helps them speak, the anger, frustration and desire to give up diminishes and is soon replaced by a keen desire and motivation to speak. The caregiver who knows how to stimulate speech and language and has been doing so each and every day at home provides an easier way to learn how to speak again, and uses many daily activities as opportunities to stimulate language. If done on a consistent basis by the speech language pathologist, parent, or caregiver, a speaking pattern or “habit” may soon develop that is paired with a specific activity. An example of this would be: ”I’m hungry, I’m thirsty, I’m ready for bed, No thank you, Let’s go, etc.”

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When specific statements are stimulated on a daily basis at specific times, learning often occurs. With aphasia it may take a few repetitions, or it could take months of repetition for the word or phrase to become automatic in speaking without prompting. Anytime we are frustrated and want to learn something new, we must go through the training aspect of the learning. It is often time consuming and requires considerable focus. In the long run, many learn to speak again at whatever level they are capable as long as there is loved one who is dedicated to moving forward with speech and language stimulation at home. Recent research in aphasia states that language improves in direct proportion to frequency of stimulation, intensity of repetition, and whether the language stimulated makes sense and is immediately usable to the person who has difficulty speaking. That is why the home is such a perfect place for language stimulation and why caregivers can really help make the difference with home practice.

The Teaching of Talking, Learn to Do Expert Speech and Language Stimulation at Home for Children and Adults is our book that will teach you how to stimulate speech and language with either children or adults with developmental difficulties or for those with aphasia, head injury, or neurological disease. It is available on our website in paperback copy with autograph, and has been released on Audio Book format through audible, i tunes and Amazon.com. There is also a Kindle edition, however I strongly recommend the paperback text, as one can navigate through it more rapidly, and find earmarked passages.

Thanks, Mark A. Ittleman
M.S., CCC/SLP

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See the original article:

Talking and Feeling Better

in The Teaching of Talking