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See and Learn Saying Words 1 is designed to help children with Down syndrome to say words and improve the accuracy of their spoken word production.

When to start this step

The initial sounds selected for See and Learn Saying Words 1 are those that are generally learned early in typical development: [b], [d], [m], [p], [y,] [n], [w] and [h].

Children can start the activities in See and Learn Saying Words 1 when they:

• can produce at least some of the consonants [b], [d], [m], [p], [y,] [n], [w] or [h] - for example, [m], and [b].
• can produce simple combinations of these consonants and a vowel - for example, [moo] and [baa].

See and Learn Speech Sounds and See and Learn Combining Sounds provide activities to practise these prerequisite skills.

Children will learn to say sounds in different orders. In See and Learn Saying Words 1, we have selected the sounds that are most often learned early on. See and Learn Saying Words 2 and See and Learn Saying Words 3 provide support for activities with sounds that tend to develop later.

If your child is able to produce some of the consonants in Saying Words 2 or Saying Words 3, it is fine to start work on the activities in those sets. Try to match sounds and words to your child's individual rate and sequence of sound and word learning.

Activities

There are three activities in See and Learn Saying Words 1:

1. Learning to Say Words - using picture prompt cards and speechreading cues to encourage first attempts at saying words
2. Practising Saying Words - using sets of picture prompt cards in games to encourage more complete word production
3. Rehearsing Saying Words - multiple repetitions of specific words to improve the clarity and consistency of word production

Start with the first activity. Instructions are provided indicating when to move to the next step.

It takes all children a long time to develop clear spoken words. Their first attempts are often just a sound or first two sounds. As they talk more (and therefore hear themselves and practice) their spoken words become more accurate.

Goals

The goals for the three activities in See and Learn Saying Words 1 are as follows:

1. Learning to Say Words - for your child to make a recognisable attempt to say a word (saying just part of the word is sufficient for success)
2. Practising Saying Words - for your child to say a more complete word - with most or all sounds or syllables attempted so that the word is likely to be recognised by family members, carers and teachers who have frequent contact with your child
3. Rehearsing Saying Words - for your child to say a word clearly enough to be understood by someone meeting them for the first time

Organising sessions

Location

Find a place to carry out the activities that is comfortable, quiet, well-lit and free from distractions. Toys should be out of sight or out of reach.

For the first activity, Learning to Say Words, sit opposite your child at the same level so that they can see you clearly. This could be either supported in a chair, sitting at a table or on the floor, whichever works best with your child. For the subsequent activities you can sit opposite or side by side.

Timing

Choose whatever time that you feel is best for both you and your child, for example, when your child is not too tired, and when you are not likely to be interrupted.

Duration

Keep the sessions short so that you can keep your child's interest. You may start with sessions lasting just a few minutes if your child is new to this type of activity.

Gradually increase the length of each session, up to 5-10 minutes. Try to always end on a positive note. Avoid carrying on for too long and losing your child's interest.

Frequency

'Little and often' is the best principle to encourage progress. Repetition is essential for your child to make progress. Complete a short activity session as often as you can. Ideally, this will be daily.

Target sounds and words

For each of the initial consonant sounds in See and Learn Saying Words 1, a set of words is provided, each beginning with the target sound. These words are selected from the early vocabulary typically learned by young children and provide examples of a variety of combinations of sounds. As your child learns to say the selected words, the skills should generalise to other words with the same sound combinations.

Selecting word sets

The word sets selected for the activities in See and Learn Saying Words 1 should be sets that begin with sounds that your child can confidently produce.

Supporting your child's learning

Helping your child to experience success

During each session it is important that your child experiences success at every stage. Some suggestions are:

• to respond to all of your child's vocalisations in a positive way
• to reward good focus, attention and watching (these skills are important for developing speech)
• if your child signs a word to you during the activity, acknowledge the sign and their communication and then prompt them to attempt to say the word
• to take turns being the speaker and the listener - some of the pressure is removed when your child is the listener but they are still listening to models of the word
• to include other children in the activity, each taking a turn with a particular word

Following your child's lead

The activities in See and Learn Saying Words 1 give your child the opportunity to practise words in a repetitive and structured way. Some children will progress quickly, while others may be slower to move forward. If your child is taking more time to develop their speech skills, they will still benefit from the listening practice this step provides.

Please note that in everyday activities, children's early word attempts can sometimes be very subtle - maybe just an attempt at a sound, such as [oa] for boat or [ba] for ball, so it is important to listen carefully to your child's attempts and to respond appropriately with the correct model for what you think they are trying to say.

It takes several years for children to pronounce words like adults and all children simplify words early on. All your child's attempts to imitate and produce a sound pattern which is in some form like the target word should be praised. Over time and with practice and feedback, their speech should become clearer and more easily understood. Most typically developing children are improving the accuracy of their production up to 7 and 8 years of age and we can expect this to take longer for children with Down syndrome.

Encouraging speech practice throughout the day

You should use the structured activities in See and Learn Saying Words 1 to complement the speech development opportunities that occur naturally throughout your child's daily routine. Highlighting the words in structured practice and then following through in everyday activities gives your child the extra practice they need to progress and generalise their speech skills.

Some points that may help you support your child's speech development include:

• getting eye contact and visual attention before talking to your child
• talking to your child about what is happening, what they are seeing, and what they are experiencing throughout the day, so that they can hear the sounds of their language
• singing nursery rhymes and other familiar songs to your child, and then leaving a pause and waiting for your child to respond
• responding to all your child's vocalisations in a positive way
• imitating your child's babble when they are young to encourage your child to repeat it
• 'chatting' back and forth in a conversation, allowing both you and your child to take turns at being the speaker and the listener
• interpreting your child's attempts at making sounds/words and 'modelling' or demonstrating the correct sounds/words for them to hear. Even if your child's attempts at spoken language do not sound like true words, model back what you think your child might be saying so that they can hear the correct model. This will also encourage your child to continue to use their voice
• providing opportunities for your child to use their voice throughout the day by incorporating sounds (such as 'weee', 'uh-oh') into games and activities
• making the target word the last word you say when practising words in everyday activities. This will help your child remember the word. For example, instead of saying '"Would you like the ball, Ben?" you could say "Ben, would you like the ball?'. In this way, you get visual attention before you start the sentence (saying your child's name) and the target word is the last word you said (ball)
• giving extra time for your child to respond in songs and familiar phrases, pausing just before the last word to encourage your child to fill in the gap (for example, say "ready, steady,...", then leave a pause for your child to say "go")
• encouraging your child to sing, especially as they get older - singing is good for breath control and clarity of production
• making sure you listen to your child's attempts to talk and give them time to join in conversations - especially as they get older

Asking for repetitions

As your child is just beginning to talk, do not ask them to repeat words when they are trying to communicate with you in everyday situations. This may reduce their willingness to attempt to say words and interfere with the natural flow of conversation. At this stage, you should respond to their message and not correct their speech.

As your child becomes more confident at saying words, then you can encourage their best production. Ask your child to repeat target words when they occur in conversation if you think they can do better. Some experts suggest that we may be too ready to accept poor production and that this does not help children to improve their clarity.

Signing

We recommend that you do not use gestures or signs while engaging your child in the See and Learn Saying Words 1 activities. If signs are helpful for your child, you should continue to use them in other situations, but when working specifically on speech production practice we recommend that you encourage your child to concentrate on listening and speaking.

Your child should focus on the face of the speaker and see their mouth and lip patterns as they say the word. All children use these visual speechreading cues when learning to talk. We therefore recommend that you encourage your child to watch your face, mouth, lips and tongue (rather than your hands) and to try to imitate the movements.

Research evidence is limited, but speech interventions for children with Down syndrome that have reported significant progress in spoken word accuracy focussed on spoken sound and word production and did not use signs.

Evidence also indicates that as children with Down syndrome begin to say words, they drop their use of signs. Our goal is to encourage children to move to using spoken words as their main form of communication as quickly as they can. Their ability to hear and say all the sounds in words will also influence their reading progress.

Working with groups

The instructions provide guidance for using the activities on a 'one-to-one' basis. You can easily adapt the activities to include other children by giving turns to each child engaged in an activity. However, it is important that the activity is appropriate for each individual child (see guidance above and for each activity).