This article was written by Dr. James MacDonald and shared via his yahoo group.How to keep your child's articulation improving: Realize that your child's speech will come from practicing talking with people who match her by talking in ways she can do.Life is so full of adult language that we have to stop and practice matched speech if we expect the child to change.No matter how much he or she understands your speech, if it is too complex for her to try, it will not help her speak more clearly.Try the following:1. Choose 5 daily routines for speech practice--2. Choose ones you both enjoy like bath time, car rides, picture books, household chores,and favorite games.3. Start small-- 2 or 3 minutes.4. Make it fun.5. Be sure you MATCH AND WAIT-- this means speak in ways she can try, then wait silently for her to do her part.6. Say something related to what she is doing. The more you are responsive to her action world, the more she will want to talk.7. Take turns with words-- use them as you would a ball in catch games.8. Avoid questions; use comments to show her how to talk. Questions can often be hard for children to answer. 9. Do a lot of waiting so the child knows any sounds will be accepted and then shown the next step. REMEMBER ONE THING: AM I TALKING IN A WAY SHE CAN TRY TO DO?Your child needs much more practice than she is getting and she needs to be hearing POSSIBLE MODELS.The importance of the same routines is that she then gets repeated practice on similar words.Dr. Jim MacDonald________________________________Dr James MacDonald has a wonderful book called Communicating Partners. He also has a YouTube Channel and a website and a wonderful yahoo group, which is still very active. I highly recommend you check him out!

MTHFR