Language Therapy for Children in Singapore: Helping Your Child Communicate with Confidence
Does your child struggle to understand questions, express their thoughts, or keep a conversation going? Has your child been flagged for a “speech delay”?
You may find yourself wondering how to help, or whether your child will catch up with time.
At Jubilant Speech Therapy, we help children build the language skills they need to understand others, express themselves, and connect with people around them.
Through personalized support, your child can work towards communicating more confidently in everyday life.
How does Speech Therapy help your child with speech delay?
Here’s what happens during a language therapy session:
Language therapy is more than just learning new words or answering questions correctly. It helps your child understand language, share ideas and use words to communicate with others meaningfully.
Each session is planned around your child’s strengths, needs, interests and goals.
1. Learning Through Play
Children learn best when they are interested and engaged.
Your child may play with toys, look at storybooks, or play some games with the speech therapist.
These activities create natural opportunities to practise language skills in a fun and meaningful way.
For older children in primary and secondary school, the activities conducted will work on language skills required for learning tasks in school. (Find out more here: Speech Therapy for School-Aged Children)
2. Building the Language Skills Your Child Needs
The speech therapist will choose activities based on the skills your child needs help with. Targets for intervention are selected based on the findings from the speech and language therapy assessments conducted.
Your child may work on:
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Pre-linguistic skills: e.g., joint attention, eye contact, imitation, using gestures, turn-taking, initiating and maintaining back-and-forth social interactions
- Understanding language: Following instructions, understanding questions and learning what words mean
- Using words to communicate: Using words to make requests for their wants and needs, combining words to form sentences, expressing their ideas with meaningful vocabulary words
- Answering questions: Understanding and responding to questions such as who, what, where, when, why
- Telling stories: Sharing what happened, describing events, and putting ideas in the right order
- Social communication: Staying on topic, sharing ideas with others, maintaining a conversation
3. Personalized Support For Your Child
No two children learn in exactly the same way.
Some children may need more help understanding language. Others may understand what people say, but find it hard to put their thoughts into words.
Your speech therapist will adjust the activities and level of support to match your child’s needs. As your child develops new skills, your therapist will move on to the next skill that your child is ready for. The activities can also become more challenging. Guidance is provided to ensure your child works through them and builds confidence.
The speech therapist may change the activities or use a different strategy to encourage your child to think and respond as they build specific language skills. Over time, you’ll see your child using these skills in different situations.
4. Helping You Support Your Child At Home
During your child’s speech language therapy journey, the speech therapist may share simple strategies you can use during everyday activities, such as reading a book, playing together, or having a conversation at mealtimes.
These small moments give your child more chances to practise language in familiar settings.
You can also discuss your child’s progress, ask questions, and learn how to support their communication goals at home.
How Do I Know If My Child Needs Speech Language Therapy?
You may want to consider a speech and language assessment if your child:
- Has difficulty understanding instructions or questions
- Uses fewer words or shorter sentences than expected for their age
- Finds it hard to explain their thoughts, needs or experiences
- Struggles to retell a story or describe what happened
- Has difficulty following classroom discussions or expressing ideas at school
- Finds it hard to take part in conversation with other children
Every child develops differently, and these signs do not automatically mean your child has a language disorder.
An assessment can help you understand your child’s strengths, identify areas where they may need support and decide on the next steps.
What is the assessment process like for a child with "speech delay" or a "language disorder"?
Depending on your child’s presentation, a Pediatric Speech Therapist will perform a comprehensive assessment to evaluate the areas of strengths and needs specific to your child’s communication profile.
The process starts with a parent interview where we explore your concerns, find out more about your child’s developmental milestones and how they are communicating at home and in school.
For young children:
The speech therapist will then engage in some play activities with your child to observe their communication skills. An evaluation is done for different areas (e.g., play skills, pre-linguistic skills, social, language etc.) [Refer to our page on ‘Speech Therapy for Toddlers & Preschoolers‘ for more detailed information on our approach]
For school-aged children:
Standardized language assessments (e.g., CELF-5, Preschool Language Scale) may be administered to gather a detailed analysis which can provide information about the presence and severity of a language disorder. Results from the assessment are used by your speech therapist to set specific goals to be targeted during your child’s speech and language therapy sessions.
What Progress Can You Expect From Speech Language Therapy?
Every child has different needs, and progress takes time.
Your child’s progress may depend on their starting skills, therapy goals, opportunities to practise, and other individual factors.
Rather than just focusing on how many words your child can say, we also look at how your child use language in meaningful situations. For example, how they share their ideas, join in conversations, or tell you about their day.
The goal is to help your child build useful communication skills that support their everyday life.
Take the First Step Towards Supporting Your Child's Communication
If you have concerns about your child’s language development, getting the right information can help you make a more informed decision.
At Jubilant Speech Therapy, we can help you understand your child’s communication needs and explore suitable ways to support their growth.
Let’s work together to help your child communicate, connect, and participate more confidently.
We provide speech therapy clinic sessions, home-based speech therapy and online consultations.
Contact Us
(65) 8785 8210
connect@jubilantspeechtherapy.com
Jubilant Speech Therapy
190 Clemenceau Avenue
#06-01
Singapore 239924