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Enhancing Problem-Solving Abilities with Speech Therapy Techniques

Welcome to my blog! In today’s post, we will explore the importance of problem-solving abilities in daily life and how speech therapy techniques can enhance these skills. Whether you are a parent, teacher, or individual looking to improve problem-solving abilities, this blog post will provide you with valuable insights and practical tips.

Understanding Problem-Solving Abilities

Before we delve into the role of speech therapy in enhancing problem-solving abilities, let’s first understand what problem-solving entails. Problem-solving is the cognitive process of finding solutions to challenges or obstacles we encounter in our daily lives. It involves analyzing the situation, identifying possible solutions, and selecting the most effective course of action.

Key components of problem-solving abilities include critical thinking, decision-making, creativity, and flexibility. These skills are essential for navigating various aspects of life, such as academics, work, relationships, and personal growth. Difficulties in problem-solving can impact an individual’s social-emotional well-being, leading to frustration, low self-esteem, and interpersonal conflicts.

Role of Speech Therapy in Enhancing Problem-Solving Abilities

Speech therapy is a holistic approach that addresses communication and cognitive-linguistic skills. By targeting these areas, speech therapy can significantly enhance problem-solving abilities. Let’s explore some of the speech therapy techniques that can be used to improve problem-solving skills.

Communication Skills Development

Effective communication is a crucial aspect of problem-solving. Speech therapy techniques can help individuals develop the necessary communication skills to express their thoughts, ideas, and concerns clearly. This includes improving articulation and phonological skills, enhancing language comprehension and expression, and developing pragmatic language abilities.

Articulation and phonological exercises focus on improving speech sound production, ensuring that individuals can communicate their ideas clearly. Language comprehension and expression activities help individuals understand and use language effectively, enabling them to express their thoughts and understand others’ perspectives. Pragmatic language training teaches individuals the social rules and conventions of communication, such as turn-taking, active listening, and nonverbal cues.

Cognitive-Linguistic Exercises

Cognitive abilities play a significant role in problem-solving. Speech therapy techniques can target cognitive skills such as memory, attention, sequencing, and categorization. These exercises help individuals improve their cognitive abilities, enabling them to think critically, analyze information, and generate creative solutions.

Memory and attention exercises enhance an individual’s ability to retain and recall information, allowing them to process and analyze complex problems effectively. Sequencing and categorization tasks develop logical thinking and organization skills, enabling individuals to break down problems into manageable steps. Problem-solving games and puzzles provide opportunities for individuals to practice their cognitive skills in a fun and engaging way.

Executive Functioning Training

Executive functions are a set of cognitive processes that enable individuals to plan, organize, initiate, and self-regulate their behavior. These skills are essential for effective problem-solving. Speech therapy techniques can target executive functioning skills, helping individuals develop strategies to improve planning, organization, time management, and self-regulation.

Planning and organization activities teach individuals how to break down tasks, set goals, and create action plans. Time management and prioritization exercises help individuals manage their time effectively and prioritize tasks based on importance. Self-regulation strategies focus on developing emotional control, impulse control, and flexibility, enabling individuals to approach problem-solving with a calm and focused mindset.

Social Skills Training

Social skills are vital for collaborative problem-solving, as it often involves working with others to find solutions. Speech therapy techniques can target social skills, helping individuals develop the necessary interpersonal skills to collaborate effectively, understand others’ perspectives, and regulate their emotions.

Role-playing and social scenarios provide individuals with opportunities to practice problem-solving in realistic social situations. Perspective-taking exercises help individuals understand different viewpoints, fostering empathy and cooperation. Emotional regulation strategies teach individuals how to manage their emotions during problem-solving, ensuring that they can approach challenges with a calm and rational mindset.

Problem-solving abilities are essential for navigating various aspects of life, and speech therapy techniques can significantly enhance these skills. By targeting communication skills, cognitive abilities, executive functioning, and social skills, speech therapy provides individuals with the necessary tools to approach problem-solving with confidence and success.

If you or someone you know is struggling with problem-solving abilities, I encourage you to seek professional help from a speech-language pathologist. They can provide personalized guidance and support to help individuals enhance their problem-solving skills and improve their overall social-emotional well-being.

Start your EverydaySpeech Free trial today and embark on a journey to enhance your problem-solving abilities through speech therapy techniques. Visit https://everydayspeech.com/start-free-trial/ to get started!

Preparing for Success: Enhancing Social Communication in Grade 12

Preparing for Success: Enhancing Social Communication in Grade 12 Key Takeaways Strong social communication skills are crucial for academic success and building meaningful relationships in Grade 12. Social communication includes verbal and non-verbal communication,...

Preparing for Success: Enhancing Social Communication in Grade 12 Preparing for Success: Enhancing Social Communication in Grade 12 As students enter Grade 12, they are on the cusp of adulthood and preparing for the next chapter of their lives. While academic success...

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Functional Problem-Solving Resource!

by sashabro89 | May 17, 2019 | Uncategorized | 0 comments

Photo by Artem Beliaikin on Pexels.com

Sick of playing board games or reading hypothetical scenarios for your speech/language therapy students to problem-solve? Tired of pulling out those dull picture cards? Well, I have finally found a problem-solving resource that is actually engaging and very practical: GCF Global . Under the Everyday Life section, there are activities about grocery shopping, making change, using an ATM, reading a map, fire safety, and tons of other practical areas. Of course it’s ideal if you work in a district where you can take your Life Skills students out to utilize buses and grocery shop; however, these virtual activities will allow students to practice the skills on a computer or iPad in the event they cannot go on such trips. It might also be a good activity to supplement field trips by allows students to practice the necessary skills beforehand on the computer before needing to complete them in real life.

I often stop and start these videos to ask questions and guide life skills students. What section would this food item be in? Where might we get a map for the subway or bus station? What is another way people get can directions on how to get somewhere via car or bus (many kids say they use their phone GPS, which I tell them is a perfectly ok way to get around). Below are some pre-simulation and post-simulation lesson ideas.

Extension and Lesson Ideas for Functional Problem-Solving

Grocery Shopping : Practice categorizing food according to the section you’d likely find it in the grocery store. Discuss how to ask for help from a grocery clerk or staff person. Practice requesting & using a grocery store card at the checkout line.

Buses, Trains : Discuss where and how to get bus passes, how to ask for help if lost. Practice using phone GPS to look up how to get to desired locations via buses/trains/subways. Problem-solve what they would do if their phone died or malfunctioned and they had to find another way around.

Money : Bring in some foods or other interesting items and have students “buy” them with real money (they don’t need to actually pay, but you should let them practice buying with real coins/dollars for functionality).

Classifieds, Job Applications : Discuss and learn about the different websites you can use to look for a job (Monster, Indeed). Practice looking up jobs on these websites. Print out or practice completing segments of job applications for high school and post-high school jobs. Role-play using the phone or email to ask questions about a job and follow-up with information. Simulate job interview question and answer.

Paying Bills, Tax Documents : Role-play calling about an incorrect bill or paying a bill via phone. Role-play calling the IRS about a taxes issue/error. Call your own electricity/internet provider and have students listen in and study how to select the right options to get to a representative.

Hope your Life Skills Support students enjoy this great website! Tune in for the next post on how to comprehend lengthy noun phrases in text!

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Problem Solving Goals Speech Therapy

All children are required to solve-problems throughout their school day. Most curricula, be it the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), or various social emotional learning programs, require students to solve problems. Social communication skills also rely heavily on children’s ability to recognize and solve problems. This is why some students have problem solving goals for speech therapy or in the classroom.

Of course, problem-solving looks different at different levels of development, but opportunities to solve problems are embedded all throughout the school day, from preschool to high school.

Those Darn Squirrels Book Companion for Speech-Language Pathologists

Problem solving – levels of development.

Preschoolers are expected to follow routines, navigate materials, practice turn-taking, self-advocate, share with peers, and manage unexpected changes and feelings. Elementary school students are expected to practice perspective-taking by reading the facial expressions and body language of their peers in order to find kind solutions to problems that may arise with classmates, and to use context clues to infer the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary to independently support their own reading comprehension. Middle and high school students are expected to identify and describe problems outlined in their reading assignments, solve complex mathematical problems, and comprehend increasingly sophisticated social interactions.

These skills are all forms of problem-solving, and they all have underpinnings in speech, language, and executive functioning – all areas speech therapists are specialized in supporting.

HOW TO WRITE GOALS FOR SPEECH THERAPY

As school-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs), we are ideally positioned to help children with their problem-solving abilities, given that many problem-solving skills are language-based, and because our therapy sessions allow us to teach our students in a small group setting with a small number of peers, or even one-on-one.

Before we dive into writing Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals that are specific to problem-solving, let’s get a quick refresher on best practices when writing speech and language goals in general.

The speech therapy IEP goals we write for our students should target the speech or language challenges they having that are preventing them from reaching the grade-level benchmarks and expectations in their classroom curriculum. The goals we choose should be informed by a good-quality speech and language assessment, which will identify both the specific difficulties a child is having with respect to their speech and language, as well as the ways in which these deficits are manifesting in the classroom.

Once we have developed a good understanding of a student’s speech and language weaknesses, and how this is impacting their academic and social success, we are ready to generate IEP goals for speech and language therapy.

While it can be tempting to recycle IEP goals from other students with similar needs, or to use a goal bank to generate goals, we should be using these sources as a starting point at most when writing long-term goals (and short-term objectives, if applicable); remember that the “I” in IEP stands for “individualized.” Every child is unique, with their own strengths, weaknesses, and personality; and the goals we write for them should reflect this.

The IEP goals we write should be SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. Let’s quickly go through what each of these qualifiers mean.

Specific means that the skill should be observable, and measurable. It should be described using teacher- and parent-friendly language. We can also include any stimuli we’ll provide (prompts, verbal cues, and visual cues) with examples as needed.
Measurable means we need to outline the criteria and conditions under which we’ll measure the child’s performance. This can include accuracy levels (e.g., percentages, number of trials, the number of consecutive sessions the student will demonstrate the skills), and under what conditions we should measure the child’s ability to demonstrate this skill. For example, if a child is learning how to use a strategy to manage annoying peers that involves going through a set of steps, do we expect them to demonstrate this skill in a busy classroom, or in the context of a quieter therapy room with two other peers?
Attainable means that we can reasonably expect the child to achieve this goal within the allotted timeframe, based on our clinical judgement, knowledge of developmental norms, and input from other members of the child’s team.
Relevant means that the goal should be related to supporting the student with a skill they need in order to be more successful in the classroom setting. This can be a skill found in the CCSS or other curricula, or any skill that is part of the expectations for that student in the classroom. Our goal should be a speech or language-based component of a larger skill, and can be a building block towards a more complex skill. Goals can also target a child’s ability to use a compensatory strategy if there is a reason they can’t demonstrate a particular skill in the classroom.
Time-bound means that we expect the child to reach the goal within 12 months, when the IEP has to be renewed.

How to Write IEP Goals Workbook

Examples of problem solving goals for speech therapy.

Now that we know that SLPs can help to support children with the language- and executive functioning-based underpinnings of problem-solving, and we know how to write SMART IEP goals, let’s look at a few examples.

Liam is a preschooler with expressive language delays. Because of his expressive language challenges, he is not making requests in the classroom to get his basic needs met, such as asking for help putting his shoes on after nap time or asking teacher to open containers like his milk at lunch. Liam gets frustrated and cries often. His teachers would like him to problem-solve by asking for help in times like this. Here is a potential goal we could write for Liam:

“Within one year, Liam will ask for help/desired items using short phrases (e.g., “help me please”, “can I have (item)”, “open please”) in the classroom setting with faded models in 3 out of 4 observed opportunities, over three consecutive school days, as measured by the speech therapist and/or classroom teacher.”

Maya is a third-grader with pragmatic language and executive functioning challenges. She is having a difficult time problem-solving and managing her reactions when she perceives other children in her class to be annoying her. Because of this, Maya is often having big reactions, including aggression, in the classroom where her teacher needs to co-regulate her 1:1, which is taking away from instruction time for the other students and is negatively impacting Maya’s social interactions and friendships with her classmates. Here is a potential goal we could write for Maya:

“By the end of the school year, Maya will correctly use a 5-step strategy (ignore, move away, ask nicely, ask firmly, get a teacher to help) to manage her classmates’ behaviors she finds distracting or annoying independently during role playing scenarios in the therapy room with one to two other peers in 4 out of 5 trials over 5 consecutive sessions, as measured by the speech therapist.”

Malcolm is a sixth-grader who has a language disorder which is impacting a variety of skills, including his reading comprehension. His teacher reported that Malcolm has particular difficulty responding to comprehension questions when there are idioms and metaphors in the text, and he does not know how to use strategies when he encounters this type of language. A comprehensive language assessment confirmed that Malcolm has difficulty comprehending figurative language. Here is a potential goal we could write for Malcolm:

“In one year, Malcom will use context clues in reading passages to choose the correct meaning of 30 previously unfamiliar idioms and 30 previously unfamiliar metaphors, each from a field of 5 multiple choice answers with a minimum of 90% accuracy as measured by the speech therapist.

Remember that your speech therapy goals will look different, based on the specific needs and profile of your student!

CONCLUSION ON PROBLEM SOLVING SPEECH THERAPY GOALS

Problem-solving is an important skill to help children develop, and speech therapists play a key role in helping them achieve their goals. From preschoolers learning how to ask for help when needed, to third graders managing social interactions with peers and sixth graders comprehending complex language structures – problem-solving can be applied across all ages. With the right SMART IEP goal writing strategy and techniques from cognitive neuroscience principles, SLPs are well-equipped to support students of any age to reach their fullest potential. It’s up to us as practitioners to ensure that we provide our clients with the best possible care so they can continue on their road toward success!

The Problem Solving Speech Therapy Goals article was written by Jane Clapp, MA, CCC-SLP. She has worked as a pediatric speech-language pathologist in New York City schools for over 20 years. She is the creator of StoryWhys book companions, which help SLPs provide high-quality, literature-based language therapy with elementary aged students. You can find resources, ideas, and information for busy SLPs on her blog, StoryWhys.com

Social Pragmatics Goals Speech Therapy

List of Strengths and Weaknesses for IEPs

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Daily Living Skills – Goals and Objectives

Social Emotional IEP Goals

Behavior IEP Goals

Self Regulation IEP Goals

Executive Function IEP Goals

Fine Motor IEP Goals

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The Forgotten Skill: Problem Identification

April 8, 2022 – Problem Solving in Speech Therapy

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately: we spend so much time on problem solving in speech therapy, but… how can we expect our students to use their problem solving skills if they don’t even know that there’s a problem?

It’s the forgotten prerequisite to problem solving: problem identification.

Without it, students may never even get to the point where they start implementing those skills. That’s true no matter how much practice in solving problems a student has had.

Your student may breeze through exercises where they’re asked to read a problem and come up with a solution. But it’s our job to think functionally , right? In real life, there’s no flashing banner saying “Look, here’s a problem – now try to solve it.” In real life, to enter the problem solving stage, someone has to identify on their own that there even is a problem first.

Let’s look at a hypothetical example…

The thing is, most of our students are never trying to hurt someone else. They’re never trying to get into a situation where they’re so behind on classwork that they can’t catch up. For the most part, our students want to do well and they want to build connections.

So think about this: to some of our students, telling a classmate, “Your new jacket is ugly,” is simply stating a fact. There’s genuinely no ugliness intended. They’ve been taught that “honesty is good,” and they’re just being honest. So, if that classmate then reacts poorly, student A now has no idea what went wrong. In their mind, they’re just in a world of confusion. Maybe they’re even thinking, “Wow, everyone just dislikes me, even when I try to go everything right.”

So is it any wonder why autistic and ADHD students tend to have lower self-esteem ( 2 )?

Of course, if students want to go on their merry ways and live brutally honest lives, they’re welcome to. Still, they deserve to be able to make that choice. Further, they certainly deserve to be able to understand why something they said or did might make someone else upset.

It all starts with problem identification. It’s a skill that requires students to put their perspective taking, inferencing, and predicting into practice… and all too often we skip right over it and jump straight to problem solving.

Resources for targeting problem identification

In my everlasting quest for inclusive, neurodiversity affirming speech therapy resources, I’m always learning and adapting. With these thoughts in mind, I looked around for problem identification resources and found, unsurprisingly, that there were just about none available.

So, I took it upon myself to make sure there’s something out there to target this crucial prerequisite to problem solving. It’s a recent version of my Spring “Escape the Video Game” series, a Super-Mario style game series for therapy. In this game, when you jump up and smash a question box, you read the social situation and determine the problem from a field of four options.

Here’s a peak at what the questions look like! They automatically take data too – just play with a student and view their accuracy percentage in your Medley classroom:

Here are the links to the game on Medley and TPT:

On Medley: Problem Identification Escape the Video Game
On Teachers Pay Teachers: Problem Identification Escape the Video Game

Whether or not you use this game as a starting point, I hope this has helped you think about working on problem solving goals from a different angle with students who might need it! 😊

I’d love to hear your thoughts on problem identification and problem solving in speech therapy – feel free to leave a comment below!

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Two Sisters Therapy

Functional Problem Solving Scenarios Boom Cards™ for Speech Therapy

$ 12.00

Problem solving can be tricky for some students to master. This NO PREP, engaging, multi-level BOOM CARDS™ deck features a variety of cards targeting functional problem solving skills. Your students will be practicing and learning this difficult skill in no time at all!

This deck is loaded with task cards featuring 60 different realistic, functional home scenarios, both with and without answer choices .

Perfect for distance learning, individual or mixed groups, speech teletherapy, or social skills groups!

BOOM CARDS ™ are NO PRINT, NO PREP digital resource !

What’s Included?

60 realistic, functional home scenarios targeting identifying the problem, size of the problem and a solution

How the deck works:

There are several ways to use this deck. You can work through each slide, or you can select the part of the house you would like to target by clicking on it.

The deck is leveled within the room scenes . The first 3 – 4 objects are underlined at the top of each room scene and have answer choices. The last 3 – 4 objects, which are not underlined, at the top of each room scene do not have answer choices.

This BOOM card™ set is perfect for teaching and developing your student’s problem solving skills and eliciting conversations related to functional situations.

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This is a digital product that will be available for download upon purchase. Due to the nature of this product, there are no returns.

Do not share or email this document with anyone. Permission to copy for individual use only. If you would like to share with other therapists, teachers, or parents please direct them to my store. Copying any part of this product and placing it on the Internet in any form is strictly forbidden. Do not modify or alter this document. All rights reserved by author. Not for public display.

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About Boom Cards™ : To use Boom Cards, you must be connected to the Internet. Boom Cards play on modern browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge). Apps are available for Android, iPads, iPhones, and Kindle Fires. For security and privacy, adults must have a Boom Learning account to use and assign Boom Cards. You will be able to assign the Boom Cards you are buying with “Fast Pins,” (play provides instant feedback for self-grading Boom Cards). Fast Play is always a free way for students to engage with Boom Cards decks. For additional assignment options you’ll need a premium account. If you are new to Boom Learning, you will be offered a free trial of our premium account. Read here for details: http://bit.ly/BoomTrial .

You may be eligible for a free trial from Boom Learning. Read here for details: http://bit.ly/BoomTrial . If you choose not to stay on a premium account after your free trial, you will still be able to assign all your Boom Cards to as many students as you see fit using Fast Play pins (which give instant feedback for decks that are self-grading).

Boom Learning ™ and Boom Cards ™ are the trademarks of Boom Learning Inc. and are used with permission.

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