The pandemic is not keeping kids from making progress in their speech and language development.
The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit is reminding parents about its Language Express Preschool Speech and Language Program aimed at helping kids develop their speaking ability.
The services are currently being provided by telephone and video conferencing.
Coordinator for the program Catherine Robinson says it’s all about ensuring proper brain development for kids.
“Children’s lives have changed as they don’t have as many opportunities to interact with people, especially with other children,” Robinson said. “So, they may not be getting as many natural opportunities for communication and language development through interaction in their daily lives.”
The program mostly educates and coaches parents as they interact with their kids, and allows them to be at the forefront of their child’s speech development.
Robinson says early intervention is more important now than ever.
“Kids brains between the times they’re zero-and-four are growing and changing so much that if we put in a little bit of effort and help at that early age, we can make a huge change for their entire life – a change that is much harder to make later,” Robinson said. “This is to rewire a child’s brain when they are very small.”
For some, over the phone and online is not an option.
Robinson says they have found a way to reach out to those families to connect them with a speech-language pathologist.
“While we’re able to coach parents at home and that’s been working well, we’re able to do lots on the phone and we’re able to send resources by email,” Robinson added. “For some families who don’t have access to the technology, it can be challenging. So, we’ve come up with ways to work around that as much as we can.”
Services for the program are funded by the province and are free for families.
To find out more information, you can call 1-888-503-8885 or go to the program’s website.