Speech therapy is a very important and essential profession that helps children and adults with speech and language issues such as stuttering, pronunciation, clarity and fluency, and other essential communication skills. Keeping in mind speech therapists must have good knowledge and understanding of the various rules and regulations that a therapist must follow and the ability to think creatively is important and requires continuous exercise and practice to provide the best for their clients. Vocational training activities can help speech therapists enhance their professional development and stay current with the latest trends and techniques in their field.

Having vocational training programs in your therapy center will aim at improving the therapist's knowledge, help keep them up-to-date, and continuously enhances their skills and abilities proving to be better and more confident while delivering therapy.

Here are some vocational activities that speech therapists may indulge in:

Role-playing

Conduct group role-play activities for speech therapists by simulating scenarios and coming up with different issues, needs, and wants. This is a very useful technique for speech therapists as it brings attention to detail, improves listening skills, and also lights up the creative side of the brain to communicate and follow the role play. Role-playing also gives therapists the opportunity to interact with their colleagues and better their relationships by communicating and understanding each other's perspectives. Using real-life scenarios in the process can also allow you to view how things can be done differently and what needs to be changed. One can improve their clinical practice of documenting, conducting assessments and developing therapy plans which are equally important for speech therapists. Additionally, these role-playing sessions can be a way to get constructive feedback from one another which only makes your journey as a therapist more detailed and successful.

Case Conferences

Every speech therapist would have interacted with unique individuals which add to their ability to deal with new situations. Coming together to discuss and communicate with colleagues will benefit each of the therapists in better understanding of the situations which in turn benefits the client. Having a multidisciplinary team discussion provides the opportunity to have complex discussions on complex cases and especially benefits the junior team in keeping them prepared for complex situations. Training and interacting across disciplines aid therapists in gaining and expanding their knowledge leading to more comprehensive care for the client. Make it a fun experience for speech therapists by involving everyone's inputs and insights and using boards and colorful markers or even by using PowerPoint slides and other such fun tools.

Articulation drills

Articulation drills mainly focus on syllables and the right pronunciation. Words that are complicated can be written down, folded, and put into a bowl. Make this a group activity by taking turns. Go around the room and ask each therapist to pick up a piece of paper and say the word out loud, and the whole group can say it together. To add a tad bit of fun, after each word, therapists can come up with a song to sing that includes the work on the piece of paper. This way, therapists keep themselves engaged and can enjoy the activity. Use this activity to master the pronunciation of words that are complex and have multiple syllables.

Tongue Twisters

Tongue twisters are always something that children and adults enjoy. Write down a set of tongue twisters on board and each person can repeat the tongue twister 5 times continuously. The speed, pronunciation, and words must be consistent and correct. It is not always possible to repeat these tongue twisters, but are good practice techniques to improve speed and accuracy at the same time. It provides good exercise for the tongue and vocational chords as they are short phrases or words that have similar sounds and has the need to say it out quickly. The main advantage of tongue twisters is to better the speech, speed, accuracy, and pronunciation all at the same time while keeping therapists engaged and active throughout the whole session. Some tongue twister exercises are - ‘see sells the sea shells on the sea shore’ or ‘how much wood would a woodchuck chuck’.

Word retrieval exercises

Word retrieval exercises involve practicing the ability to recall words and phrases quickly and accurately. This can involve activities like naming objects in a category, completing sentences with missing words, or playing word games like Scrabble. This activity can be given a timer, it can be a game of passing the ball for their turn, or you can simply make it a word-building game. Using different techniques each time can expand their vocabulary, make it more challenging and interesting, and overall, a fun-filled activity.

As important as it is for children in therapy to have consistency, speech, and language therapists must constantly better their language, skills, and abilities. To be up-to-date and on their feet, with respect to bettering themselves is of utmost importance. We hope you can include these activities in your practice with other therapists to understand one another, build relationships and overall, improve your skills.