Springtime Therapy

My client A. is an 11 year old girl that has been seen in the clinic since fall of this year. She was referred from a diagnostic, and is currently diagnosed as being memory/language delayed. Some of the things we work on in therapy is mnemonic devices for memory, following three part directions, and reading comprehension.

In therapy we work on reading comprehension because children with language delay often cannot find the main idea or organizing frame even in simple texts. Structures of narrative and expository texts differ greatly and can affect comprehension and memory. (Owens, 2004)

I see this with A. because one of her goals is to read a paragraph and retell the story on a story board. Repetition in her case does seem to help. I have her reread the story to herself after she has read it out loud.

A. has improved, but still struggles in this area. The overall organizational abilities of these children may account for reading and writing problems. Incoming information needs to be organized for comprehension, because reading comprehension is fundamental to academic success. (Owens, 2004)

Owens, Jr., R. E. (2004). Language Disorders A Functional Approach to Assessment and Intervention (4th ed.).