Importance of play in the speech and language therapy - Assignment Example

?Other (s) Importance of Play in the Speech and Language Therapy This position mentis intended to assist all the members of the hospital administration to understand the importance of play for children’s speech and language development. Recently, I received some information that our administration intended to reduce the budgetary allocation for play materials from the speech and language therapy department. In my opinion, the members of administration team simply do not understand the importance of play in the children’s development and I believe such actions will highly affect our department. Playing is one of the activities that young children often spend the better part of their time doing during the day and it is therefore important to appreciate the significance and impact of playing on the learning and development of children (Pellegrini, 278). First and foremost children often use play to experiment and explore new things as well as use words to express their thoughts and ideas during play. As children grow and become more sophisticated in their play skills, their language development may equally advance. Children use language during play to solve problems and to communicate their desires. During play, children are normally provided with opportunities for social interaction with their peers and therefore learn to express and control their emotions using language. Speech and language learning is an ongoing process that takes place all day long particularly during the children’s everyday activities such as playing. During such activities, children usually significantly enhance their communication and language skills in a very indirect way. Additionally play materials that allow children with language problems to play imitative and repetitive games may also them to acquire important skills such as those of listening and attention which are necessary for their speech and language development. According to many speech and language experts, play is one of the most effective and natural ways of encouraging the development of speech and language skills in children. This is particularly because small children usually learn many skills such as listening, attention, sharing, building sentences and imagination through play. Another important reason why it is critically for the hospital administration not to affect any budget cut on the play materials in my department is that play helps the children to develop their concentration ability. For example playing children not only focus on objects and people but they also listen and learn a lot of new names and words and this is necessary for their communication development. Apart from speech and language development, playing also help children to learn about cultural expectations and norms, discover the world around them and learn how to negotiate their ways in their surroundings. Play also support development and learning of children in a number of ways. Recent research suggests that sufficient play not only enhances growth and enrichment of children but their active participation also facilitates control and mastery leading to feelings of self efficacy and competence. On the other hand, play also encourages children to take turns and this is also important because individuals often take turns to speak and listen during normal conversations. Play enhances confidence in children while expressing themselves and through this the child develops the art of; listening and attention, naming, building sentences and understanding. In order to learn a language, children need both to hear and see signs. This is why most of the play materials designed for children are usually labeled and described to enable them to make connection between the objects and the words and eventually learn to use such words. Children need very many playing materials and the proposed budget cuts may potentially affect their learning abilities. Right from birth babies should get sufficient playing materials such as dolls, tea sets and play mobile through which conversations and vocabulary develop through describing the motor skills involved such as rolling car, bouncing ball. Play develops at an early age when very young infants start playing with objects by putting them in their mouth, they then realize that they can manipulate objects and start to bang and shake them as they mumble gibberish. It is important for parents and teachers to talk to children about what they can see or do and make these activities fun, for example, red doll. Given the many benefits of play for the development of speech and language skills among children, play materials are some of the important tools that the department of speech and language therapy can use to improve the children’s enjoyment of play since most play materials not only enhance active engagement in the plays but also helps the children to be deeply involved in the plays without any distraction. During the play process, most children tend to focus on the performance or process of an activity rather than the results or goals. Generally it is this aspect that distinguishes play from work. According to Pellegrini(334),children also use play materials to explore and gain more information about their surroundings and this is important for their communication development. For example when playing with some materials, children often as questions like what is this? What is it used for? Consequently the inquiry process enhances familiarization, discovery as well as competence in their speech and language skills. For example by asking open minded questions, the children with communication problems are more likely to expand their understanding of a given language. For example, Three year old Elizabeth began crying immediately after her mother left her at the Speech and language therapy department. George who was sitting nearby slowly approaches Julia and gives her a colorful teddy bear and reassures her that Mommy will come back soon. On the other hand, a good example of how play fosters speech and language skills can be seen when 4year old Miriam was seemingly busy washing her dolly and her teacher commented “I see you are washing baby”. Generally such comments are intended to reinforce the concept of the play. There are a number of steps that I have taken in our department of speech and language therapy to encourage children to develop their language and communication skills through play. For example, I always make sure that children are provided with a wide variety of interesting materials and toys to play with. Although these materials do not necessarily have to be expensive, I have realized that children are usually not stimulated by very few toys or play materials and the proposed budget cut may significantly impact on their interest in play if it is implemented. Lastly, I also try to give the children enough time to play and encourage them to explore different experiences such as puzzles, painting, storytelling and listening to music. In my view, the school administration should instead work toward increasing the budgetary allocation for play. Consequently this will provide the children with enough play materials to make them get involved in taking turns, sharing, playing with music toys, nursery rhymes or action songs. This will make the child develop skills in making up imaginative stories and develop construction skills as the children learn and advance their language acquired during play with either their colleagues or teachers. Among other important attributes, play helps children with speech and language problems to understand the feelings of others as well as develop a sense of empathy. Such skills are both important for the development of their peer relationship as well as communication skills. Lastly, apart from speech and language development, playing also helps children to learn about cultural expectations and norms, discover the world around them and learn how to negotiate their ways in their surroundings. Works Cited Pellegrini, Anthony D. The Role of Play in Human Development. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.Print. Read More