Why should I have to do this? No one has to do anything!
The key here is that these methods can be easily used all throughout the day in all activities of daily living and they are conversational in nature. It is far better to communicate, interact and share, than the drudgery of every day tasks in silence.
How much time?
It really does not take any additional time to stimulate language, than to be silent and do nothing. Speech and language stimulation is like talking in single words, phrases and sentences throughout the day. That is really no different than what is considered “normal.”
(I thought the speech pathologist was supposed to ):
The speech pathologist only does a small portion of the work and chances are, will not be able to provide “long term” therapy. He or she is there to find the best way to stimulate your loved one, and train family members to use language stimulation methods at home. The Teaching of Talking method teaches you “How to fish,” rather than doing the “fishing” for you.
How long?
Until your client or loved one is using independent speech and everyone is happy with the result. Often speech and langauge stimulation for severe cases may take over a year, or years.
(no high school education)
Anyone can learn the Teaching of Talking Methods whatever their educational background. I have trained caregivers who did not even hae a highschool education, and honestly they are able to do speech and langauge stimulation almost as well as me!
