(Article obtained from the Jan, 2012 Newsletter)

By Andrea Amestoy, parent
and Amy Hardy, MS, CCC-SLP, Clinical Assistant Professor at ISU

My four year old Ryder bounded out of the car and sped up the stairs with eager anticipation. Right behind him, I’m trying to keep up while schlepping my one year old Kylie. Was it an Elmo or Justin Beiber concert we were going to? No, it was TELL! Both Ryder and Kylie are hearing challenged (as I like to put it) and participated in the TELL program this past fall. 
 

TELL or Toddler Early Language Learning is a fantastic program that we are so fortunate to have in the Treasure Valley. Taught by graduate students in the speech therapy program and managed by a speech therapist, TELL met twice a week for 1½ hours at the Idaho State University campus in Meridian. Each morning commenced with a half hour of speech therapy followed by an interactive play group where therapy was seamlessly intertwined with play.  My children had no idea they were learning so much! Four children total participated in the program and each session brimmed with songs, dances, crafts, snack and activities that all encompassed listening, learning and speaking. This is Ryder’s fourth session in TELL and I’m looking forward to many more with Kylie as Ryder segues into kindergarten next fall.  --Andrea

Toddler Early Language Learning (TELL) group at Idaho State University (ISU) provides a high-quality program that offers children a structured preschool environment with directed and non-directed activities. This balanced program contains developmentally appropriate activities that foster speech/language skills, social-emotional, intellectual, and creative growth. Children are seen for group sessions and then seen individually by our supervised student clinicians. This preschool group focuses on children with cochlear implants, hearing impairments and speech/language delays. 

The TELL group is a unique program that also looks to include rehabilitation and hopes to make a difference in children as they transition to preschool or kindergarten. Children are encouraged and taught to learn about their strengths and limitations individually and then in a small group setting. The child attends an individual session that focuses on increasing speech and language skills, auditory rehabilitation and then these skills are carried over into the small group setting. 

The parents of the TELL participants also can attend the individual sessions and the group sessions. Parents are directly involved in carryover of skills, rehabilitation and education of their children. Two of our families attended the individual session and the group session and last semester we saw a significant increase in carryover of skills. A morning spent at the TELL group from the perspective of a parent would look like a lot of play and fun. As the parent attends they begin to see and learn that the TELL group is not just about play and fun. They learn that play has a purpose; they learn about their child individually and also learn about them socially. 

Please call Cally Stone at 373-1723 or Amy Hardy at 373-1724 for questions about the program.   --Amy