The Importance of Categories in Speech Therapy & Strategies for How to Teach Them!
Hi friends!
As speech therapists, we see a lot of goals geared towards foundational skills. Usually, they come recommended based off of testing or skills that are noted to be lacking in their home, social, or school settings. One goal I see coming across my desk time and time again? 👀
Categories!
Sometimes it's hard to see why our clients need to work on these skills, but let's dig into why categories are so essential and what we can do to expand on this area!
So let's chat about it 👇🏼
Why do we need categories in the first place?
Categories help us connect information to learn it, remember it, and then integrate it into our cognitive abilities. You would be surprised to know how understanding how categories work help us learn new information and how we can manipulate it.
Functionality of Categories
AAC: Many AAC systems are grouped in categories, so if a client doesn't understand how categories work, they may have difficulty finding the word or phrase they are looking for on their device. Make sure to check for their abilities in this area as part of a comprehensive AAC trial!
Geriatric Population: People who have developed aphasia may show word-finding difficulty, and working on their category skills can assist in rebuilding their skills.
School-Age Students: Categorization is an essential skill for students learning new vocabulary and building their memory. Children who have difficulty in this area often struggle with making inferences, comparing/contrasting, and describing items/concepts in depth.
So how can we help as SLPs?
Make sure to assess this skill thoroughly if a child presents as having difficulty with describing, comparing, or contrasting vocabulary or concepts they are learning in class. This is a concept that is developed in Kindergarten, so keep that in mind for your screeners! This concept is tied into executive functioning and literacy, so it's crucial for school-based therapy!
Real-Life Examples of Therapy
- Read books that introduce categories, such as colors or animals on the farm. While reading other books, point out the categories that can be seen in each one.
- Use everyday experiences for sorting: talk about members of your family, pets, food, subjects in school to make real-life examples.
- I use my Categories Interactive Unit to make learning categories easy and fun! Simply print and go then send it home for parents to finish up and carryover that skill.
I also love using THIS book for categories (and honestly, any skill). When I tell you your clients will love this book, they will LOVE this book!
Find these tips helpful? Be sure to let me know in the comments below and come back next week for another brand new blog post!
Happy Speeching!
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