HEALTH LINE: Summer a Great Time for Speech, Language and Literacy Programs

CINCINNATI—With the school year drawing to a close, parents may be looking for opportunities to build on their child’s speech, language and literacy skills during the summer months.

At the University of Cincinnati (UC) Speech and Hearing Clinic, UC speech-language pathologists are offering group programs and individualized sessions to build the speech and literacy skills of young children, teens and adults. 

Housed with the College of Allied Health Sciences, the clinic provides screening, diagnostic evaluations and a full range of treatment for children and adults with communication disorders.

This summer, the clinic is holding multiple sessions of its Language/Literacy Enrichment Group (LLEG), an evidence-based summer preschool program that focuses on creating language and literacy-rich social play experiences for young children aged 3 to 5 years old.

"The Summer LLEG program provides a more intensive language and literacy experience for young children who may not be available for such opportunities during the school year,” says program director Lesley Raisor-Becker, PhD. "The LLEG program utilizes the latest evidence for effective instruction in the areas of language and literacy. Parents are also given opportunities to learn language/literacy enrichment strategies to use at home.”

Sessions include story book reading, language/vocabulary enrichment, speech sound development and social skill experiences. LLEG runs for six weeks in the summer with morning and afternoon sessions available. There is currently space available in the morning session, which runs from 9 to 11 a.m. on Monday and Wednesday. 

Individualized sessions are also available for children or teens who could benefit from a more personalized approach. Services are provided by graduate students who are supervised by faculty members of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD).

All CSD supervisors hold a master’s or doctoral degree in Speech-Language Pathology or Audiology, the Certificate of Clinical Competence of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and licensure by the Ohio Board of Speech Pathology and Audiology.