Okay, I hope you will look at your toothbrush in a different light after reading this. Did you ever think your humble toothbrush could be your mentor?
In our therapy starter kit for all speech and language therapy clients at Leo Magan Speech Sanctuary, we used the analogy of a toothbrush to stress the importance of practising new speech and language skills. We are not ‘too busy’ to brush our teeth. We don’t forget.
Whether adults or children, people find it so much easier to repeat and practise a skill at home after they have actually done it with a professional in a therapy session. Practising the right skills in the right incremental steps is crucial for success.
One example is learning to say ‘s’ sounds correctly in speech. Most children or adults (for example, those learning English as a second language) may just pick it up with the teacher saying, “Say ‘sun’” and respond correctly with “Sun.” It’s when someone is having speech difficulties that this step needs to be broken down into several incremental steps so that each step can be mastered.
Not all ‘s’ words are equally easy to learn. Which ‘s’ words should I start with? And how do I get to the next step? You have a much better chance of your practice effort paying off when you have done it in a therapy session first.
Back to the toothbrush. In our starter kit, we used the analogy of a toothbrush to stress the importance of making it a regular habit to practise new speech and language skills. You are not ‘too busy’ to brush your teeth. We do not ‘forget’.
In fact, as Jack Canfield (of ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul’ fame) pointed out in his latest book, if you went to bed and realize you forgot to brush your teeth, you would get up just to brush your teeth. You just do it.
Can you imagine how much more successful you can be if you commit to making speech or language practice a habit just like brushing your teeth? Here are some suggestions:
1. Make it simple and quick! Resist the temptation to launch into something ambitious and complicated. You’ll get better results choosing a ‘no-brainer’ basic skill that is much easier to commit to 100%, every single day, even if you are tired/busy/not in the mood etc.
2. Plan it. Know exactly what you need to do. If you are working with a speech and language therapist, you can clarify this with her.
3. Plan when to do it too. I always suggest to my clients to practise before you permit yourself to brush your teeth, whether in the morning or at night. This way, you don’t ‘forget’.
4. Reward yourself! If you have trouble with ‘rewarding’ yourself, think about validating, and consolidating a success habit. I ask my adult students to physically give themselves a pat on the back. (Children can have sticker, stamps, hugs or tickles, whatever motivates them!)
5. As Jack Canfield said “100% is a breeze, 99% is a bitch” because you eliminate wasting energy on the mental debating when you do something everyday. However, if you do trip up and miss a day, don’t beat yourself up, just pick up from where you left off. As my teacher Geoff liked to say “Be kind to the animal.” (Yes, that means being kind to yourself too.)
Last but not least, you can make a commitment in writing. If you like, do it right now, and write in to share how you plan to adopt a new habit to help yourself, or your child, to be more happy and successful. It can be about speech and language therapy, or we are happy to support you in any other areas that help you to be more happy and successful too!
I shall kick it off here: I commit to doing at least 5 minutes of my back exercises everyday.
(P.S. Do it now! Don’t procrastinate until you can compose a Pulitzer prize winning article, because chances are you won’t. Just do it )
To your success!