Eileen Tan, Group B

An area of intervention for that child is the construction of phonological working memory, as the child has speech impairment and communication difficulties due to facial deformities at birth. Phonological working memory strongly involves language processing and development. The working memory serves as an additional model component which will be influenced by speech perception, vocabulary development and phonological awareness. This will also have direct and indirect effects on emergent literacy. According to Brady (1997) and Rohl and Pratt (1995), tasks such as rime matching, onset matching or phoneme blending can be use to enhance the construction of phonological working memory. This can be practiced by teachers in school as she attends mainstream kindergarten. Speech and language therapist could also use this intervention to enhance child’s language. Through improvements of the phonological working memory child will be able to learn to communicate using simple words to improve her social skills. This will help her in her behavioral and social difficulties and increase her self-esteem so that she will not be extremely shy and withdrawn.
Hartmann, Rvachew, and Grawburg (2008) suggested that with the measures of phonological working memory, phonological awareness and emergent literacy knowledge could be additionally enhanced. With the increase knowledge of literacy and the ability to speak, child could learn to communicate better with people around her.
It is important for adults to speak clearly with the movements of the mouth for child with speech impairment to be able to see and imitate the words. Child needs constant repetition to reinforce the words learned. The phonological working memory enable child to learn and practice the sound of words and thus enhance literacy awareness. Parents can cooperate with the therapist or even teachers to improve and practice the words learned. As child’s language improved, she will be able to communicate simple instructions with teachers and friends which will reduce frustration and misbehaviors.
Parents, teachers and therapists play a vital role in child’s learning. Teachers can use pictures to facilitate in learning the phonological words. Music and movement activities could be used as a tool to involve child in the learning of words and speaking. Children understand better when learning is interesting and they are able to relate to their environment. Teachers should also educate the children in the class to accept and help her so they will not tease her for her facial deformities. It is also very important for parents and therapists to practice and reinforce the certain words they want to teach to reduce confusion and overwhelming the child.
On the whole, measures of phonological working memory enhanced child’s literacy and enable child to communicate better. However, teachers, therapists and parents have to use it consistently to teach the child. Teachers should also educate other children and let the other children in the class be involved in helping Annie to overcome her difficulties.

 
Reference:
Brady, S. (1997). Ability to encode phonological representations: An underlying difficulty of poor readers. In B. A. Blachman (Ed.), Foundation of reading acquisition and dyslexia: Implications for early intervention (pp. 21–47). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Rohl, M., & Pratt, C. (1995). Phonological awareness, verbal working memory and the acquisition of literacy. Reading and Writing, 7, 327–360

Hartmann, E., Rvachew, S., & Grawburg, M. (2008, October). Phonological Awareness in Preschoolers With Spoken Language Impairment: Toward a Better Understanding of Causal Relationships and Effective Intervention. A Constructive Comment on Rvachew and Grawburg's (2006) Study. Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research, 51(5), 1215-1218. Retrieved September 2, 2009, from Academic Search Premier database.