Children in A-State’s Speech and Hearing Center Summer Camp Showcase Skills
JONESBORO – Children ages six through 12 in a summer camp at the Speech and Hearing Center (SHC) at Arkansas State University participated in a special production of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” on Wednesday, July 23.
“Children who struggle with literacy can experience skill regression in the summer,” said Arianne Pait, director of clinical services in communication disorders at SHC. “Our summer reading program aims to not only maintain literacy skills, but to improve them. We get to work with children whose brains are not exhausted from school. We offer four hours of training each week.”
The culmination of that training was a performance the children have practiced for throughout the summer camp.
“The children have been putting their literacy training to functional use by reading the script, collaborating in production planning, assisting in decorating the set, and rehearsing the lines,” continued Pait.
Cydni Williams said her older daughter has already completed the program, and her two youngest children are in it this year.
“They get the core foundation at school but with dyslexia they sometimes need extra support. My daughter Audrey was the narrator, and I never in a million years would expect her to get up there. You would never think that child has dyslexia. With this program, they learn coping skills they can use when they go back to school,” said Williams.
Communication disorder graduate students were essential in this summer’s camp experiences. Pait said that the students have been instrumental in the program’s success.
“They have grown in their cueing, feedback, and reinforcement required of their clients who struggle with literacy,” Pait continued.
“The summer reading bootcamp has been such a valuable experience for me as a graduate student. I’ve learned how to use the Barton Reading and Spelling System and how to modify it for each child’s needs, which has made me more confident in providing reading intervention,” said Mackenzie Beck, a second-year graduate student from Paragould.
“We begin each session by reading our ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ script. Once the children’s brains are warmed up, we use the specific training curriculum to improve decoding of words, phrases and essays,” said Pait.
Parts of the summer camp included teaching children the rules associated with how words are spelled to help them better grasp the practice of reading.
"Dyslexia is such a complex disorder, and the more time I’ve spent with this group of students, the more I’ve come to understand its impact and admire their determination and progress,” added Josie Fairchild, a second-year graduate student from Batesville. “Working with this hardworking group of students has deepened my understanding of the power of literacy and sparked an even greater passion for literacy intervention and the field of speech-language pathology."
