Camp I Can Say It!

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This camp is an intensive bilingual speech therapy and early literacy summer day camp for children ages 5–7 with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) or other severe speech disorders, held at Keewaydin Discovery Center in Kennewick, Washington, and led by Dr. Amy Meredith from the Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences in partnership with bilingual community SLPs.

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Program Features

During the week before camp, each camper will have an individual assessment and campers and families will have an opportunity to meet camp staff. During the five days of camp, we will provide research-based therapy and activities in English and Spanish for campers and education for families. Each camper will be paired with a graduate-level clinician for their assessment and therapy, and these sessions will be supervised by experienced speech-language pathologists. The majority of camp staff are bilingual.

Individual Assessment

Before camp, each camper’s speech needs and goals will be evaluated during a telehealth appointment and an in-person appointment. This comprehensive assessment will include a bilingual English-Spanish assessment, motor speech evaluation adapted for Spanish, structural functional exam looking at the mouth and throat, hearing screening, language sampling, and letter-sound knowledge assessment.

Individual Therapy

During camp, each camper will receive 60 minutes of individual therapy per day in two 30-minute sessions to support their specific speech goals. Therapy will use dynamic tactile temporal cueing (DTTC), an approach that aims to improve the brain’s ability to plan movements for speech.

Small Group Therapy

Campers will have opportunities practice speaking in a small group setting while still receiving one-on-one support. In small group therapy, they will work on phonological awareness and early reading skills using the phonic faces approach, which helps children associate letters with sounds and practice those sounds.

Large Group Therapy

In large group therapy, campers will practice their social communication goals and reinforce sound-letter awareness during snack and activity time while still receiving one-on-one support.

Facts About Bilingual Language Development

1. All children are capable of learning multiple languages, including children with developmental delays and learning disabilities.
2. Bilingualism does not cause language delays. It has been shown to improve children’s ability to learn new words, identify sounds, and problem solve.
3. Families should speak the language they are most comfortable speaking, so children have rich linguistic models and can interact with other members of their community.