ORANGEBURG, S.C. — Educators at South Carolina State University are helping children break down barriers with their communication skills at speech camp. This summer the camp is serving 32 children ages 3 through 10.
Many of these children experience problems with articulation, stuttering, and language disorders. Each week, the camp has its own theme including fishing, farming, the beach, the zoo, the ocean, and camping. According to clinic director Shirlain Darby, these issues became heightened during the pandemic.
“We’ve noticed that a lot of our campers had difficulty with pragmatic skills being that they were inside and lost a lot of communication, that ability to use those social skills with others," said clinic director Shirlain Darby.
The campers are offered both individual and group therapy and work with certified clinical educators certified by the American Speech and Hearing Association.
It also provides hands-on experience to speech pathology graduate students like Juan Ari Stazabal. His client is non-verbal and on the autistic spectrum.
They're now working on functional communication.
“It could be long days. It also is unpredictable but when you get your client to sign or verbalize it’s all worth it," said grad Ari Stizabal.
Speech experts say they are laying down the groundwork for future academic success.
“If you don’t have really good language skills, good articulation skills, good communication skills, then it’s gonna be difficult for these children to progress in the school system," said acting chair June Bethea.
The program ends on Thursday.