One of our favorite therapy tools is the Expanding Expression Tool (EET), which was developed by Sarah L. Smith, M.S. CCC-SLP. It has seven color-coded beads that help children build skills in their expressive and written language. More specifically, the EET can be used to assist in comparing and contrasting, describing objects, categorizing, making associations, stating functions of objects, and understanding new vocabulary.

We love using the EET with our clients because it can be used to target a wide variety of goals, and the multi-sensory aspect makes it easy for my clients to remember and use. Plus, our clients love it and don’t see it as work!. One of our clinicians recently used the EET to target written language with one of her clients. Before teaching the EET components, the client’s expositions were short and lacked detail and complexity. After teaching the EET for just one session, her written summary of a favorite vacation was three times longer than before and included details, feelings, and specific examples. The visual elements of the EET aided her in independently including more detail in her writings. We highly recommend checking out this tool if your child is struggling with an expressive language delay!