NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — It’s a combination that’s raised a lot of questions over the years.
“They say, 'How do you work on speech in the water? When they’re going down do they say help?'” Beck Hastings joked. "Do they speak through bubbles, are they fish? I get that question all the time!"
Hastings takes those questions with good humor and instead uses them as a chance to explain what exactly Speech and Swim is.
Hastings, a Mechanicsville native now living in Williamsburg, is a speech-language pathologist currently working with Williamsburg-James City County Schools. Her first passion though came in the water as a long-time swim instructor, when her attention would eventually turn to pursuing an education in speech-language pathology.
“The field of speech-language pathology is huge. I work in the schools, and there are speech-language pathologists that work with private practices. We work with kids with speech sound errors," Hastings said. “The field of speech-language pathology is very new, to a lot of people."
In her traditional school environment, Hastings helps kids overcome different speech barriers, most commonly seen as speech sound errors, or trouble annunciating certain letters in the English language.
It wasn’t until 2019 when those two paths merged, when Beck started “Speech and Swim” over the summer as a week-long camp. Three years later, the program’s grown to offer three week-long camps between June and August.
Hastings’ "Speech and Swim" lessons largely resemble those lessons seen during the school year, using what she calls auditory bombardment to help reinforce proper speech practices.
"Have as much engagement as possible. For example making sentences with that 'R' sound, answering questions that have to do with that 'R' sound. I can get roughly 35-50 repetitions and help them strengthen and show them the proper way to say it in a 45-minute session. Without the kids really knowing that’s what we’re doing.”
Hastings offers the "Speech and Swim" program lessons to any child of any age that comes to her with a speech barrier they're trying to overcome.
“My job gets me amped every day, I see breakthroughs every day.”
Hastings says after the lessons are over, she'll often give families at-home speech exercises so that they can continue that speech development once they're out of the pool.
But in it, she says it's about having the kids feel like they're just taking swim lessons, engaging in an activity that's hands-on and feels less like traditional learning.
“I can imagine having so much to say, but not being able to express, or say what you want. It’s a vital part of being a person.”