How can we support and develop each child’s communication skills at home, nursery and at school.
The best way to PROMOTE communication is to:
Presume competence Just because a child is non-verbal it does not mean they have nothing to say. It is important to give these children access to alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) systems. For example: objects, pictures, photos, gestures, signs, symbols, written word.
Respond to your child’s speech attempts. If your child says “oar” and holds out their hand to request more, then interpret their speech attempt as “more”.
Observe what your child is interested in. Follow you child’s lead. Be interested in what they are interested in.
Model Provide your child with the correct speech model . For example: child “tar”; adult “yes it’s a car”. Provide a good language model. Expand and add to their utterances. For example: Child “car”; adult “mummy’s car”, “wash car”, “red car”.
Opportunities to Communicate If everything is available for your child then they have no need to communicate. Children need a reason to communicate. Try not to predict what they want instead offer choices, keep desirable items out of reach or in a container they can’t open.
Time Give your child time to respond. Count to 10 once you have asked them a question, given an instruction, made a comment. This allows for processing time to interpret what you have said and respond to it. Try not to repeat the question or phrase as now your child is processing two pieces of information.
Engage children in conversations about things that interest them.
By Sarah Winstanley
Speech and Language Therapist
Stamford, Peterborough and surrounding areas