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This lesson teaches communication strategies that focus on promoting spoken language in your child.
In the below videos that illustrate this lesson, you will meet Louloua and her son Talal who is deaf. Note that at the time of the filming, Talal was 20 months old and was exhibiting major language delays, but still not diagnosed with hearing loss. The strategies of course still apply.
Make sure to download the supporting PDF workbook.
What's their role?
It starts with non verbal communication
Build to action
Find a way to be needed
Use their interest, really
Be in context
Build on existing sounds
Give choices, give space
Enunciation
What's their role?
It starts with non verbal communication
Build to action
Find a way to be needed
Use their interest, really
Be in context
Build on existing sounds
Give choices, give space
Enunciation
Lesson Takeaways
- Know what you’re choosing and what you’re focusing on – communicate, interact or bond? Where are you taking this? What are you teaching? Have a goal so you know what you are after, you’ll find success easier this way than staying in your thoughts
- What’s your child’s role? If they have no role, they can’t build into language. If they don’t know what to do in the game, they can’t communicate and they freeze. Make that clear
- What is your order of importance when it comes to what words to know?
- It starts with nonverbal communication: respond to mouthing, sign, mannerism, non verbal response… We want to then hear their voice while they sign and then try to shape to clarity. Recognize they are already communicating and talking.
- Find A Way To Be Needed: It’s about finding the place where there is an action where they need you and giving the space for them to say the word to make it happen. You are the toy that they push the button and something happens. Become the toy yourself so you get their attention.
- Use Their Interest, Really: when trying to get language, use motivators of what they are interested in. We generally have to use big energy to get them interested in things, but when they already love something, you don’t need that much energy
- Be In Context: It’s not important to be right, it’s important to be in context, you’re teaching language in context, it has to make sense in this scenario
- Build On Existing Sounds: Pick up on sound that they just said and build on that instead of asking for a new one
- Build To An Action Game that is rewarding in and of itself. If the word is an action word, it’s like pushing a button on the toy. They need to want to push the button, the button is to speak, by speaking they make the toy work which is my mommy and cool stuff happens
- Give Choices, Give Space: No space = no time to talk. Question, space, answer. Give choices for them to be able to choose from
- Enunciation: we want a a mixture of isolation of sounds and fluidity of words
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