Part 2 Language Precursors: Communication and Social Development (Part 2)
As your baby develops, he acquires information about his environment and he learns about the objects and people that he encounters. Your baby begins to make the communication connection and learns that sounds, gestures and words can get him things. You can help your child to make the communication connection by incorporating the following principles into every day activities:
What can you do?
· Get down to your child’s level and make sure that he can see your face. This is particularly important if there is a possibility that your child may have a hearing problem.
· Get to know how your child is communicating, both verbally and non-verbally and respond to each communication attempt he makes. Remember that communication can be very subtle, for example, stiffening our body in protest ... is communication! Pushing a toy away in rejection ... is communication! Looking at a toy as if to say: ‘ I want it!’ ... is communication!
· Try to simplify your language to short phrases (of two or three words) and single words. For example: “Want bottle?”
· Try to emphasise what you are saying by using lots of repetition. For example: “Biscuit, want biscuit?”
· When your child points to an object, name the object so that you are teaching new words all the time.
· Encourage your child’s understanding of the functions of everyday objects. You can do this by demonstrating what to do with various items, e.g. showing your child what to do with a brush, cup, spoon etc.
· Everyday Activities – Whilst you are carrying out your daily activities talk about what you are doing. For example: “I am washing the dishes.” This strategy is called self talk. Provide running commentary on what you are doing. Use language that are the same length or slightly longer than those your child’s normally uses. Another strategy is to use parallel talk: Give running commentary on what your child is doing. “Look, (child’s name) is brushing hair. Brush, brush, brush hair!”
Having fun with sounds
Early play routines often include a sound element within the set of actions (e.g. a squeal of delight when a pop-up toy jumps up). Help your child to learn that interesting noises and sounds are associated with different toys or actions, e.g. ‘brm brm’ for a car, ‘wee’ as you go down a slide, lip smacking for preferred food, ‘d-d-d’ when you bang a drum, etc.
Opportunities
· Regardless of what your child says, try to associate it with something relevant. In this way he will learn that speech can have an effect on his environment. For example, he says “ah” beside the door, you say: “Out?” while pointing at the door and opening it.
· Give him choices: Encourage your child to participate in interactions by encouraging him to make choices. You can do this with toys for example, holding up two toys and asking which one they’d like to play with first. When your child reaches out for a choice make sure you name what is reached for. Look at everyday routines that occur e.g. mealtimes, work or play activities, washing or dressing activities. Introduce choices within these activities to give your child a need to indicate what he wants.
Example:
- Milk or Orange Juice- Swings or Walking
- Trousers or Dress- Doll or Book
· Create situations which provide the opportunity to ask for help, e.g.
- Put his favourite toy in a clear zip lock bag and wait for him to communicate.
- Give him difficult to open boxes, bags or tubs and wait for him to communicate.
- Lock the press in which your child’s toys are stored.
- Put his favourite toys out of reach but within sight.
- Button up his coat before you give it to him to put it on.
· ‘Forget’ to give a required object to your child, thereby providing him with an opportunity to ask for the object, e.g.
- Give him yogurt but forget the spoon.- Give him only one shoe and forget to give the other one.
- Give him the toothbrush, but forget to put toothpaste on.
· Make ‘mistakes’ in familiar routines to give your child an opportunity to communicate his needs, e.g.
- Give him your coat instead of his own.- Skip his turn in a turn taking game.
- Give a treat to the other children but not for him, e.g biscuit.- Give him clothes pegs instead of crayons when he is colouring.
Modelling
· If he does not say a word very clearly, repeat it back to him correctly, for example, he says “dih” and you know it’s drink, say “Drink!, you want a drink.” Then give it to him. Do not ask him to repeat the word correctly.
· If he indicates he wants something perhaps with a gesture, grunt or cry. Again, label with a single word what you think he wants.
Turn – Taking
Encourage your child to be involved in games where he can take a ‘turn’. This is a component of all interaction. Encourage things such as turning the pages of a book, taking turns to knock down a tower of blocks and vocalising.
Single Words
Target specific vocabulary – Decide that you are going to work on a specific set of vocabulary (e.g. action words) and structure your language to contain these words.
Examples: Asking for: ‘more?’· Play with bubbles. Stop and ask your child ‘More?’ Wait until they respond (smile, make a noise or look at you) then blow more bubbles.
· Tickle your child. Stop and ask ‘More?’. Wait until they respond (smile, look at you…) and then give them more tickles.· Put on some music and sing and dance with your child. Stop suddenly and ask them “More?” Continue when they respond with a smile, by looking at you or making a noise.
· Play “Round and round the garden” on your child’s hands. If they enjoy playing this, ask “More?” and play again when they respond.
Other ideas:
· Up, down…… taking toys up and down ladders, going up and down stairs, planes go up, and come down, arms up and arms down, jack-in-the-box goes up and push down.
· Uh-oh…… build a tower and knock it down, drop toys, teddy can fall down, push humpty off a wall.
· Whee…… on a swing or slippery dip
· Mmm / yum…… whenever someone eats something yummy, seeing pictures of yummy food.
· Yuk…… for food or situations that are not pleasant
· Pop…… when playing with bubbles, in the bath, balloons, a jack in the box ‘pops’ up
· Bang…… bang on the table with hands, bang the door shut, bang on the drum
· Boo…… when playing peek-a-boo
· In/out…… put toys in and out of a box, or container, taking food in and out of a container· Hot…… whenever there is hot food or running hot water, hot coffee, stove whilst cooking, hot drink
· Pretty…… when brushing a dolls hair or dressing a doll· Gone…… when something disappears
· Sh…… when things need to be quiet, putting teddy or dolls to bed
· Splash…… in the pool or bath, when washing hands
Expanding
· Expand on the language your child offers you. For example:
Parent: “What are you doing?”Child: “Playing”
Parent: “I’m playing with the blue ‘Play-Doh’”
· Expand by adding in information: Child:“car”
Parent: “Yes, drive car.” Or “Yes, big car.”
Book Reading
· Encourage your child to look at picture books and name and point to pictures as you turn the pages.
· Books – Books are a great way of learning the meaning of new words. You can also encourage expressive language whilst looking at books. Whilst the story is important, talking about the pictures in books can be just as valuable. It’s important to model new words to your child, using lots of repetition as you do.
Music and Singing· Nursery Rhymes / songs - Sing nursery rhymes and songs as these have predictable words and phrases and often have actions that go along with them.
· Use fingerplays or songs which require eye contact.
In summary: The aim of these language stimulation guidelines is to ensure that your child takes part in situations that have the potential for developing language and to create every day opportunities for your child to learn and use his language. And most important: have fun!
© Marinet Janse van Vuren, DSC 2009
All rights reserved. No part of this work can be reproduced in any form, or by any means without the express permission of the author or by Down Syndrome Centre info@downsyndromecentre.ie
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