Creating Opportunities for Communication
- Posted by spectrum
- On December 20, 2022
- 0
Parents often wonder how to encourage their child to communicate with them more. One way we can encourage your child to use more words and to start putting short sentences together is to use sabotage in play! This sounds very ominous, but it is actually very simple and a great strategy to use at home to support your child’s early language skills. We call this strategy ‘Communicative Temptations”.
Communicative Temptations is a strategy where you structure or ‘manipulate’ the environment in such a way that the child is required to communicate with other people in order to get what they desire. For example, putting the child’s favourite toy in a box that is difficult for them to open independently. This way the child will have to come to you to request for help in opening the box so that they can have their toy.
Other examples of Communicative Temptations in play include:
- Playdough: Many children have difficulty opening the playdough tubs and with getting the playdough out of the container.
- Bubbles: Hand the child the bubble wand, unopened. Your child will (hopefully) be unable to open the bubbles independently, so they will have to ask you for help.
- Toys that are hard to operate, for example wind up toys
- Putting desired items (toys, snacks) in view but out of reach from your child
Speech Pathologists also often suggest including early language strategies, such as Communicative Temptations within daily routines, as these are easy ways to both remember to use the strategies and within activities that happen regularly. Examples of Communicative Temptations within daily routines include:
- When giving the child a packet of food, hand it to them without opening it
- Give the child their breakfast, but ‘forget’ to give them a fork/spoon
If you’re worried about your child’s developing language skills or would like to know more, call our clinic today and we can find a time for you to chat with one of our friendly and qualified Speech Pathologists.