Yet, Communication begins from Day One
Betsy Cutler Schreiber M.M.S. Speech Language Pathologist
Communication begins from day one. Babies cry and vocalize when they are uncomfortable or need cuddling. They look at you, move their bodies for pleasure and pain, and you coo and talk back to them. This is the beginning of communication. It is part of our human heritage and written in our genetic code to communicate to one another.
If you feel your child is not developing as quickly as you would like check a child development website like zerotothree.org, consult your pediatrician and/or inquire about Early Intervention Programs in your area.
Before TV, electronic toys, computers and video games, our mothers and grandmothers used to engage us in all kinds of activities to keep us busy. Maybe we needed entertaining during a long car trip or something to do while mom was finishing her chores.
We sat in our high chairs while mom did the dishes and prepared dinner. Did she tell us a story? Did she sing us a song? Maybe we played with plastic utensiles and pots to imitate cooking. But we were right there giving and receiving verbal stimuli. (Our high tech toys are not high tech enough to simulate this interaction, yet.)
The back and forth verbal interaction between a child and its loving caregiver can be the most important learning tool in language development.
There are lots opportunities to play interactive games as you go through your day which will stimulate your child's listening and speaking. Some of these may sound familiar to you, but we seldom use them in our busy day because we are distracted by so many things. By paying attention to the listening, thinking and speaking aspects of our activities throughout the day, we can enrich our childrens' lives and really stimulate their thinking and problem solving abilities.
*Note: if you are unsure whether your child is hearing you well, make an appointment with your family physician or pediatrician and get your child's hearing checked out by an audiologist.
1. Face to face babbling and oral play:
A good place to play these kinds of games is in the bathtub where the child is usually relaxed, where it is easy to sit face to face if the child is in the tub and you are on the floor. Blow bubbles, sing songs. Kids love repetition and more repetition. Don't be afraid of singing the same things over and over. The little ones love to sing along and can eventually fill in any blanks you might leave in the singing.
2. Finger plays
Familiar short stories and songs can play a very important role in getting pre-talkers started. If you have ever learned a foreign language, you know that it is easier to understand words than to come up with your own. Familiar songs and fingerplays provide the words and gestures to help little ones get their mouths moving. The child does not have to deal with the stress of looking for that word and getting it out so that you understand that he really wants that cookie!
Establish verbal routines, common phrases that you use over and over. "How big is Johnny? Soooo big!" , or when looking for a toy, " Is doggy in the basket, No...doggy's not in the basket, is doggy in the crib?, No doggy's not in the crib..."
See the pattern? The the children begin to repeat the rhythm, intonation and parts of the phrase. They are learning to pick up on important information; the patterning helps them pick up a little more each time. Pretty soon, they will have the whole phrase.
3. Demonstrating gestures and words: Depending on the age, most pre-talkers are fairly frustrated and they demonstrate this with screaming, crying and tantrumming. All behaviors, we, as adults, would like to avoid! What to do? Show the child by actually demonstrating the gesture and sounds for the item he or she wants, (once you figure it out) and give praise, even if they just vocalize rather than scream. The more we jump in response to their screams, the more they will scream! As soon as they gesture or vocalize, praise and give them what they want ( unless it's in the sharp utensil drawer!)
Try being real quiet and letting your child start the "conversation". Then turn his vocalizations into meaningful words by confirming what his says. If he/she says babu and points to a baby or bubbles, then you say, " yes, bubbles!" Let your child lead.
4. Helping You around the House: Let your child help clean house with a spray bottle of water and a sponge, or sort the laundry. Make the sounds associated with different activities: "pshpsh" for a spray bottle, "voomvoom" for a vacuum, "chch" for a broom. This tunes a child into listening for sounds to imitate and simplifies those incoming sounds. See if your child will imitate you and try a back and forth kind of game. You say it then he/she says it, then you say it. Later this back and forth can occur with words.
5. Outings: Even a simple trip to the grocery store can be a language enriching activity for a child if you have a little extra time to name and categorize many of the things one sees there. Trips to the local park, arboretum/ public garden and zoos tingle all the senses and give everyone a chance to air out.
Apply all of your new found knowledge of eye-face contact, back and forth sounds and words, verbal routines, and initiating "conversations" to your various activities.
These are ways to teach our children the skills for acquiring language:
looking - watching your face,
imitating- imitating your movements and sounds,
initiating conversation- having a reason to communicate and feeling that speaking is important,
listening and modifying- making changes to speech to match the sounds and rules of language.
Book list for further reading: You can type in the search window of Amazon.com below and you will be directed to their website. They will also suggest other reading material you might want to check out. These books can be particularly helpful for parents, caregivers and professionals.
It takes 2 to Talk : A Parent's Guide to Helping Children Communicate , by Ayala Manolson
The New Language of Toys... by Joan E. Heller Miller
Sensory Integration and the Child by Dr. Jean Ayres
How to Talk so Kids will Listen, ...Listen so Kids will Talk...by Faber and Mazlish (good for any age)