My Focus Child's Communication Skills

My focus child is a five-year-old girl with lots of smile. She has speech-language impairment. She usually answers questions with a smile and uses an average of two to three word phrases. She has good language comprehension, but she was significantly delayed in expressive language development and articulation/phonology development. She uses a limited number of one-word utterances and a few short phrases throughout the day with multiple speech errors which makes her speech very difficult to understand. She has been receiving speech-language therapy and has shown very good progress.

To improve her communication skills, I will give her plenty of opportunities to interact with her typically developing children and teachers. As stated in our text, "Interaction is the first key to the development of communication skills. Infants and young children must learn to experience the pleasures of turn taking and reciprocal interaction." My focus child enjoys playing in different learning centers, especially in dramatic play, library/writing, and blocks. Her interest in playing in these centers will give her many opportunities to interact with other children. I will observe and join in when appropriate and in the right time to encourage and help sustain play and taking turns in conversations.

For the child to learn true communication skills, it must be functional for the child. I will model speaking and language skills during meal times. I will sit with her and the other children at the table during meal times and talk about the foods we are eating, what our favorite foods are, and other things that the children would like to talk about. I will have my focus child sit with the children who play with her most of the time and who have good communicating skills. I will identify high-preference objects and activities to make communication functional by observing her and interviewing her family. While she plays with favorite toys in learning centers, draws pictures, and does her classroom routines, I will talk to her, ask questions, or ask for her help to encourage her to talk. I will provide her with a responsive environment where she knows she is being heard and listened to. I will listen attentively to what she is saying and I will speak clearly and not too fast. I will emphasize the key words as well as the sounds of letters she has difficulty producing.

To teach my focus child language and concepts, I  also comment on what she is doing using behavioral reflections. I repeat and recast her own words or phrases in different ways to emphasize important words. I match her word with a slightly more elaborated response. I expand what she says syntactically and semantically. I have also used manding with her when she builds constructions or draws a picture. I say, "Tell me about your picture." This allows her to talk about her drawing.  I have denied access to the computer by allowing another child to play on it. She said, "Hey, my name here." She tried to inform the other child that she put her name tag on the choice board to play in the computer center first. The other child, stood up and place her name tag on the choice board. With the use of these effective communication strategies and by providing her with a responsive environment, I believe that my focus child will continue to make remarkable progress.

Resources:

Cook, R.E., Klein, M.D., & Tessier, A. (2008). Adapting early childhood curricula for children with special needs (7th Ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.