It can be scary and frustrating for parents to communicate with their children, especially when the child has a very limited expressive vocabulary. Although a child may not have "words" or a very extensive vocabulary, they are communicating. Communication occurs both verbally and nonverbally. Some examples of nonverbal communication include pointing, waving, gesturing, signing, waving, vocalizing, facial expression, sounds, body movements, eye gaze, and a variety of behaviors such as crying, hitting, pushing, hugging, tapping, etc. In some way, every child is communicating. As the adults and caregivers, it is up to us to figure out what the child is trying to communicate. Here are a few tips that I found on The Hanen Centre website. I hope these tips help you expand your child's vocabulary and communications skills:
1. Put the child's message into words. Once you have figured out what your child is trying to communicate, put it into words. It's important to keep it short. Don't overload your child with too much language. For example, if your child is reaching up towards a cupboard with cups, say "you want a drink." or "OK I'll get you a drink." 2. Stop talking and wait. Give your child a chance to communicate. Accept all attempts from your child to communicate. She may not have used words, but she gestured or pointed or had a look of surprise on her face. This is communication. Then acknowledge her communication attempt. For example, if she hears loud music and puts her hands to her ears. You say, "yes the music is loud." or "I will turn the music down." It's really easy to fill in the quiet with words. Try to resist the urge to talk too much. 3. Encourage verbal turn taking. Pause and wait for your child to take a turn communicating. This is a good activity to do when you are doing something that can be repeated over and over. For example, when swinging and you know he wants more pushes. Model the word "push" or "more push" one time then wait. Give him time to tell you what he wants. 4. Use fun words and fun sounds like "whee", "boom", "uh-oh", "pop", "crash", "moo", "bang", "boom", "splash", etc. These words are fun because they are usually said with a lot of expression. Also encourage animal sounds and other environmental sounds such as "choo choo", "vroom", etc. 5. Imitate your child's sound and actions. Imitation is a very important skill for your child to learn because it causes her to notice you. She may then begin to imitate you when she is ready. Imitate her verbalizations such as "dada", "ooo", "no", etc. as well as her motor actions. For example, if she runs across the room and bangs on a drum, you imitate her. If she laughs at a funny toy, you laugh too. 6. Talk during everyday routines. For example, while changing a diaper, while taking a bath, while getting dressed. Describe what is happening. For example: "you are splashing". "Let's wash your hands with soap." "It's time to put on your shirt." 7. Use gestures and actions and demonstrations when speaking to your child. When talking about an airplane in the sky, point up. When talking about an animal at the zoo, point to the animal. When talking about going bye-bye, hold up your car keys. When talking about swinging, move your body/head back and forth. 8. Offer your child a choice. Give your child a choice of two items by holding them up. "Do you want an apple or a banana?" "Do you want to red shirt or pink shirt?" When your child has indicated his or her choice, verbalize the answer. "Pink shirt." "Banana please." Pause and see if he or she can verbalize or indicate in some way. 9. Be face to face. Play with your child down on the floor. Get to eye level when talking to her. Face her when she's in the highchair. Limit your screen time (phones, ipads, tv's) while playing with your child. 10. Ask fewer questions. Instead comment on things in everyday life. When your child is playing with play dough, don't ask "what are you doing?" Instead comment, "you're squishing the playdough." When looking at books, don't ask "what is that?" Instead, comment "that's a funny puppy." It's easy to get into the habit of asking lots of questions, but if you're child isn't using words, it is difficulty for him to answer you. Some questions are good! But not too many!
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