1. Observe, Wait and Listen (OWL) strategy
Look at what your child or young person is doing. Give them time and then listen to what they have to say or watch what they do. As adults, it can be easy to rush and give limited time to wait! This may mean you miss key communication opportunities.
Did you know it can take up to 10 seconds for children to process language? Try to time 10 seconds and see how long 10 seconds in silence is. Experience how it may feel.
2. Let your child lead
By using the OWL strategy, you will be able to see how your child interacts with their toys, with you and others. This will allow you to let them play and you will be able to follow their lead and interests. It will help you if you get down on their level.
3. Follow your child’s lead
Giving your child the opportunities to lead means you can follow them. Following their interests and modelling strategies to develop their communication. They may even imitate your language.
4. Respond with interest
There are lots of ways to show that we are interested in what our child is doing. For example by the gestures, body language, facial expression, language, or tone of voice we use, to name a few.
5. Use a variety of words
If your child is using and combining words, you may wish to model different kinds of words such as nouns (e.g. it’s a cat), adjectives/describing words (e.g. noisy cat), location words (e.g. the cat is on the table). We need our young people to hear different words being used in the correct context, so they are exposed to them, and in time start to use them.
6. Expanding vocabulary
This is a great way to expose your child or young person to more language. You will want to keep it manageable for your child, so just adding an extra word or two regularly in the right context will support their communication.
Take this example, a parent and child playing with bubbles.
Child: Bub
Parent: Bubbles, big bubbles.
Child: Bub
Parent: Bubbles, pop!!
7. Reduce questioning and increase commenting
Reducing the demands on children and young people is vital. Communication needs to feel enjoyable and relaxed. You may want to follow the rule of one question to five comments.
Take a look at this example of commenting:
Context – Parent and child playing with a ball.
Parent: What’s this? What is it? What colour is it? Where’s the ball.
Vs
Parent: It’s a bouncy b [pauses]
Child: ball
Parent: that’s right, my bouncy ball
Bounce [Pauses] bounce [pause]
Child: ball fall
Parent: oh no, my ball has fallen on the floor
8. Have a conversation that goes back and forth
A conversation is a two-way process. Allow your child to get involved in the conversation. Look for their non-verbal communication, it might be that their turn involves pointing or eye contact, it’s not necessarily about using words.
9. Create opportunities
Sometimes as adults we must create opportunities that will allow our children to use communication. We can use toys that are hard to operate, so the child is more likely to make a request. We can give them choices with a pause waiting for them to respond. We could even give them the wrong choice and see what happens.
10. Have fun!
Communication is best when having fun. So, create a comfortable environment that allows for it to take place. You may want to choose a place where you don’t mind if it gets dirty and be prepared to leave your best clothes out of the way!
To learn more about Parent Child Interaction, please contact us: