TIP 1: Build communication partner skills
The first step to supporting every child’s communication is to change how we act as communication partners. So what is a communication partner? A communication partner is whoever you communicate with. Communication partners are fundamental to how children learn language – the whole point of communicating is passing on a message, but if the message has not been received, communication has not occurred.
Being an effective communication partner is a learned skill. Communication partner skills include:
- Listening and trying to understand
- Being available and creating space for communication opportunity
- Watching and noticing communication signals
- Being inclusive and inviting communication in a range of contexts
- Offering choices
- Accepting communication in many different forms (e.g., verbal, gestures, using pictures)
- Repeating, reinforcing, and paraphrasing a message to help a child feel understood
- Clarifying a message when communication is unclear or miscommunication happens
- Providing information a child needs or wants in a way they’ll understand
These skills all play a very important role in supporting individuals to communicate – which is of course, their right.
Parents often put pressure on themselves to naturally be amazing communication partners, even when, for autistic children, these signals can be different from what we might expect, or the signals may be incredibly subtle. It’s okay to get some support from a professional, like a Speech Pathologist, to learn more about how to support a child’s communication and ‘tune-in’ to their subtle or unique communication signals.
We can all benefit from ongoing learning when it comes to communication partner skills. A child’s skills will likely change across childhood, so being flexible to adapt to match a child’s communication development is key.
TIP 2: Create a communication environment rich in opportunity
This tip is about creating an environment around the child that is rich is communication opportunities. The communication environment is everything about the context where communication is happening including:
- Where?
- When?
- Who?
- Why?
- What methods?
The environment can be a communication asset, or it can negatively impact on communication. This is particularly true for autistic kids. The communication environment is important for all kids, but for some autistic kids, providing the right, supportive environment is essential, and may be the difference between no communication, and great communication.
A communication environment is rich when it is set up to make sure that a child feels safe and well regulated. Often that means taking into consideration the child’s sensory needs and preferences (like sound, visual clutter, opportunities for movement and so forth).
Communication rich environments also provide opportunities for the child to lead the interaction, and that means making sure they have access to things they are interested in and motivated to explore and communicate about. We want to ensure that there are choices too, so that there is possibility in the environment for the child to steer the direction of the interaction.
Finally, a communication environment is rich when it supports multiple means of communication. If a child is still learning to communicate using verbal words, or prefers to communicate in ways other than speech, making other ways of communicating available can support communication to still occur. Some children might communicate they want to go outside by handing you their shoes, some children might point to a picture, or press a button on a communication device. By having familiar objects, photographs, or alternative communication means available, you create an environment that is rich in opportunities for a child to make themselves understood.
TIP 3: Get to know the child
Getting to know a child is fundamental to supporting their communication – and one of the most valuable things you can do. While research has shown us that some communication therapies or programs are effective for supporting some children, there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach that has been shown to be effective for all children. Supporting a child’s communication needs to be individualised to their unique profile of strengths, challenges, interests and context. Getting to know the child is an essential first step to providing effective supports.
Every child is unique, so get curious, find out about the child’s motivations and interests, and remember to focus on the child’s strengths, not just their areas of need or difficulty.
TIP 4: Layer in effective learning strategies
While there is no-one-size-fits-all approach, there are strategies that have been repeatedly shown to be beneficial for supporting communication. These include:
- When seeking to play or interact with a child, use a simple three-step formula for joining in:
- Observe first – waiting for a good moment to join in gets interaction off in the right foot.
- Share attention – create a triangle of ‘joint attention’ between yourself, the child and whatever they are interested in. Showing you are interested in what they are interested in, rather than making the interaction about your own interests, supports the interaction to be led and motivated by the child.
- Use language that is relevant to the context and sensitively respond to words or communication the child uses. Show enthusiasm for what your child plays with by making comments like “oh wow!”, “big crash”, “fall down!”. Make comments more frequently than you ask questions.
- Provide effective language models: When communicating with your child use a variety of methods like verbal speech, facial expressions, gestures and pointing. Modelling a variety of methods will encourage them to use a variety of methods to communicate with you.
- Use everyday moments: Opportunities to learn and use communication should be embedded within everyday moments like mealtimes, bathtime, and driving in the car. Create routines for everyday moments and use rhythms of predictability and surprise to support communication development.
TIP 5: Put it in context and make it meaningful
When supporting your child to communicate, it is important to remember to think beyond requests or ‘wants’ and ‘needs’. Communication can be used for so many different purposes that are important for building connection and friendship. Communication helps us share humour, argue a point, explain our thinking, ask questions and wonder about the world.
Thinking about your own communication: how much is for expressing what you need and how much is for another purpose? Children need opportunities to use communication for more than just ‘more’ or ‘help’. Putting communication in context and making it meaningful is vital. We want to see a world where autistic children are not just supported to communicate what they need, but they can share their perspective, their views, and their dreams.
The recording of the 'Five tips to help children communicate' online seminar is available here to view.
If you would like to discuss further communication support for your child, please phone 08 6319 1133 or email clinikids.reception@thekids.org.au