Calling Staffordshire Parents of pre-school children with social communication difficulties!!

We're delighted to be able to run Hanen's More Than Words for parents with pre-children with social communication difficulties, ASD or ASD tendancies? It's  free of charge for parents or professionals from staffordshire http://www.hanen.org/Programs/For-Parents/More-Than-Words.aspx

We really like this course as it empowers parents to use everyday routines, play, toys and songs at home/out and about. Forget the worksheets and flashcards, this shows you how to use real situations to develop real communication. We learn language best in functional situations and if you have trouble generalising, then its got to be in everyday real-life situations.

Thursday 5th November at Uttoxeter Fire Station 7-8.30 pm

Monday January 11th Chase Terrace Fire Station 7-8.30 pm

Landywood Chidren's Centre, Gt Wyrley Wednesday 13th January 6.30-8.00. 

Courses run for 10 weeks. 

Just turn up on the first session or email info@smalltalk-ltd.co.uk to book a place. If you need any more information, just let me know.

Children who take your hand and pull you

Last month we talked about children with social interaction difficulties who can be described as having their own agenda. The next group of children are those Hanen describe as 'requesters' We have several children who are at this stage on our caseload.

Toni is a 3-year-old child at the Requester stage, He communicates mainly by pulling or leading others to request things he wants. When he wants to watch the TV, he takes his mum's hand and pulls her towards the TV, when he wants a biscuit he leads his Dad to the kitchen cupboard where the biscuit tin is kept. His attention span is very short and it is difficult to get him to co-operate for very long even on favourite activities. He makes high pitched noises and has some limited 'jargon' but says no words.

Louisa is 2 and a half and loves to watch cartoons, She can echo some of the common repeated phrases but has no functional expressive language. She is a happy child and entertains herself until it's time for her to end an activity or go somewhere as she doesn't understand why she should finish or where she's going. She is responding well to a 'now and next' board and photos/visuals to help her understand.Attention span is improving. She is requesting tickles, food and games. Her nursery uses makaton and she is beginning to pick up signs to use for her requests e.g. biscuit. drink, sweet.

It can be very difficult to work with a child at this level due to their attention span but it is actually a very positive stage because the child at a Requester stage is beginning to realise that they can influence their environment and especially you! By leading you or taking your hand they can get things they want or enjoy. This is extremely significant in the development of communication.

At this stage we encourage games such as Peek-a-boo, round and round the garden, ring a ring a roses etc so they can take an active part in getting you to keep playing. If we pause they can look, move or even jiggle to get you to keep going. Later  we will aim for them to verbalise. We can also use wind up toys, ready-steady-go games or 'row row the boat'.

Children at this level may:

• interact briefly
• use sounds to focus or calm themselves
• echo words or phrases

These are all things we can build upon. Activities can be made to be really fun!

If you have a child at this stage, it's very worthwhile seeing a speech and language therapist to help you.

www.private-speech-therapy.co.uk

Have you got a child who has his or her own agenda?

Tace is 2 and a half. She doesn't look at or seem interested in her parents or anyone else. She loves wheels or anything that spins. She plays alone and likes running around the room. She cannot be persuaded to sit with the others for a story at nursery. She is very independent and shrugs off all attempts to help her. She will reach towards objects she wants. She has no words and will scream when she wants something.

Tace is a child at the 'Own Agenda stage' according to Hanen. Not all children will go through this phase but for parents of children who do, it is extremely frustrating and worrying.

Tace does not realise that she can affect other people so her communication is mostly at a pre-intentional stage.We can tell what she's feeling by looking at her body movements, smiles, gestures and screams. She has been referred to the paediatrician.

So what can we do about it? Most parents just want the child to talk, after all that's what they should be doing at this age, surely? However, the goal of talking is a long way off for Tace. We need to get the background factors in place first so we can move the child from this stage to the next. In Hanen terms, this would be 'the requester stage' which we'll look at next month.

The initial goals for a child at this very early stage of communication development are to increase the child's attention/interaction with you and to increase the understanding of activities. I know that sounds too simple but it is vitally important to pick the right targets or we won't be successful.

With Tace, therefore, we looked at activities which she enjoys and turned them into games with her mother. She loves spinning so we put her in a spinner chair. We started the activity each time with, 'Shall we spin?', then we spun her a few times before stopping. She laughed and moved her whole body to show she enjoyed it. To begin with she didn't realise she could make it happen again. Then when her mother said, 'shall we spin?', and waited a little, she moved her body and her mother began the game again. Her mother had added meaning to the body movement and interpreted that it meant she was to do it again. This happened a few times before Tace realised that by moving her body she could get her mother to repeat the activity. She now regularly 'communicates' to her mother that she wants to do it again. She realises that the chair coming out means its going to happen and shows excitement when she sees it. She is also looking at her mother as another indication that she wants the game to start.

Tace's mother made it fun by using facial expressions and fun noises.

They are now generalising this ability with other games e.g. spinning her around or singing with action e.g. 'Row, row your boat'. She will soon be moving on to being an early communicator i.e. she sees that her actions can have an effect on someone else.

Tace's mother didn't see the point of my suggestions at first. 'What has this got to do with talking?' she might have asked. 'That's pretty crap!' she actually said!! As speech and language therapists we need to be able to look at a child and work out where we are and what the next step is.  It can seem a world away from 'speech therapy' but it's essential we identify the right level so we can suggest the right way forwards.So please bear with us if what we say isn't what you want to hear. The whole process of communication is very complex and it's our job to un-pick it. Tace's Mum now says, 'I thought Libby was mad at first. She was very nice but wasn't saying what I wanted to hear. Fortunately, she convinced me to try and showed me the stages of communication we'd need to work through. I feel like we're getting somewhere now. I still hope that one day she'll talk.'

If you have a child like Tace, try using his/her interests to make simple games. Whether that's spinning like Tace or flapping, flicking, jumping..... make a game out of it so you can start the process of communication today.

www.hanen.org

Do you have a pre-school child with ASD?

As a parent, you know how difficult it can be for your child with suspected or confirmed Autism Spectrum Disorder to interact meaningfully with others and connect with the world around him.

At Small Talk Speech and Language therapy we use The More Than Words Programme from Hanen. This was designed specifically for parents of pre-school children on the autism spectrum. Addressing the unique needs of these children, the programme provides parents with the tools, strategies and support they need to help their children reach their full communication potential.

More Than Words does this by empowering parents to help your child reach the following three goals:

1. Improved social skills
2. The ability to engage in back-and-forth interactions
3. Improved understanding of language

Here are some of the valuable things you’ll learn when we help you carry out the More Than Words Programme:

• How your child learns best and what motivates him to communicate
• Why your child behaves in certain ways, and what you can do to either increase or reduce those behaviours
• How to use your knowledge about your child to set realistic goals
• How to make interactions with your child last longer and be more meaningful
• Tips for using pictures and print to help your child’s understanding
• Tips on how to talk so that your child understands you
• Strategies for developing your child’s play skills
• Ways to help your child make friends

Practical strategies you can use in everyday situations

The More Than Words Programme focuses on your natural, day-to-day life with your child. You’ll discover how to take everyday activities like meal time, story time and bath time and use them to help your child improve his communication and social skills. And you’ll have fun together while you’re doing it!

The More Than Words approach is easy to understand and easy to put into practice. With every strategy you learn, you’ll be given ample opportunity to practice and discuss it so that you won’t forget it.

We have spaces from the middle of February. Register your interest: by contacting us info@smalltalk-ltd.co.uk

Do children need to be perfect or just need perfect praise?

We welcome Natasha Hallam to our blog team:

After recently reading an article by Hanen “Good Job! Is praising your children a good idea?” it got me thinking about how much or how little we really do praise our children. Although the article suggested that everyday phrases such as “good boy, well done and awesome” can actually lead to negative implications, I am still a firm believer in praise! And feel that since working with children with speech, language and communication needs, that praise has become an important expect of their progress journey.

But I question as to whether, as a society, we are really using praise as much as we think we are? And is this praise actually benefiting them in any useful way?

After reading the article I was surprised to find that there are in fact two different types of praise and can now see 

Hanen’s point of view:

1.     Person praise – whereby praise such as “good girl and you won” is seen to judge the child’s personality or intelligence. This is focused only on a perfect performance and can lead to a reduction in motivation if pressure to achieve is put on the child.

2.     Process Praise – focuses more on the child’s behaviour and the actual effort they are putting into the task “You are trying really hard with that colouring”. This type of praise is effective in improving motivation, performance and boosting self-esteem.

Of course we all want are children to be confident, hard-working and be able to take on new challenges; so maybe the question is not so much “is praise good?”, but more about “is the way we praise good?”

Here are some top tips to Perfect Process Praising from Hanen!

1.     Each activity should always leave the child with a positive experience – no matter how big or small the achievement may appear, there will always be something to praise.

2.     Don’t correct – when it comes to a communication difficulty it can be very detrimental to self-esteem if the child is aware of the fact they are not saying it right. However nicely you say “no say it like this please”, what you are really saying is “no not like that, like this”.

3.     Modelling – instead of correcting, it is much more beneficial to just give the correct model; if the child says “it’s a horse” just say “yes it is like a horse, this one is a donkey”.

4.     Don’t overdo it – praise must always be sincere and when it becomes meaningless it will lose its effect.

5.     Limit Praise – once people get praising it soon becomes just a habit, you don’t need to praise everything so if the child is fully attending to an activity, then the activity should be its own reward.

6.     Don’t just say it, Do it! – when a child who struggles to communicate says “bubb” for “bubbles”, don’t just say “great talking” actually give her the bubbles, as this highlights that her communication attempt was effective.

7.     Praise Failure – but carefully; if a child is only praised when they have succeeded then praise becomes negative if they are constantly reminded of their mistakes. However, even children don’t like to be pitied so instead of saying “you tried your best”, try and focus on what they did achieve “you were so determined”.

8.     Attend to Positive behaviour – encourage good behaviour rather than just success, even if a child is struggling with an activity you can still use encouraging praises such as “ you are doing really good sharing” to make a positive experience.

9.     Ignore the Negative – small children are bound to fidget or find it hard to sit still, but ignored behaviour is likely to decrease.

 This is not to say that when children do something that is deemed as inappropriate behaviour such as; hitting another child, we should simply ignore it. No, children need to learn boundaries from an early age.

What I am saying is that when the situation is due to a communication difficulty – it is always better to provide a positive model then negative reinforcement.

Good Luck and get Praising!

By Natasha Hallam

Have  a look at the Hanen website for lots of practical tips Hanen.org

Hanen: A tip for parents of young children who communicate without words

Take a look at this tip from Hanen

They offer sensible, practical advice and programmes to help parents and practitioners. Communication opportunities are everywhere. Have  a look at this one:

Sing songs with your child and build in opportunities for him to take turns

Sing simple songs with your child, especially ones with actions, like “Row Row Row your Boat”, and build in opportunities for him to participate. This is a fun way for him to learn to take his turn in an interaction, as well as to learn new words.

• Sing a new song the same way a few times so your child learns the song and its “high point”. High points are the most interesting parts of a song. In “Row, Row, Row your Boat”, the high points are the rocking back and forth while you and your child sit on the floor, holding outstretched hands, and saying the last word after a long pause – i.e., “dream”.

• Once your child is familiar with the song, pause before a high point and wait for him to respond.

For example, when singing “Row Row Row your Boat”, sing the song through once or twice and then, still holding his hands, WAIT for him to ask you to sing it again (he will probably make a sound or rock back and forth to ask you to do it again).

Or, you can start to sing the song while rocking back and forth, pausing mid-song so he can ask you to continue.

Or, you can slow down and pause before the last word (“dream”), so he can make a sound - any sound - to end the song.

• To take his turn during songs, your child may wriggle, make a sound, look at you, point to something or perform an action. Accept anything as his turn and then continue immediately. The most important thing is that he takes a turn and has fun while doing it.

Small Talk are licensed Hanen Trainers www.private-speech-therapy.co.uk Please let us know if you would like to know more about the training we could do for you

Great courses for early years staff: Hanen's Teacher Talk

What Educators Learn from Teacher Talk™ (the term teacher means any Early Years worker)

The Teacher Talk Training Series is designed to actively engage participants through discussions, small group activities, analysis of video examples and completion of practical Action Plans that participants take back to their classrooms. Teachers receive workbooks for each session that allow them to personalise the content and think about how they will meet the needs of the individual children in their classroom.

Teacher Talk is divided into three full-day training sessions:

►Teacher Talk™ Training A: Encouraging Language Development in Early Childhood settings

This training addresses how educators can use everyday conversations, play and daily routines to promote the communication and social development of all children, including those with language delays and those who are second language learners.

Participants learn how to:

• Identify children’s conversational styles and the role teachers play in interactions
• Implement six steps to following the child’s lead: Observe, Wait and Listen, Be Face to Face, Imitate, Interpret, Comment, and Join in and Play
• Help children become better conversation partners by using appropriate questions, comments and turn-taking cues
• Use five important steps to ensure that no child is left out of the interaction during group activities

►Teacher Talk™ Training B: Let Language Lead the Way to Literacy

This training discusses the important links between oral language development and literacy, and provides teachers with practical strategies for paving the way for children to read and write.

Participants learn how to encourage and support literacy development by:

• Helping children develop a positive attitude toward the use of print
• Choosing books that match children’s interests and stages of development
• Using book reading as a time for interaction and conversation
• Making print a natural and meaningful part of every day

►Teacher Talk™ Training C: Fostering Peer Interaction in Early Childhood Settings

This training addresses how educators can provide a physical and social environment that encourages peer interaction and creates many opportunities or successful interactions with other children.

Participants learn how to encourage and support peer interaction by:

• Making the most effective use of space in the classroom
• Encouraging a variety of groupings for interaction
• Providing appropriate materials and activities
• Creating reasons for interaction and providing specific coaching

Note: The Teacher Talk Training Series may be offered flexibly. Training A may be offered on its own, or in combination with Training B and/or C, and the trainings do not have to be held on consecutive days. Training A, however, must be completed by the participant before he or she attends either B or C.

We will be running these courses in Northampton and Staffordshire next term (dates to be confirmed). If you'd like us to run these in your area, please let me know info@smalltalk-ltd.co.uk

How to interact with pre-schoolers

I have seen some really good nursery worker-child interaction this week and some awful examples too. I won't  name and shame the bad ones but the good ones need mentioning. Jayne from Little people Nursery in Burntwood and Kelly, Lynne and Sara from Little Springs in Rugeley are all natural communicators. They have a skill for interacting with pre-schoolers which really brings out the best in the children. I mentioned it to one of them and she dismissed it by saying it was instinctive but in reality, nowadays it isn't. Our natural talents as communicators are diminishing. 

So what makes them so good, why are they able to bring out the best in the little ones? The Hanen course I went on last week was all about showing parents how small changes to their own behaviour can have a dramatic effect on their child's communication. According to Hanen, the following techniques help to engage a young child in conversation:

• Accept anything the child says as meaningful and try to interpret it for them. For example, a non-verbal child took a coat to Sara and lifted his arms, she said, 'Oh, you want your coat on? I'll put your coat on'. 'Coat on' is exactly what he would have said if he could talk. I also saw a TA just take a coat from a child who handed it to her and put it on while carrying on a conversation with another adult. This was a missed opportunity for interaction.
• When interacting with a child always have eye contact. Kelly was giving instructions to a child about a whole group activity so she crouched down to his level. Always be on their level with your face turned to the child's to face. The same TA mentioned above gave a very long and complex instruction 30 reception children while facing  away from them and trying to talk over her shoulder. Out of the 30, it looked as if just 2 little girls actually understood the task. Then to add insult to injury they were all told off for 'not listening'!
• Use lots of different tones of voice, facial expressions and gestures. These help children to interpret the meaning of what is being said. All the staff mentioned are very expressive which helps keep their attention too. Imagine if you were in a  foreign country where you didn't understand everything that was said to you,  it would be really helpful if people used facial expression and gesture to supplement what they said to you. A quiet, flat affect is also the easiest way to switch off a child. Life is exciting to a two and three year old, working with them gives an opportunity for adults to be excited about it too!
• Follow the child’s lead in playing even if the child plays with a toy in a different way than would be expected. It's only adults who stick to rigid rules while playing, who says the jigsaw pieces can't be spun or stacked or become chips?
• Keep the conversation going by using the right type of questions. Try to avoid closed questions like “What is this?” or questions that answer themselves like “You want a biscuit, don’t you?”. Rather, use choice questions like “Do you want juice or tea?” or open-ended questions like “What happened?”
• Wait for a child to say something, don't step in and anticipate. As with the coat example earlier, if a child who can talk, just hands the coat, wait for him to ask you to put it on. Hanen have what they call 'owling': observe, wait and listen. 
• Add onto what the child says, so if the child says blue car, say 'yes a big blue car'. Jayne is excellent at doing this in a really natural way.

If you want to read more these very simple but powerful tips there are two Hanen publications which are well worth the effort to read. They are clear, simplistic and very, very sensible.

  

Small Talk SLT are able to offer Hanen 'It takes Two to Talk' programme for parents and from July 'Learning language and loving it' for early years professionals. www.private-speech-therapy.co.uk