Welcome back to Talking Kidz. In Episode 2, we’ll talk about being a good speech model for your child. First we’ll talk about self talk and parallel talk as ways to provide models in terms of what you are thinking or talking about and also what your child might be thinking or want to say. Then we’ll talk about some research that helps parents identify ways to be effective speech models. Last, we’ll talk about how your child’s interest in a particular topic dramatically impacts his/her acquisition of speech and language and how you can use everyday events in your child’s life to enhance language development.
Here are some simple definitions of these very valuable techniques: Self-Talk is used when a person talks about what they are seeing, doing, hearing or feeling. So if you are making breakfast, you can talk about “crack egg”, “more milk”, “mix eggs”, “put in”, “ cook eggs”, and/or “all done” as models for your child.
Parallel Talk is used when a person talks about what a child is seeing, doing, hearing or feelings. When you do this, you are providing a running commentary about what your child, using short simple phrases or sentences at your child’s language level.
There has been a lot written about these two strategies. If you search the internet, you’ll uncover video’s on Teacher Tube that demonstrate how to use these procedures. Even thought the techniques sound very simple, they are very effective ways to model and promote language development.
A few years ago I worked with a preschooler who had very limited verbal communication. Although he was three years old, he spoke mainly in single words and had only a few two or three word phrases so he had a significant speech delay. During therapy, we played with a dollhouse, a pretend airport or garage set. I didn’t ask him child any questions. I just talked what I was doing with the objects or thinking out loud about what I was doing and kept my speech models to two to three word phrases. If the child participated in the pretend play, I spoke about what he was doing or might be thinking, again using short phrases and leaving out the articles and unimportant words. Within four to six weeks of receiving speech only once a week and of course, teaching his parents to do the same at home, this child was consistently speaking in two to three word phrases.
Another time, I was asked to work with a five year girl whose mother felt she wasn’t ready for kindergarten because her language skills were not well developed. Using a similar procedure, I worked with her in her home environment with her toys, using self talk and parallel talk as we played with her blocks, dolls and puzzles. I spoke in short sentences, which were similar in length to the child’s longest utterances. While I only worked directly with her for a half hour each time, her mother watched our sessions and used the same procedures with her. While my intervention was limited, the child speech and language skills were significantly expanded three months after her mother and I started using parallel talk and self talk procedures with her. We also did some sequential activities that could be safely performed with children. For example, we made popcorn with a hot air popcorn maker, photographed the ingredients and the steps we followed and then printed the photographs for use in story telling. The child’s mother served as the photographer as we gathered and used the ingredients with the child performing as many of the activities as possible such as adding the seeds, stirring the butter, etc. Using the finished photographs, the child was able to put the pictures in order and then retell the story. With practice, she was able to provide more details and retell the story more completely. If she were older, she could have written captions on the bottom of each picture to retell the story in words.
In a research study by Dunst and colleagues published in TOPICS IN EARLY CHILDHOOD SPECIAL EDUCATION (PRO ED) IN 2001 which investigated the characteristics of everyday natural learning opportunities, the authors investigated how different activities (which they referred to as activity settings) and different interaction patterns influenced the performance of children with a range of developmental disabilities. The children represented diverse diagnoses including autism, down syndrome, cerebral palsy hearing or vision impairments, speech delays, epilepsy, etc. Many of the children had significant language and speech delays. The subjects were 63 parents/caregivers and 63 preschool aged children at six different age levels who lived in six different states. Several scales were used to rated students’ play, performance and progress along several domains.
First, the researchers identified everyday activities which would provide language learning opportunities for children. The activities included everyday occurrences that we often take for granted and yet the offer children the opportunity to grow and develop.
These activities included but were not limited to:
Meal times, bath times, caring for pets, dressing and undressing, taking walks, playing in a puddle of water, going on picnics or to the park, planting flowers, bedtime stories, car or bus rides, bookstore or library story hours, amusement rides, play groups, grocery shopping etc.
A total of 10-12 activities were eventually selected as the focus of the intervention. Using these activity settings, the researchers assisted parents in actually scheduling these different activities as opportunities for learning. The learning activities could be planned or unplanned. So for example, the activities were listed vertically on a calendar with the days of the week listed horizontally and then activities were scheduled throughout the week.
Participants were asked to consider each activity and pick those that they thought would be fun and enjoyable for their child.
After the activities were selected, participants identified the behaviors that they wanted their children to produce in each activity.
Then, a researcher visited the participants every other week for a total of 8 visits (over 16 weeks).
Participants were taught how to use a technique called RESPONSIVE TEACHING.
They were taught three basic skills. The skills were:
- to respond to their child’s communication in different ways, depending upon what their child said
- to support and guiding their child
- to facilitate variety in their child’s communication and to help their child elaborate what was said.
Participants kept weekly logs of the activities that their child had been exposed to each day.
Each activity was rated in terms of:
- If it was interesting to the child
- If the child was engaged in the activity
- If the child displayed the behaviors expected
- If the child displayed new or emerging competence
- if the activity afforded opportunities for exploration
There were several outcome scales, which involved self reporting that related tO Child and parent experiences and Parent and Child Play- There were six rating scales in all.
Here’s what they found:
Parents who used responsive teaching methods interacted more often with their children. And the frequency of participation in activities had a positive impact.
- Children participating in a larger number of activities were the same children
- Whose parents reported providing them with more learning activities
- More rapid rates of child learning activities and parent/child play opportunities were associated with the presence of more favorable activities.
ON THE TOPIC OF PARENT/CHILD PLAY OPPORTUNITIES……
Children who participated in larger number of activities also had A more rapid rate of increase in the number of child learning activities.
Also, children were more socially responsive.
In other words, they learned more, faster and were more socially responsive.
The findings supported the researcher’s hypothesis that:
1. Children’s interests, their engagement in an activity, their exploration and mastery would be the best prediction of variations in the outcomes of everyday learning opportunities.
If they are interested in something, they will explore it and learn from it
2. The findings of this study replicate those of other research studies which demonstrated that different activities that occur in everyday life are IMPORTANT natural learning environments for promoting child development.
And here’s a crucial point:
Learning opportunities that were:
- Interesting
- Engaging and
- Provided children with contexts for exploring, practicing and perfecting competence
Proved to be characteristics that promoted increased learning and development.
TO BE EFFECTIVE IN MAKING DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGES, THE ACTIVITY MUST TAKE PLACE ON A REGULAR BASIS OVER AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME.
An anecdotal experience that I can share about this study relates to a preschool student I worked with about a few years ago. The student smiled frequently, seemed to comprehend directions but did not initiate verbalization very often… that is, until his family took him to Disney World. While shopping during the summer after the student had visited Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, I saw the student and his mother at a grocery store. The student initiated a conversation about his visit and made several comments about his experience. When asked additional questions about who went with him, he took his turn in the conversation and shared additional information. It seemed that after this experience, which was not an “everyday experience as defined by Dunst, et al, this student’s communication skills seemed to “take-off” and by the end of his second year in preschool, he was evaluated and no longer required language therapy.
An example of how our interest level can impact our desire to communicate, just think for a moment about your own communication. What do you like to talk about? When you are passionate about a particular topic, you enjoy talking about it. The same is true of your children. So, if we can find out what our children are interested in, they will be more likely to communicate. When we’re thinking about how to help our children’s communication skills grow, the research shows that we should be thinking about their interests.
An article by Susan Lederer and Esther Kogan called, Collaborating with Parents of Young Children with Language Delays to Identify and Nurture Communication-Enhancing Activities appeared in speechpathology.com, a subscriber professional development site. The article reported on a pilot study conducted at Adelphi University’s Center for Communication Disorders in Garden City, NY. Using the Dunst research as a starting point, the researchers assumed that participating in a favored activity, provides opportunities and motivation for a child to practice communication skills.
So, they developed a program designed to identify favored activities.
The Kid Talk, a ten week program, was developed as a language enrichment program for three year olds with delayed speech and language skills.
First, parents were given a tool to collect information on their child’s interests.
The Child Interest Survey was an open ended survey and it collected information about:
- What a child likes to do on a regular basis,
- what he/she may not have been exposed to yet
- what the child did not seem to enjoy
The survey represented different domains that represent typical an early childhood classroom curriculum such as math, science, gross and fine motor skills, language/literacy, music and art.
Each week as the children participated in activities related to EACH of above curricula. They were observed and rated on several scales using a 3 point scale. The areas included the child’s:
- participation
- enjoyment
- child’s level of communication
Parents also used a form (The Activity-Communication Rating/Reflection form) to rate activities in the home or community.
By paying attention to the child’s interests, parents were able to foster those interests and as a result, their child’s communication skills as well.
The researchers measured the success of their program by changes in parent knowledge, skills and attitudes.
Some of the comments of the parents in the pilot program were revealing and quite valuable. One parent said that she now asks her son what he wants to do. She also takes more time to expose her son to more things. Just because he doesn’t talk, doesn’t mean that he can’t learn from experiences.
So, to summarize what we’ve learned today about modeling for our children, here are some key points:
- Find out what your child is interested in by observing, rating interest level, engagement and communication skills
- Use words, phrases or sentences that communicate what your child might be saying or thinking as he/she plays and/or what you are thinking or saying as you do various activities with your child. We referred to this as self talk and parallel talk.
- Use a model that’s appropriate in length and complexity. Speak in phrases or sentences that are slightly longer or slightly more complex than your child’s speech.
- Use Responsive Teaching Techniques- Respond to your child in different ways, depending upon what he/she says and elaborate what your child says, which gives your child a model from which to learn.
- Make a concerted effort to use everyday experiences to facilitate your child’s language skills. It takes effort to talk to your child while you are helping him/her get dressed, making meals and just going through your daily routine.
- When your points or grunts, it’s easy just to give your child what you know your child wants. However, you can turn the situation into a “teaching opportunity” if you take the time to provide your child with a situation-specific verbal model.
I hope you’ve been inspired to use self talk and parallel talk and to observe your child’s interests so that you can foster his/her communication skills.
You can listen to the entire podcast by going to http://speechdoc.podbean.com. If you would like you’d like to suggest a topic, you can contact me at TalkingKidz@gmail.com
