Communication and Emergent Literacy: Early Intervention Issues Communication and Language Interventions Session 3 Early Intervention Training Center for

Communication and Emergent Literacy: Early Intervention Issues

Communication and Language Interventions

Session 3

Early Intervention Training Center for Infants and Toddlers With Visual ImpairmentsFPG Child Development Institute, 2005

Early Intervention Training Center for Infants and Toddlers With Visual ImpairmentsFPG Child Development InstituteUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillAugust 1, 2005

Communication and Language Interventions 3A

Objectives

After completing this session, participants will

1. define communication form and function.

2. describe recommended practices for facilitating early communication and language development.

3. describe the relationship between secure attachment and early communication and strategies for facilitating attachment and early communication—contingent responsivity, turn taking, providing choices, following the child’s lead.


Communication and Language Interventions 3B

Objectives


4. discuss the importance of concept development for early communication of children with visual impairments and strategies for facilitating concept development in infants and toddlers with visual impairments.

5. describe evidence-based strategies for communication and language intervention.



ObjectivesAfter completing this session, participants will

6. describe strategies for facilitating early communication and language development in infants and toddlers as they move through the seven levels of communicative competence and acquire symbolic communication.

7. explain why some children with visual impairments may develop atypical communication and describe strategies for facilitating communication and for addressing echolalia, pronoun confusion, overuse of questions, and perseveration.

3C



Objectives

After completing this session, participants will8. define augmentative and alternative

communication (AAC) and assistive technology and describe strategies to facilitate communication in individuals who may benefit from AAC.

9. describe the relationship of communication and language to emergent literacy—that reading, writing, speaking (augmented communication), and listening develop concurrently and interrelatedly.

3D



Objectives


10.describe strategies and interventions that promote communication, language, emergent literacy (narrative knowledge, vocabulary, listening comprehension), and metalinguistic development (phonological awareness, syntactic awareness).

3E



Communicative Form

• Communication is any behavior that an onlooker interprets as an attempt by another to convey a message.

• Consistent caregiver responses promote intentional communication in infants.

Dunst, 1978

Prizant, Wetherby, & Roberts, 2000

3F



Communicative Function

Communicative functions include

• Behavior regulation – regulating another’s behavior (e.g., wiggling to protest being held)

• Social interactions – actions that maintain another person’s attention (e.g., greetings, social routines)

• Joint attention – directing another person’s attention to an object or experience (e.g., a boy looks at his grandma while pointing to a toy)

Dunst, 1978


3G



Communicative Forms and VI• Children with visual impairments may engage in

communicative behaviors that are socially inappropriate.

• Families and early interventionists provide intervention to change the form of inappropriate behaviors while promoting use of appropriate forms for particular functions.

• For example, hair pulling (form) may be used to initiate social interaction (function). While the function may be appropriate, the form is inappropriate. Thus, the child should be encouraged to seek social interaction in more appropriate ways.

Fazzi & Klein, 20023H



Steps for Intervention

1. Distinguish the behavior that needs to be

changed (form) from the function that it serves.

2. Provide children with more appropriate

forms that serve the same or similar

functions.

For example, in order to provide an alternative to hair pulling, the team provides the child with a Big Mack switch that plays a recorded greeting when activated. The family and early interventionist respond immediately and interactively each time the switch is activated.

3I



Recommended Practices

• Family-centered practices

• Team collaboration

• Appropriate functional assessment

• Functional outcomes within daily routines and natural learning opportunities

3J



Family-Centered Practices

• Treating families with respect

• Being responsive and flexible

• Sharing information that facilitates informed decision making by families

• Promoting family choice in program and intervention decisions

• Collaborating with families

• Mobilizing and providing family supports and resources

Dunst, 2002

3K



Family-Centered Support

• Early interventionists should support families by addressing their concerns and priorities for their children within the context of daily routines and natural learning opportunities.

• Early interventionists can assist families by recognizing that caregiver-child interactions provide the foundation for language and communication, cognitive, and emergent literacy development.

Dodici, Draper, & Peterson, 2002

3L



Reading Subtle CuesTVIs assist families in understanding and interpretingchildren’s subtle communicative cues.

In order to communicate about actions, objects, and people, young children with visual impairments and multiple disabilities may use

• facial expressions,

• gaze orientation,

• body posture and movements,

• changes in muscle tone, and/or

• gestures.Chen, 1995

3M



Collaboration

3N

Communication interventions are most effective when a partnership exists between professionals and caregivers, and caregivers are the primary interventionists.




Potential Roles of Early Intervention Team Members

3O

• Families identify their concerns and priorities.

• TVIs can assess the impact of visual impairments on communication, language, and emergent literacy development.



Potential Roles of Early Intervention Team Members

3P

• Speech-language pathologists can offer information about early communication and assist in assessment and intervention planning.

• Audiologists are helpful in assuring that young children have normal hearing or are identified as having a hearing loss.



Functional Assessment

• Routines-based assessments (RBAs) provide insight into families’ concerns and priorities for children’s communication and language development and guide functional interventions.

• Families will be more motivated to implement interventions in their daily routines if the interventions address their concerns and priorities and make it easier for the family to function.

3Q



Developing Functional Goals

• Break large goals that the family and other members of the early intervention team identify as priorities into smaller, functional objectives.

• Children learn naturally from their caregivers within naturally occurring learning opportunities.

• Communication and language interventions should be embedded in routines.

3R



Realistic Outcomes

• Families sometimes identify abstract communication goals such as, “I want her to be able to describe what’s wrong when she cries.”

• The early intervention team can assist the parent by breaking this large goal into small, achievable steps based on the child’s current level of functioning.

3S



Functional Communication and Language Outcomes

Functional communication and language

outcomes

• promote and facilitate social interactions,

• promote the child’s active engagement and learning, and

• promote the child’s ability to function as independently as possible.

3T



Facilitating Communication in Routines

To be effective, communication and language intervention for infants and toddlers should occur within social contexts in naturally occurring social routines and events.

3U



Attachment and Communication

• Attachment is the formation of significant and stable emotional connections between individuals, such as an infant and mother.

• The attachment process begins in early infancy as the child bonds with one or more primary caregivers.

3V



Secure Attachment Behaviors

• Crying when separated from parents

• Staying close by parents

• Expressing joy upon reunion with parents

• Social referencing or “checking in”

• Reacting to strangers

3W



Attachment and Early Communication

Children who are securely attached are

more likely to

• cooperate with their parents,

• actively explore their environment,

• build stronger relationships with others, and

• be involved in communication and emergent literacy events.

Dodici, Draper, & Peterson, 2003

3X



Contingent Responsivity

The development of attachment is related to caregivers’ ability to perceive infants’ cues and to respond quickly and appropriately (contingently) to those cues.

Fazzi & Klein, 2002

Warren & Hatton, 2003

3Y



Nonverbal Communicationand Attachment

Early in the process of languagedevelopment, children’scommunication may be subtleand expressed through

• facial expressions,

• eye gaze,

• body posture and movements,

• changes in muscle tone, and

• gestures. Chen, 1995

3Z



Attentive Stillness

• Attentive stillness, an act of staying motionless to better attend to a situation, is a subtle nonvisual communicative behavior observed in some children with visual impairments.

• If the parent recognizes that the child is staying still to better attend, the parent is more likely to continue the interaction.

3AA



Understanding Nonverbal Cues

Learning to interpret and respond immediately and appropriately to children’s subtle behavioral and nonverbal cues (contingent responsivity) facilitates attachment and communication.

3BB



Facilitating Secure Attachment

• Touch and hold the child.

• Respond to the child’s physical and emotional needs promptly and appropriately.

• Follow the child’s lead.

• Consider the child’s interests and abilities.

• Provide the child with choices.

• Play turn-taking games.

• Establish and maintain consistent routines.

3CC



Insecure Attachment

• Insecure attachment can occur for a variety of reasons other than visual impairment.

• Parents and caregivers may have to examine their own parenting behaviors and attitudes, often rooted in childhood experiences.

3DD



Concept Development and Communication

As infants grow and are exposed to new experiences, they develop more concepts about themselves, their world, and other people that provide them with topics about which to communicate.

3EE



Concept Development and Visual Impairments

Visual impairments may affect what concepts a child

develops as well as how the concepts are

developed.

Most children acquire many concepts incidentally

through vision . Even when children use other

senses to develop concepts, vision is the unifying

sense that integrates information from the other

senses.

3FF



Promoting Concept Development

To develop the concepts that are necessary forcommunication, children with visual impairmentsmust

• actively engage in a variety of activities with people and objects,

• learn through naturally occurring events and functional tasks in the home and in the community (e.g., baking cookies, physically exploring a fire truck at the local fire station), and

• have opportunities to play. Fazzi & Klein, 2002

Ferrell, 1996

3GG



Naturalistic, Evidence-Based Practices for

Communication and Language

Dunst and Roper identified seven naturalisticevidence-based communication practices:

• Increased opportunity

• Child-directed activities

• Adult responsiveness

• Imitation

• Modeling

• Minimal prompting

• ParticipationDunst & Roper, 2003

3HH



Naturalistic Intervention

• Naturalistic intervention is used to help children generalize communication skills or to teach new skills.

• These strategies have been found to be effective with children with disabilities who engage in nonlinguistic communication as well as children who talk.

Sapp, 2005

3II



Though there are many specific kinds of naturalistic strategies, they all share the following characteristics:

• involve brief interactions between a child and an adult,

• occur in informal settings and activities,

• provide opportunities to learn new skills or practice skills,

• are based on children’s interests,

• have naturally occurring reinforcers, and

• do not affect the natural flow of the interaction. Sapp, 2005

3JJ

Characteristics of Naturalistic Interventions



Increased Opportunity

• Children are given frequent and varied opportunities to communicate.

• The experiences should provide children with opportunities to practice current communication abilities in meaningful and functional activities.

Dunst & Roper, 2003

3KK



Child-Directed Activities

• Child-directed activities involve following the child’s lead and modeling language.

• Interviews with caregivers can be used to identify child interests to increase active engagement and facilitate communication.

• Interactive matching requires adjusting pacing and communication to match the child’s communicative level as well as following the child’s lead.

Dunst & Roper, 2003

3LL



Adult Responsiveness

Responsiveness involves

“paying attention to a child’s cues, no matter how subtle or unconventional, and responding contingently to the child’s attempts to interact with others as a means of increasing child production of the behavior.”

Dunst & Roper, 2003, p. 221

3MM



Joint Attention

Joint attention is a communicative act in which two or more individuals interactively attend to the same object, activity, or person. Episodes of joint attention increase children’s communication, as evidenced by behaviors such as meaningful words, pointing, shared looks with adults, and showing toys.

Kasari, Freedman, & Paparella, 2001Murphy & Abbeduto, 2005; Paparella & Kasari, 2004

3NN



Responsive Parenting

Responsive parenting is

linked to optimal outcomes

in all areas of development,

including communication

and language development

and emergent literacy.

Dodici et al., 2003Warren, 2000

3OO



Specific Interventions Based on Responsiveness

Responsiveness is also incorporated in other more

specific evidence-based interventions:

• Prelinguistic milieu teaching (PMT)

• Milieu language teaching techniques

3PP



Prelinguistic Milieu Teaching

Prelinguistic milieu teaching is an adaptation of milieu language teaching for children in the prelinguistic period that also uses the following strategies:

• Following the child’s lead

• Facilitating learning during social routines

• Arranging the environment

• Targeting individual behaviors

Warren & Yoder, 1998Warren, Yoder, & Leew, 2002

3QQ



Prelinguistic Milieu Teaching

Prelinguistic milieu strategies include:

• Targeting individual behaviors

• Using specific verbal and nonverbal prompts

• Using vocal and gestural modeling

• Providing specific praise

• Linguistic mapping

• Using natural consequences as reinforcers

Warren & Yoder, 1998Warren, Yoder, & Leew, 2002

3RR



Milieu Language Teaching

Milieu language teaching procedures

• can be used to implement individualized language goals for young children during naturally occurring learning opportunities,

• involve observing a child or playing beside a child and making use of naturally occurring communication opportunities

• use the mand-model and incidental teaching procedures.

Warren & Kaiser, 1988Warren, Yoder, & Leew, 2002

3SS



Imitation

• Imitation enhances communicative competence.

• Imitative social interactions establish the concept of turn-taking, which is the basis for effective communication.

Dunst & Roper, 2003

3TT



Modeling

• Dunst and Roper (2003) define modeling as “the provision of appropriate examples of target sounds, words, or phrases” (p. 222).

• Imitation and modeling can be combined to further develop communication (Paparella & Kasari, 2004).

3UU



Mand-Model Intervention and Incidental Teaching

• Mand-model intervention is beneficial for children who rarely initiate interactions and for children who need to expand their current communication skills.

• Incidental teaching can address a broad range of goals. When children frequently initiate interactions and are engaged in motivating activities, responsive caregivers scaffold the child’s experiences to help facilitate the development of new skills.

Sapp, 2005

3VV



Mand-Model Procedure

The adult asks the child a question that requires a response other than yes or no, and then waits expectantly for a response. When the child speaks, the adult expands slightly on the response and continues the interaction.

Wolery, 1994

3WW



Mand-Model Intervention Steps

1. Identify communication goals.

2. Identify times and routines that provide loosely structured activities.

3.Ensure that the routine/activity has toys or objects that will engage the child.

4.Allow or help the child play with the toys and objects.

5.Play alongside the child and respond to the child’s communications.

Sapp, 2005

3XX




6.When the child is playing and is receptive

a. Ask a question or make a statement that will give the child the opportunity to use the targeted communication skill.

b. After asking the question, look expectantly at the child.

Sapp, 2005

3YY




6.When the child is playing and is receptive

c. If the child responds with a communication behavior, expand on it.

d. If the child does not respond, model a response at the child’s communication level and look expectantly at the child.

7.Repeat steps 5 and 6 several times throughout the activity.

Sapp, 2005

3ZZ



Special Considerations for Mand-Modeling

• Children with visual impairments may not understand the facial expressions and body language of the expectant look. Cueing children by stating their name or touching them lightly on the arm may be necessary.

• Children with visual impairments may have difficulty playing with toys, so select toys and objects that are meaningful and that children enjoy.

Sapp, 2005

3AAA



Incidental Teaching

• The adult waits for the child to initiate an interaction, then asks the child to elaborate by saying, “Tell me more” or “What about ___?”

• The adult further elaborates on the topic or models how to elaborate for the child.

Wolery, 1994

3BBB



Incidental Teaching Steps

1. Identify communication goals.

2. Identify times, activities, and routines in which to use the procedure.

3.Adapt activities and materials to encourage children to communicate.

4.Be available and wait for children to initiate an interaction.

Sapp, 2005

3CCC




5.When children initiate, decide if the interaction offers a good teaching opportunity. a. Ask children for more elaborate language (i.e.,

the communication goal), using a simple phrase children understand such as “Tell me more,” “What about ____?” or “Use your words.”

b. Wait for children to produce the more elaborate communication while looking expectantly at the child.

Sapp, 2005

3DDD




5.When children initiate c. If children use more elaborate language, (a)

praise them, (b) expand on children’s statements, and (c) respond to the content (i.e., do what children asked).

d. If children do not produce more elaborate statements, provide a model of the more elaborate communication, then wait expectantly for children to imitate. If they imitate, respond to the content of the communication.

6.Repeat steps 4 and 5.

Sapp, 2005

3EEE



Tips for Incidental Teaching

• Children must frequently initiate interactions for this intervention to work.

• Certain situations can be arranged to encourage children to initiate. Children are not going to ask for a favorite toy on a high shelf if they cannot see it.

Sapp, 2005

3FFF



Minimal Prompting

• Minimal prompting is also known as a nondirective or facilitative style of interaction.

• Caregivers who use a facilitative style of interaction follow the child’s lead, encourage a variety of child contributions, and use nondirective prompts.

3GGG



Promoting Facilitative Interactions

Strategies for facilitating interaction include

• allowing conversational lags,

• encouraging children to initiate 2/3 of topics,

• initiating topics without direct questioning,

• using direct questions no more than 25% of the time, and

• requesting clarification from children to expand the topic.

Wetherby & Prizant, 1999

3HHH



Participation

• Participation is likely to increase if interventions are based on children’s and families’ motivation and preferences.

• Many children are motivated to interact and communicate during daily social routines.

Prizant et al., 2000

Warren, Yoder, & Leew, 2002

3III



Additional Guidelines for Intervention

• Use comprehensive assessment results

• Provide activities that encourage social interactions

• Provide meaningful contexts for communication development

• Consider differences in development

• Model rich language

Easterbrooks, 2003

3JJJ



Additional Guidelines for Intervention

• Take advantage of teachable moments

• Develop new information that builds on previously acquired information

• Make language experiences fun

• Develop interventions that are appropriate for the child’s developmental level

• Use natural learning opportunities

Easterbrooks, 2003

3KKK



Seven Levels of Communicative Competence

• The levels of communicative competence can be used to analyze children’s communication to facilitate scaffolding that will promote the next level of competence.

• Although specific strategies are suggested for each communication level, some strategies can be applied across most communication levels.

Rowland & Stremel-Campbell, 1987

3LLL



Level I: Preintentional Behavior

• Children engage in behaviors in response to their internal state (e.g., hunger) without any intent.

• Caregivers should create a highly responsive and predictable environment to help establish intentional behavior (e.g., predictable routines).

• Caregivers can also develop social routines that involve turn-taking such as peek-a-boo or pat-a-cake.


Warren & Yoder, 1998

3MMM



Level II: Intentional Behavior

• Children intentionally engage in behaviors such as moving their bodies without the intent to communicate a message.

• Caregivers can help children become aware of the communicative impact of their behaviors by responding to the behaviors as if they were communications.


3NNN



Level III: Nonconventional Presymbolic Behavior

• Children understand that their behaviors can influence the behaviors of others and that actions and vocalizations represent people, objects, actions, and events.

• Caregivers should model more conventional means of communication, respond quickly and appropriately (contingently) to more conventional communication behaviors, and scaffold communication attempts.

Crimmins et al., 1995


3OOO



Level IV: Conventional Presymbolic Behavior

• Children develop more

conventional gestures such

as pointing, kissing, waving,

nodding head, and begin

to use intonated sound

patterns to express needs

similar to Level II.

• Caregivers can add language to the gestures to facilitate symbolic communication.

Rowland & Stremel-Campbell, 19873PPP



Level V: Concrete Symbolic Behavior

• Children begin to pair concrete symbolic representations with specific referents in the environment, such as making the sounds of a toy car (“Vroom, vroom”) and depictive gestures (i.e., gestures that look like what they mean, such as “mine,” “come here,” and “sit”).

• Caregivers should add language and respond to the symbolic representations.


3QQQ



Level VI: Abstract Symbolic Behavior

• In abstract symbolic communication, children use abstract symbols or one-word utterances to communicate.

• Caregivers can expand on the child’s comments. For example, when the child says “Ball,” the caregiver can say, “Yes, the big ball.”


3RRR



Level VII: Formal Symbolic Behavior

• Children begin to understand the semantic and syntax rules of formal language. They combine two or more words to communicate, rearrange words to change the meaning of a sentence, and ask questions to communicate more sophisticated intentions.

• Caregivers can facilitate language development by providing increased opportunities to practice and refine their language, asking open-ended questions, modeling descriptive language, and expanding on children’s statements using more complex syntactic structures and new vocabulary.


3SSS



Differences in Communication

• Some children with visual impairments display differences in their communication and communication development.

• Any distinction between the development of children with visual impairments and that of typically developing children should be interpreted as differences, not as deficits.

Warren, 1984

3TTT



Transactional Interactions and Communication

• Communication and language development result from reciprocal relationships and interactions between children and the caregiving environment.

• The responsiveness of caregivers influences the child’s language and communication development and vice versa.

• Children with visual impairments may not have access to environmental information that would prompt them to communicate.

3UUU



Transactional Interactions and Communication

• Children who do not initiate interactions appear unresponsive, and caregivers may not be motivated to interact with them.

• Children with visual impairments often use subtle and atypical communicative cues that may not be easy to interpret.

• Consequently, parents may not respond to communicative attempts, prompting children to use crying or inappropriate behaviors to secure attention, or children may simply stop trying to communicate.

3VVV



Caregiver Responsiveness

Responsive caregivers

• read children’s cues and respond contingently,

• adapt the environment so that it is accessible and stimulating,

• reinforce appropriate communication and language,

• use rich, developmentally appropriate descriptions of the focus of children’s attention and relate those topics to the child’s experiences, and

• avoid exclusive use of directives.

3WWW



Echolalia

• Echolalia has two forms, immediate and delayed. Delayed echolalia may occur days or weeks after children hear the words or phrases.

• Researchers now recognize functional uses of echolalia. It may be used for turn-taking verbal completion protesting calling providing information

as directives declaratives yes responses requests

Prizant & Rydell, 1993

3XXX



Developing Echolalia Into More Advanced Language

Antecedent strategies

• Change the environment

• Change the communication styles of the child’s partners

• Provide relevant language as a model

Consequential strategies

• Respond to the communicative intent while providing a simple model of appropriate language

• Provide positive reinforcement for appropriate language

3YYY



Strategies for Children With VI and Echolalia

3ZZZ

• Provide additional environmental information to expose children to rich language and concepts.

• Expand on the child’s language to model the next step in language use.

• Don’t talk constantly—give children time to listen and process.

• Include a third person in the conversation to serve as a model of appropriate language.



Pronouns

• All children initially make mistakes in using pronouns.

• Children with visual impairments may experience prolonged difficulty mastering correct use of pronouns.

• Adults should model appropriate use of pronouns.

Erin, 1986, 1990

Fazzi & Klein, 2002

Harrell, 1992

3AAAA



Questions

• Children with visual impairments often overuse questions in their conversations.

• When children use questions inappropriately, model more appropriate language use.

• Avoid asking too many questions.

• Help children listen to the answers to appropriate questions.

Erin, 1986, 1990

Fazzi & Klein, 2002

Harrell, 1992

3BBBB



Perseveration

• Children with visual impairments often perseverate on topics of interest.

• Additionally, children with visual impairments often do not express interest when new topics are introduced.

Anderson et al., 1993

Fazzi & Klein, 2002

3CCCC



Decreasing Perseveration

Strategies for decreasing perseveration include

• involving children in daily activities to build concepts and interests,

• modeling the expression of feelings and helping children put their feelings into words, and

• redirecting children when they interrupt or inappropriately change the topic.

Anderson et al., 1993

Fazzi & Klein, 2002

3DDDD



Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)

AAC is the use of devices or techniques to facilitate children’s expressive or receptive communication.

3EEEE



Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)

• When children have delayed speech, AAC can increase overall communication and speech production.

• AAC includes unaided modes of communication such as body language, gestures, sign language, and facial expressions; and high- or low-tech devices that require children to use their bodies to activate a tool for communication.

Bozic et al., 1995

Reinhartsen et al., 1997

Rowland et al., 1995

3FFFF



Assistive Technology

Assistive technology refers to any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially or adapted, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of children with disabilities (IDEIA, 2004).

AAC is a type of assistive technology.

3GGGG



Expressive Communication and AAC

According to Rowland and Schweigert (1998),

children with visual impairments and multiple

disabilities may communicate expressively through

• vocalizations and speech,

• motor responses and gestures,

• tangible symbol systems, or

• high-tech systems.

3HHHH



Tangible Symbols

• A tangible symbol is a type of concrete symbol—a symbol that has a direct relationship to the referent.

• Symbols are used to represent objects, activities, people, locations, food, etc., and can be used to refer to something that is distant.

• Tangible symbols can be three dimensional (objects) or two dimensional (pictures).

Rowland & Schweigert, 1998

3IIII



Tangible Symbols

Tangible-symbol systems should

• have a clearly understood relationship to the activity, object, person that they represent;

• be permanent;

• be easy to manipulate;

• be easy to select with minimal motor skills;

• be identifiable by touch; and

• be used within daily routines and activities to help individuals who cannot speak make choices and communicate with others.


3JJJJ



High-Tech Systems

High-tech systems

• use electronic features in combination with textures, objects, words or phrases, pictures, or letters to make it easier for children to send messages to others or to make it easier for others to understand the communication.

• vary in input, how the child uses the system to communicate; and in output, the manner or form in which the message is conveyed to others.


3KKKK



Receptive Communication and AAC

• AAC can also be used to facilitate receptive communication in children with visual impairments and additional disabilities.

• Tactile cues and calendar systems may be used to help children who may not understand speech develop another method of receptive communication.


3LLLL



Tactile Cues

• Tactile cues include manual signing, touch cues, and object cues.

• All of these cues are used to help individuals who do not understand language anticipate events and activities.


3MMMM



Sign Language

• Various forms of sign language can be used with children who have visual impairments.

• Children with multiple disabilities can use sign language to communicate simple needs, such as “more.”

Prickett, 1995

3NNNN



Sign Language

3OOOO

Sign language can be adapted for children with visual impairments by adjusting the distance between the signer and the child, slowing the speed of the signing, reducing or increasing the size of movements, and using tactile signing in the child’s hands.

Prickett, 1995



Touch Cues

• Touch cues are used in early receptive communication development and are made directly on children’s bodies.

• Touch cues should be used consistently by all individuals who interact with the child.

• Touch cues immediately precede an event and cue the child to the activity.

• Children should eventually anticipate an activity in response to touch cues.

Rowland, Schweigert, & Prickett, 1995

3PPPP



Object Cues

3QQQQ

Object cues are everyday objects that represent activities in daily routines and are used to facilitate expressive and receptive communication.



Picture Symbols

3RRRR

• Picture symbols are used for expressive and receptive communication by children with low vision.

• Picture symbols can be used one at a time.

• For more advanced communication, several pictures can be used to communicate a need or express simple sentences.

• Color, contrast, size, distance, angle, and complexity of the picture symbols should be considered for children with visual impairments.



Calendar Systems

3SSSS

• Use objects that are related to daily activities to help children anticipate events and activities, thereby facilitating receptive communication

• May use a sequence of objects arranged on a shelf or in a box that represent the sequence of activities

• Help children to transition from one activity to another

• Help children to understand the order of their day

• Help children begin to acquire concepts about time



Assistive Technology

• For very young children, switch toys are often effective means of choice making, an early form of expressive communication.

• Simple one- and two-switch systems may serve as simple high-tech methods of AAC and allow children to call or greet someone, make a choice, or indicate “more” or “finished.”

Bozic et al., 1995

Reinhartsen et al., 1997

Rowland et al., 1995

3TTTT



Assistive Technology: Recommended Practices

3UUUU

• Using toys with voice output and simple switches to help children communicate wants and needs

• Using picture or object systems to select activities or to prepare children for transitions

• Using simple switches to greet family or peers

• Adapting writing implements with easier grips so children can create drawings or “letters”

• Using switches with animated toys to assist in the development of cause-and-effect concepts

Stremel, 2005



Communication andEmergent Literacy

• “Listening, speaking, reading, and writing abilities (as aspects of language—oral and written) develop concurrently and interrrelatedly, rather than sequentially.”

Teale & Sulzby, 1986, p. xviii

• Language provides the foundation for reading and writing.

3VVVV



Emergent Literacy and Literacy: Whitehurst and Lonigan

3WWWW

Whitehurst and Lonigan found

• relationships between oral vocabulary size and phonological awareness in younger readers without formal reading instruction (preschoolers) and oral vocabulary and language comprehension in older readers (1998).

• that the relationship between oral language and reading is indirect and is mediated primarily by phonological awareness (2002).



Sénéchal’s Theory of Literacy

3XXXX

According to Senechal et al., literacy develops from

three separate, but related, categories of skills

• Emergent literacy Conceptual knowledge Procedural knowledge

• Language

• Metalinguistic skills

Sénéchal, Lefevre , Smith-Chant, & Colton, 2001, p. 448



Conceptual Knowledge

3YYYY

Emergent conceptual knowledge about literacy

includes

• knowledge about the acts of reading and writing,

• knowledge about the functions of literacy,

• self-perception of learning to read, and

• emergent reading in context.

Sénéchal et al., 2001, p. 448



Procedural Knowledge

3ZZZZ

Emergent procedural knowledge about literacy

includes

• preconventional spelling in different situations,

• letter knowledge,

• letter-sound knowledge, and

• word reading (with help).




Language and Metalinguistic Skills Constructs

Language

• Narrative knowledge

• Vocabulary

• Listening comprehension

Metalinguistic Skills

• Phonological awareness

• Syntactic awareness


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Communication and Emergent Literacy

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Sénéchal and colleagues theorized that

• children’s conceptual knowledge of literacy is related to children’s language, whereas children’s procedural knowledge is associated with phonological awareness and reading acquisition; and

• vocabulary development and phonological awareness are closely related.

Sénéchal et al., 2001



Facilitating Communication and Language Development to Promote

Emergent Literacy

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• Shared storybook reading

• Storybook preview

• Storybook sounds

• Conversation

• Dialogic reading

• Decontextualized dialogue

• Listening games

• Play



Shared Storybook Reading

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• Mothers use richer and more varied language during shared reading than during other daily routines.

• Young children who actively participate in storybook readings both comprehend and produce more words.

• Active participation involves pointing to illustrations of novel words, labeling novel words, answering questions, and discussing the story.

Sénéchal & LeFevre, 2001



Storybook Preview

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• Storybook preview is the shared exploration of the content of a book without consideration of the storyline.

• Children are given the opportunity to label or describe the illustrations of interest, ask questions, and make comments to increase narrative knowledge and vocabulary.

• The caregiver’s role is to identify and scaffold children’s communicative attempts.

McCathren & Allor, 2002



Storybook Sounds and Rhymes

Promote phonological awareness and listeningcomprehension

• During shared storybook reading, point out rhyming words or initial sounds. If children are interested, make up little games to reinforce phonological concepts. Developing rhyming stories together can also increase phonological awareness.

• Rhymes in songs and poetry also facilitate the awareness of sounds in speech

McCathren & Allor, 2002 Parlakian, 2004

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Dialogic Reading

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Shared-reading technique in which the adult assumesthe role of an active listener and the child learns tobecome a storytellerIn dialogic reading, the caregiver

• asks questions,

• adds information,

• expands language, and

• provides encouragement through praise and repetition.

Whitehurst et al., 1988Whitehurst & Lonigan, 2002



Conversation

• Children learn new words from participating in meaningful conversations among children and between children and adults.

• When conversing with children, do not limit vocabulary to words they already know. Children learn new words readily.

Bardige & Segal, 2004

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Conversation Among ChildrenDuring conversations with other children,children can:

• learn new words,

• practice the words they know,

• exchange ideas and information,

• issue orders and invitations,

• negotiate sharing and turn taking, and

• plan and act out imaginative play scenarios.


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Rare Words and Open-Ended Questions

• Many young children enjoy learning rare or unusual words, such as dinosaur names or the names of storybook and cartoon characters.

• Open-ended questions challenge children intellectually and facilitate conversation by encouraging children to tell their stories.

• Open-ended questions can’t be answered in just a few words.


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Decontextualized Dialogue

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Conversation about subjects beyond the immediate

context:

• the past

• the future

• distant places

• imaginary worlds

• things that “might have been”




Decontextualized Dialogue

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Decontextualized dialogue can be used to

• expose children to concepts and experiences that they do not have direct access to,

• teach children words that indicate time,

• help children remember events,

• help children ask or respond to open-ended questions, and

• help children learn to problem solve.




Facilitate listening comprehension and phonological and syntactic awareness through

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• listening games,

• storybook sounds,

• rhyming games (e.g., rhyming in songs and poetry, creating rhyming stories),

• syllable games, and

• modeling rich and complex language.



Play• Children learn through

play.

• Children learn the most from activities and experiences they enjoy.

• Adults can promote exploration, conversation, and imagination during play to help children become avid learners.


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Settings for Conversation and Play

Collaborative play areas encourage conversation among children:

• Sandboxes

• Forts, playhouses, lofts

• Theatrical stages and puppet stages

• Bulletin boards

• “Block areas” with blocks for building imaginary worlds


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Documents

Communication and Emergent Literacy: Early Intervention Issues Communication and Language Interventions Session 3 Early Intervention Training Center for