MoreThanWords ® Mo

reThanWords ®The Hanen Program®

for Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

About the More Than Words®

Program

More Than Words is a program that provides par-ents of young childrenwith Autism SpectrumDisorder (ASD) or social communication difficul-ties with practical tools to help their childrencommunicate.

This unique programwas developed by expertspeech-language pathologists at The HanenCentre. More Than Words is offered to parentsaround the world byHanenCertified Speech-Language Pathologists/Therapists who havereceived specialized training from TheHanenCentre.

Why Are Parents Involvedin the More Than Words Program?

Parents are themost important people in theirchild’s life, as well as their child’s best teacher. Asa parent, one of the greatest gifts you can giveyour child is the help he or she needs to commu-nicate and connect with the world. In the MoreThan Words Program, you learn practical andpowerful strategies to help your child communi-cate and interact during everyday routines andactivities. It is within these familiar and repetitiveinteractions that your child’s communicationskills will grow.

What Parents Learn in theMore Than Words Program

� How your child communicates right nowand the next steps to take

� How your child learns best and how to takeadvantage of these preferences

� Whatmotivates your childto communicate

� How to turn everyday activities into opportu-nities for learning to communicate

� How to use pictures and print to help yourchild’s understanding

� How to talk so that your child can under-stand you

� How to develop your child’s play skills� Why your child behaves in certain

ways andwhat you can do aboutthese behaviours

� How to help your childmake friends

About The Hanen Centre

Founded in 1975, The Hanen Centre is aCanadian not-for-profit charitable organiza-tion with a global reach. Our mission is toprovide parents, caregivers, early childhoodeducators and Speech-language Pathologists/Therapists with the knowledge and trainingthey need to help young children develop thebest possible language, social and literacy skills.This includes children with or at risk of lan-guage delays and those with developmentalchallenges such as Autism Spectrum Disorder.

The Hanen Program® forParents of Children with

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Helping you turn every momentof your child’s life into an

opportunity to communicate

Information for Parents

The Hanen Centre®Helping You Help Children Communicate

www.hanen.org

© Hanen Early Language Program, 2012. All rights reserved. Printed in Canada.

The Hanen Centre is a Registered Charitable Organization (#11895 2357 RR0001)

Updated May, 2012

The Hanen Centre®Helping You Help Children Communicate

The More Than Words ProgramParents learn practical ways to help their child

reach the following four goals:

Up! Up!Up!

Encourage your child to interact with youin everything you do together

Ready,set, go!

Support your child’s communicationwith others

Help your child progress from pulling orleading you to what he wants to using moremature ways of communicating

Oneslice, please.

With orwithout

pepperoni?

Help your child make sense of his world

2. More mature and conventionalways of communicating

4. Improved understandingof language

1. Improved two-waycommunication

3. Better skills in communicatingfor social purposes

The More Than WordsProgram offers:

� A consultation for you and your childwith a Hanen Certified Speech-Language Pathologist/Therapist beforethe program begins.

� A series of informative and personalclasses for small groups of parents.

� Three individual consultations for youand your child with your HanenCertified Speech-Language Pathologist/Therapist during which:

• you discuss communication goalsand specific strategies for your child.

• you are videotaped interacting withyour child during an everydayactivity. This video is then reviewedand discussed with you so you can“see” what is helping and what elseyou can do to help your child learn.

Resource Materials

The More Than Words Program issupported by the Hanen guide-book More Than Words. Thisbeautifully illustrated bookfollows the program’s content ina practical and easy-to-under-stand format.

The More Than Wordscompanion DVD follows thecontent of the guidebook, bring-ing it to life with video examplesof parents using More ThanWords strategies in everyday life.

For more information about More Than Wordsresources, visit www.hanen.org/MTWresources

What Parents and ProfessionalsSay About More Than Words

“My son has made incredible strides due toyour program. He has surprised a lot ofpeople... What I really love about yourcourse is that we are taught to work withour children... Your course is invaluableand a must-do for parents, relatives andfriends. I am forever grateful.”

Debra, mother of 4-year-old, Anthony

“More Than Words is a ‘must-have’ referencefor parents of children with ASD, and forprofessionals supporting parents. More ThanWords respects the need for parents to beparents and for children to be children –and to learn as children learn, usingdevelopmentally appropriate practices.Parents and professionals will love thisbook and the Hanen approach.”

Barry M. Prizant, Ph.D., CCC-SLPDirector, Childhood CommunicationServices – Cranston, Rhode IslandAdjunct Professor, Brown University Centerfor the Study of Human Development

Program Information: