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Personal Communication Dictionaries

Does your child or a child you work with communicate using unconventional gestures that are sometimes missed or misunderstood by others?

It may be challenging at times for others to understand your child’s emotional state, wants, needs and ideas especially if your child is nonverbal or if your child has a complex communication difficulty.

When we don’t respond appropriately or accidentally ignore a child’s communication signal, communication can breakdown and development can stall.

Creating a Personal Communication Dictionary for your child can help others to recognise your child’s efforts to communicate and reinforce these in positive ways.

A Personal Communication Dictionary is a document with information about the individual ways that your child communicates.

It details what your child does, what this might mean and how the communication partner can respond to the communication behaviour seen.

Why are Personal Communication Dictionaries Needed?

These documents can be incredibly helpful for communication partners as well as for your child.  Partners can get to know your child, recognise communication behaviours and interpret these communication attempts appropriately.  This helps back and forth interaction to grow.  When children have their emotional states, needs/wants and ideas understood by others, communication continues to grow.

Personal Communication Dictionaries can be compiled by Parents and/or Speech Pathologists and distributed to all other adults who spend time with your child.  Your child’s gestures, body language, facial expressions, vocalisations and signs can even be photographed and included in the dictionary.

A mix of text, photos and pictures can create a beautiful, authentic document all about your child and how your child communicates.

How to get started…

Head to https://shop.scopeaust.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Personal-Communication-Dictionary-form.pdf and download your free template.

Start to write down in as much detail what your child does…any little idiosyncratic behaviour, sound, gesture or action your child makes to communicate.

Does your child jump up and down and flap his or her hands?

Does your child take you by the hand and drag you to the front door?

Perhaps your child likes to engage in repetitive humming when playing by him or herself?

Once you have detailed all of the behaviours, you can then match these behaviours to an interpretation of what your child may mean when he or she engages in each behaviour.

The final column can be used to explain to your child’s communication partners HOW they can respond in a way that will help your child.

Here is a quick example:

What I do

I place the palm of my hand on my chest and pat my chest repeatedly

What this might mean

I am learning the Key Word Sign for ‘more’.  When I use this gesture, I am communicating to you that I want more of the item, food or drink or I want you to do more of the action you are doing e.g. I often use this gesture if you are chasing me or tickling me and I want you to continue.

What you can do

Please acknowledge my attempts to request more.  Say ‘More!’ and model for me the Key Word Sign as you […]

2023-01-23T01:04:05+00:00
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A Lazy Talker?

We hear this so often in our work as Speech Pathologists; a comment often made or question posed by parents or educators about children who have speech, language and communication challenges.

Yes, children may have delays in their development.

They may have specific challenges in areas of communication.  They may have speech sound disorders which result in them being difficult to understand.  They may not talk much at all.

None of these scenarios suggest to me, however,  that a child is choosing to be lazy.  In fact, quite the opposite.

Using clear, spoken language is the most efficient and effective way for us to communicate with others.

Not using clear, easily understood spoken  language creates far more ‘work’ for a child than does using words.  Think about it for a moment as we put ourselves in a little child’s shoes.  If you were limited to pointing and grunting / whining to communicate your needs to another human….imagine the scope for misinterpretation and the limited range of methods you would have access to in order to then clarify your message.  Incredibly frustrating, right!?  If you were learning how to say a new sound and could finally say that new sound correctly in words AFTER your parent WHEN your parent was using lots of gesture and support (phew, that took lots of work) …it would take lots and lots of practice before you could use that new sound in words and sentences during everyday conversation when that adult support was not readily available.  Imagine for a moment that I requested you to say all of the words you currently use that start with a /b/ sound and to change these to starting with a /f/ sound.  I want you to do this at all times, with all people in all situations.  You can say a /f/ sound right?  Okay, so what is the problem?  Are you being lazy?  Hmmmmm…..

In each of these scenarios,

laziness is simply just not a factor when we really boil it down and look at what is going on for a child.  Learning to use speech and language happens gradually and when children experience hiccups in their development for whatever the reason may be (yes, a topic for another blogpost), we do them a disservice if we describe those challenges as arising due to a child being lazy.  Would we describe a child learning a new skill such as how to ride a tricycle but stumbling along the way  to achieving this goal as ‘lazy’?  No, we would see this for what it is…a child learning a new complex motor skills and needing lots and lots of practice until this skill becomes automatic.  Learning to talk and to communicate takes practice. Young children are still learning.

Yes, all of us can be lazy from time to time and display this in our mood and behaviour but rarely is it a cause or even a factor when working with children who have genuine challenges with speech, language and/or communication skills.

So, what can […]
2023-01-17T05:28:30+00:00
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Do Ear Infections affect Speech Development?

“Has your child had a history of ear infections?”

“Has your child had a hearing test recently?”

These are two questions we frequently ask Educators and Parents when they call us to enquire about Speech Pathology services for a child.

Middle Ear Infections are very common in children, especially between the ages of 0-3 years.  Most ear infections improve quickly without treatment and are not overly serious.  These infections of the middle ear are called Otitis Media.

We all have Eustachian Tubes that connect our middle ear to our throats.  Young children have very small, narrow tubes which are not yet tilted as in adults.  When children are unwell with a common cold, germs from the throat can travel to the ear and cause infection.  Repeated infections can result in fluid sitting behind the ear drum for weeks and even months in some cases.  Children who have persistent fluid in their middle ear have Glue Ear.  The fluid become thick and glue like.  This can make hearing difficult as the ear drum is unable to effectively vibrate when there is thick, viscous fluid sitting behind it.  For a child trying to hear, it is a little like trying to listen when you are under water.  Compromised hearing over time can impact how well a child acquires speech sounds and language skills as so much development takes place between 0-3 years. Some children also have difficulties with attention and behaviour as a result of ongoing complications with ear infections and fluid drainage from the middle ear.

Children may complain of ear pain, develop a temperature or present as irritable when they have an ear infection.  Children with chronic glue ear may experience no pain and have very little symptoms so it is really important to be vigilant in checking for any signs that your child may be experiencing an ear infection or difficulties with hearing.

If you have any concerns at all about your child’s hearing, it is best to discuss this with your GP/Doctor who may decide to monitor the situation, refer your child for a hearing test or recommend an Ear Nose and Throat Specialist to investigate the possibility of minor surgery for children who have recurrent and persistent difficulties with their ear health and hearing.

2023-01-07T02:46:36+00:00
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Why Vocabulary is Key

Possessing a strong vocabulary is just one of those things that will help you to get wherever you want to go in life.

There are well documented connections between the size and quality of your vocabulary whilst still at school and your income level in the future.

Vocabulary size is a reliable indicator of your skill in reading, writing and speaking as well as of your general knowledge of science and history.

Vocabulary is also key to children enjoying reading and comprehension.

Readers cannot understand what they are reading without knowing what words mean.

As children learn to read more advanced texts, they must also learn the meaning of new words that are not part of their oral vocabulary.

So… whilst vocabulary is important for academic and occupational success, there is another good reason to boost your child’s vocabulary;

and that is the link between vocabulary and happiness.

We communicate to others as well as to ourselves internally using words.

We grasp new concepts and ideas by interpreting words.

Words help us to communicate our thoughts and feelings and to build strong relationships with others.

Developing your child’s vocabulary is one of the easiest and most important things you can do to improve your child’s chances of success and happiness in life.  Sharing a story together, playing alongside your child, making time to talk during every day routines, commentating, labelling and describing what you can see in your environment; each of these activities will build emotional connection, relationship bonds and vocabulary for your child.

Children can learn new words at an incredibly fast rate when they are young

The most important predictor of how well a child will do so is the number of words that children hear from adults.

Language is really one of our greatest gifts that we can give our children.

When children experience more child-directed conversations they have larger expressive and receptive vocabularies by the age of 2 years than when they simply overhear adults using speech in their surroundings.

Although differences in verbal and intellectual abilities between individuals are influenced by a range of factors including genetics, the contributions of early carer-child experiences are substantial.  If you would like some tips for talking with your child in a way that will boost vocabulary then download our FREE 10 Tips for Talking.

So, will all of this in mind…

Over this holiday period, remember that your presence is the most precious gift you can give your child.  A few minutes of your time every day is all it takes to build your child’s vocabulary from an early age and set him or her up for success at all stages of life.

2022-12-24T06:47:58+00:00
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Late Talkers

My Toddler is Not Talking Yet.

Should I be concerned?  What can I do to help?

These are comments and questions that we hear quite frequently when concerned parents contact us at Learn2Communicate.  So many parents have, what they describe as, a niggling doubt about their child’s speech and language development.  At first, they may rely upon the well-meaning advice of loved ones.  Being told ‘Don’t worry.  He will grow out of it’ or  ‘Your father didn’t speak until he was 4’ can temporarily put those worries aside but, unless that little toddler starts to talk soon after, such comments rarely help to allay a parent’s worry.  Before long someone will surely say something  along the lines of ‘I think he should be talking by now’ or ‘Your child should have 50 words by this age’.  Although such comments often tip a parent into action; these types of comments can also fuel a parent’s concern and do little by way of assisting the parent in knowing what to do next and when to do it.

For those of you reading this post and think ‘Ahhh…I do have concerns about my child’s language development’, then please read on as we have some simple tips to get you started and to help you feel  empowered with the knowledge, skills and capacity to nurture your child’s communication development.  There is much that you can do to help young children learn how to communicate. All children can become effective communicators…even those who have a significant degree of disability and other co-morbid conditions.  Okay, read on for some great tips to get started!

The ‘WHY’ of Communication

Sit back and observe your child for a few days.  Take note of the reasons WHY your child communicates.  Take your focus off which speech sounds your child can or cannot say for now.  Just ask yourself WHY does my child communicate / for what communicative purposes?

Some reasons why you child might communicate include to express:

  • Greetings / Farewells
  • Request for items, food, drink and actions e.g. to be lifted out of the highchair, to go outside
  • Comments about what he or she is interested in or is noticing
  • Responses to your simple questions and to your requests to follow simple directions
  • Enjoyment, excitement, frustration, protest and rejection

The HOW of Communication

Some of the many ways in which your child might communicate these intents might include:

  • Facial expressions
  • Tone of voice
  • Gestures including pointing
  • Speech ‘jargon’ that is unintelligible but that has the intonation of language
  • Single words
  • Short phrases

Identify any gaps in the WHYs of communication

Communication is a complex dance between people that goes back and forth in a reciprocal relationship.  Communication involves far more than identifying body parts or imitating words after an adult requests a child to ‘say…’.  Look for the gaps in your child’s communicative intent.

Perhaps your child can wave hello and bye bye but may not yet be communicating for the purpose […]
2022-12-21T22:27:54+00:00
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Talking Time with your Child…Make it an Atomic Habit

I have recently been reflecting upon how our daily habits all contribute to our long term health and wellbeing after reading the bestselling book ‘Atomic Habits’ by James Clear.  For those of you who attended our face to face Learn2Communicate events throughout the Central West of NSW earlier in 2022, you would already know this.  I haven’t stopped thinking about the idea of applying this concept to my work as a Speech Pathologist.  How can we make small and easy changes to our daily routines and interactions with children in a way that will have a powerful impact?

We know that children respond well to frequent, positive interactions with a loving caregiver and that child acquisition of oral language skills can be boosted in the early years via such interactions. As a Speech Pathologist and also as a Parent, I also know that providing families of children who have speech, language and communication challenges with comprehensive, detailed ‘home programmes’ in order to provide this boost to oral language can be ineffective.  Add to this the request by the Speech Pathologist to “complete this home programme with your child at least 3-4 times per week and try to spend 15-30 minutes during each practice time” and we see many parents opting to run for the hills!

What if we could, instead, infuse some new powerful habits into everyday routines and that these habits were easy yet effective in helping all children become effective communicators?

How can we make Talking Time with Children a new Atomic Habit that each and every one of us can adopt?

Here are some ideas I would encourage all of you to consider!

Start by identifying what the exisiting routines are during your day that involve you and your child.

Write these down.  A routine doesn’t have to have many steps; it is simply just something that happens on several days each week with some degree of predictability.  Some examples I can think of with a toddler in mind might be: getting into the car seat, packing a bag for daycare, bath time, story time at night, getting dressed, breakfast, snack, lunch and dinner time, parent returning home from work time, bed time.  Perhaps keep a blank piece of paper on the fridge for a week and note every small little routine that you can think of as it occurs.

Now…choose one of those routines and write down the ‘script’ for what happens. Here is an example for a fictional child. Let’s call him Dylan:

Snack Time after Preschool

Mum opens front door.

Mum and Dylan walk inside.

Mum takes Dylan’s backpack and unpacks drink bottle, lunch box and hat.

Mum puts each of these items away.

Mum takes Dylan’s shoes off.

Mum opens fridge and makes Dylan a snack of carrot sticks and hummus.

Mum lifts Dylan to sit at kitchen bench and places snack in front of him.

Mum says “time for afternoon tea”

Dylan eats snack whilst mum […]

2022-11-21T01:23:17+00:00
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Many Ways to use our Fun Friends Cards

So many ways to use our Fun Friends deck of cards for listening and talking development. Asking questions, listening, providing rich descriptions and learning about emotions…. We love resources that have plenty of different applications and this is definitely one of them!

Order your copy from our website today https://learn2communicate.com.au/product/fun-friends/

2022-11-07T03:37:41+00:00
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