Speech Therapy Ideas for Functional Communication: Communicating Wants and Needs

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Speech and Language Kids Podcast 26 min 1 speaker 5 chapters transcribed 1 hour ago

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How can I help a non‑speaking child express wants and needs?

Carrie Clark 0:01

How do you help a child who can't speak to tell you what they need? What about a little one who has meltdowns and tantrums, but you can't tell why? How can we teach a child some basic functional communication skills that will help them connect with the world around them and communicate their wants and needs? I am a speech-language pathologist, Keri Clark, and on today's episode of the Speech and Language Kids podcast, I'm going to give you some simple ideas that to help a child learn functional communication so we can alleviate those frustrations that they're having. Welcome to the podcast. All of the show notes for today's episode are going to be over at speechandlanguagekids.com slash functional dash podcast.

Carrie Clark 0:45

So if you would like to see any of the links or the notes from what we're going to talk about today, you'll find that over there. Happy New Year if you are listening to this as it comes out on the podcast. This episode is scheduled to go live on January 6th. So that'll be the day that we actually are coming back into the office after our winter break. And if you are with me live, hey, Marvie, hey, Renee, then it is not the new year. We are still back in 2024, but I'm pre-recording a couple of these to get them ready for the holiday so that I can take some time off with my family. But for those of you in here live with me on the live recording, you can pop over to the chat and ask questions as we go along.

Carrie Clark 1:28

And if you would like to be on, if you would like to participate in our live recordings for the podcast in the future, you can head to hub.speechandlanguagekids.com. You can grab a free membership and join me on the live webinar or live podcast recordings. Awesome. Okay, so we're gonna go ahead and talk about functional communication today. This is a big topic that I get asked about a lot. And when I think of functional communication, I think of a lot of things. But the two little friends of mine that stick out the most, and I say friends because they're little ones. I know sometimes people accuse me of being unprofessional when I call them kiddos or friend. But these two particular friends were very young, and so I like the term friend.

Carrie Clark 2:17

But anyway, I think of these two little ones. Let's call them Jenny and Donnie. Jenny, the memory I have from her that sticks out the most is sitting on the floor

2:27

Carrie Clark 2:27

a hallway of a doctor's office that was closed for the day. I actually was renting a room out of the back of a doctor's office. It was actually my childhood pediatrician. And I was renting an office in the back of his office. And so after hours I would be seeing clients and I had this one little friend who liked to roam. And so I would just kind of follow her around wherever she wanted to go. Obviously not into the actual doctor's equipment, but we were sitting on the floor. of a hallway next to a water cooler because she was very excited about the water cooler. And I was just following her around and modeling language. This was a completely non-speaking child. And the reason that this memory sticks out for me was we were, I was blowing bubbles on the floor next to the water cooler that she was interested in.

Carrie Clark 3:16

And her attention was kind of popping back and forth between the water cooler and the bubbles. And I was modeling all this language. And all of a And it was the first time I'd ever heard her speak. And she was saying pop because she wanted to pop the bubbles. And that was one of the words I was modeling. So that is a memory that sticks out for me for functional communication because she was communicating that she wanted to pop bubbles. And she was communicating that to me. And it was a really cool moment. So that's one. The other little guy that sticks out in my memory for functional communication was, let's call him Donnie. I'm changing all the names. I always do. Um, but Donnie was playing cars with me and Donnie went over to a shelf.

Carrie Clark 4:02

I'm trying to remember what was, there was something on the shelf that he knew he was not supposed to have. And so he reached for it, looked back at me and said, you better not dude.

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Chapters

5 chapters

1 How can I help a non‑speaking child express wants and needs? 0:01–5:40 2 What are the two main ways children learn language? 5:40–11:10 3 How do I identify if a child is a Gestalt Language Processor (GLP)? 11:10–16:29 4 What modeling strategies work for Analytic Language Processors? 16:29–21:51 5 How should I model language for Gestalt Language Processors? 21:51–26:22

Speakers

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Carrie Clark 24 min

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Topics in this episode

Jenny 1 Donnie 1 AAC 1 Speech and Language Kids podcast 1 speechandlanguagekids.com 1 hub.speechandlanguagekids.com 1 Keri Clark 1 Gestalt language processors 1 The Hub 1 analytic language processors 1 functional communication 1

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Recorded06 Jan 2025

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Show notes

Speech Therapy Ideas for Functional Communication: Communicating Wants and NeedsHow do you help a child who can’t speak to tell you what they need? What about a little one who has meltdowns and tantrums but can’t tell you why? How can we teach a child some basic, functional communication skills that will help them connect with the world around them and communicate their wants and needs? I’m Carrie Clark and on today’s episode of The Speech and Language Kids Podcast, I’m going to give you some simple ideas to help a child learn functional communication so we can alleviate that frustration! Listen to the Podcast Here You can listen to the full podcast episode below: The Two Different Ways that Children Learn LanguageWe can’t talk about functional communication without mentioning that there are two very distinct ways that children learn language. And then we can talk about how some children do a combination of both…so that’s not confusing at all. But here are the two different ways: One Word at a Time: Some children acquire language one word at a time. They may say “up” or “more” to tell you what they want. These are called analytic language processors. In chunks or scripts: Other children learn language in chunks or scripts known as “gestalts”. They may repeat entire phrases, sentences, or scripts that they have heard from other places. These still have meaning to them but it may not be the same meaning as the specific words would lead you to believe. These are called gestalt language processors When we know which way a child leans toward, we can provide models that follow that approach. How to Tell if a Child is a GLP:Here’s where it gets tricky: if a child isn’t speaking much (or at all), it can be hard to tell which way they are learning language. Here are some signs you may be working with a GLP (and therefore want to model more language chunks instead of single words): Melodic way of speaking with a lot of variation in intonation (even if you can’t understand the words) Tend to say things the same way every time Like to sing songs Love categories of language, like farm animals, shapes, letters, numbers, etc. Like to play the same way every time or re-enact scenes How to Model Language Based on the Child’s Learning Style:Once you know which way the child is learning language, you can provide the child with models that make sense to them! (If you’re not sure, do a little of both) Here’s how to model language for each type: For Analytic Language Processors: Model a lot of single words. When they are paying attention to something, label it with one word, like “ball”. If they seem like they are trying to communicate something to you, say that word out loud, like “more”. For Gestalt Language Processors: Model a lot of phrases or sentences with variation in pitch and emotion. Imitate the actions and sounds that the child makes and then use your own phrases and sentences to describe what the child is doing, what you’re doing, and what you think they may be trying to communicate to you. Use sentence starters like “I’m…”, “Let’s…”, “Where’s…” and “Look!” These can all be reused later to create new sentences. Consider Other Ways for the Child to CommunicateSometimes children aren’t speaking because they just aren’t capable of it yet. And that’s OK! We can offer children alternative ways of communicating to get them started, such as by using sign language, communication devices, talking buttons, picture boards, etc. (Called Alternative-Augmentative Communication or AAC) You can model using these the same way you would model spoken language. In fact, use them at the same time that you are speaking your language models! See if the child picks up on any of them. So What Does Speech Therapy Look Like for Functional Communication?It looks like play! Super fun, engaging play! And that’s the good news, because this type of therapy is easy to do without any special tools or materials. Simply let the child lead the play and do the following: Model: Like a billion times. Keep modeling. Over. And over. And over. Imitate: Repeat back any sound the child makes and imitate what they are doing. This will help them see you as a part of their world. Expand: If the child says something, repeat it back to them but add one word. Or, if they communicate something to you without words, label it with a word. Use spoken language and AAC if appropriate. Use Pausing and Silence: Don’t fill the silence with models! You also need to give them time to process and respond or imitate you! Create Communication Temptations: Create opportunities for them to tell you something. Don’t automatically assume what they need, ask the question and pause to give them time to think. Stick their snack inside a clear jar with a tight lid and wait. Will they ask for help? If they don’t, model “help” anyway and then open it for them. But give them a chance! Give them their cereal but with no spoon. Place something up high that they can’t reach. Wind up a toy for them and then let it wind down and pause to see if they will ask you to do it again. Be creative with the ways you tempt the child to communicate with you! Free Sign Language Flashcards:Sign language is a really great way to get started with offering alternative ways for little ones to communicate. You can download our free sign language flashcards for the most common first words inside The Hub. This resource is included in the “Freebies” membership plan! Click Here to Get the Free Sign Language Flashcards Inside The Hub The post Speech Therapy Ideas for Functional Communication: Communicating Wants and Needs appeared first on Speech And Language Kids.

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