Conversation Skills - Take 6

FROM BECKY: Hi Wonderful Ones! Here are some ideas about celebrations of language when working on conversational skills with your child.

1) Celebrate the social aspect when you are conversing with your child. Many of the children and adults I have worked with at The Autism Treatment Center of America have the mechanics of language down to a fine art. They wouldn't be able to repeat whole scenes from their favorite movie if they couldn't. So when your child is taking part in a conversation with you, specifically highlight the fact that they chose to share something with you or ask you a question.

2) Explain that part of being a friend is to tell each other about yourselves and to be curious about each other. Most of our children are motivated to have friends, they simply have a challenge knowing how to be with them.

3) Experiment with collective celebrations but do keep celebrating. Often we can tend to drop the celebrations when our children have many words. Our children do not have to talk to us. The fact that they did is still meaningful and wonderful so let's demonstrate that to them.

I would love to know how it goes.