How You Can Help!

Jack is a "late talker." He is expressing himself verbally more every day. He is interacting more every day. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that we've tried to stop pushing for the words. We are focused more on "letting the good times roll" and guess what? The words are "rolling off his tongue." :) I'm on this email group for late talking children. I joined it after I learned of the work of Dr. James MacDonald. Here is his most recent post to the list. Please read and consider how you can take the following tips and use them in your interactions with Jack.


HOW YOU CAN HELP MY CHILD DEVELOP.
When a child is delayed or not socially outgoing, he or she needs
people to interact in different ways than is typical. When a child has
autism pdd, aspergers, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy or other
conditions effecting communication, they have special needs of their
life partners if they are to learn and build relationships with
them. Think of the guides below similar to ones you would give to
people if you had a child with diabetes, heart problems, allergies,
special fears, or different learning styles. For example, for a
diabetic child, you would let everyone know how to and how not to feed
and treat them. Similarly with "late talking children" we need to
let their life partners know how to interact so the child will show
his best and so they will truly see what the child can really do.
HELLO! You can really help my child develop. You do not need
training; you just need to be his partner. The more real friends he
has now, the more he will learn and fit in the world.
Thanks for connecting and helping my child grow.
"_____’__" Family.
My child can do more than you think!
My child will learn, communicate and care about you more when you
do some of the following:
Interact WITH not AT my child.
Enter physically in his world and observe him silently for a short
while.
Become aware of his interests and ability level.
Then, gently join into his activity without disrupting it.
Do what the child is doing.
Do not do a lot more than he is doing- but be active.
Match his movements; act in ways he can try to do.
Respond to his movements with similar, related movements.
Talk about the here and now, about the child’s experiences.
Be animated: be more interesting than what is distracting him. Do more of what you do when he stays with you
Do less of what you do when he leaves you.
Match his speech: talk in ways he can now talk (this will help him
talk more.)
Respond to his speech: show him you are interested.
Wait silently for him to take his turn
Don’t just praise him: enjoy him instead; your response is the best
reward.
Take turns with action and talk: be sure to give and take.
If you don’t understand him, treat it as a foreign language and simply
give him an English word that fits the situation.
Limit your questions and demands: comment instead.
Bottom line: the more you enjoy each other, the more my child will
learn with you.