Language Interventions for Children

Some of the basics

Providing a good model requires you to use:

• an unhurried speech rate• clear speech• short sentences• appropriate vocabulary• more repetition and re-stating

than you would use if you were talking to another adult

LOTS of interventions

• Hanen – Family Training• Naturalistic

– PMT/EMT (environ arrangement, follow lead,routines/predictability, using prompts/models)

– Focused Stimulation– Incidental Teaching– Recasting/Language Intervention

• Repeating errored utterance back – but corrected

• Based on kids with ASD– ABA – applied behavior, focus on behavior.– TEACHH– PRT pivotal response teaching– Above language techniques– PECS

Hanen Top Ten Talk Tips

Child-Centred Strategies1. Wait & Listen2. Follow the Child’s Lead3. Be Face to Face4. Join in and Play

Interaction-Promoting Strategies5. Use a Variety of Questions6. Encourage Verbal Turn-Taking

Language-Promoting Strategies7. Imitate (say back to them what they said to you)

8. Label (Label actions too – not just naming nouns/things)

9. Expand (e.g. ‘more’ – “More juice?”)

10. Extend (e.g. ‘more juice’ – “more juice in the red cup?”)

www.hanen.org

Basic tips from Hanen

• Use the child’s natural environment

• Create structure and predictability in the child’s life

• Follow the chld’s lead

• Say less, stress, go slow, and show

• Important role of the family

• Early intervention and intense intervention

More on Hanen

• Child centered strategies– Face to face– Observe, watch, listen– Follow child’s lead– Join in and play

• Interacting– Match turns– Imitate– Keep words simple – match language/min expand

• Promoting– Interpret child’s behavior– Give it words– Expand/extend topic

Strategies for developing Receptive language skills.

• Labeling• Imitation• Focused Stimulation (give the child words)• Modeling• Self-Talk• Parallel talk (talk about what the child is doing)• Guided Learning• Paraphrasing/a lot like recasting• Supplementing verbal speech with gestures/signs• Supplementing verbal speech with picture stimuli

(PECS)

PMT/EMT

• MT – started with Milieu Training– Arrangement of Environment– Follow child’s lead– Social routines/predictability (games)– Using

• Prompts• Time delay• Models (gesture/verbal

ABA - subtypes

• DTT & PRT• Both Pivotal Response Training (PRT) and

Discrete Trial Training (DTT) incorporate the major principles of ABA to teach specified behaviors to individuals with autism. DTT is more highly structured and is useful for teaching specific behavioral skills. PRT uses a less structured, more play-based format to develop skills, and utilizes discrete trials as needed.