Do you have a child who doesn\u2019t know how to repeat what you say?<\/p>\n
Do you get blank stares when you tell a child, \u201cSay ____,\u201d?<\/p>\n
Many toddlers with developmental delays lack the fundamental skills necessary to begin to imitate single words, yet that\u2019s just what we expect them to do when we write IFSP or IEP outcomes such as,<\/p>\n
As SLPs who work in early intervention and preschool programs, teaching verbal imitation is where our treatment plans usually begin. We jump right into treatment by \u2018following a child\u2019s lead\u2019 during sessions and narrating play with single words in hopes of jumpstarting expressive language. We advise parents to model functional vocabulary words during daily routines so that the child will begin to repeat those words. If it were really that easy, would that kid be on your caseload in the first place?<\/p>\n
As a parent, you may be surprised or confused when your toddler doesn\u2019t respond as you coax them to try to say words.<\/p>\n
Imitation emerges very, very early in typical development and often occurs without direct teaching. Many times parents are teaching a baby through imitation without being consciously aware of the process. An infant\u2019s earliest social and communicative interactions consist of looking at his mother and instinctively copying her facial expressions and vocalizations. The mother hears her sweet baby\u2019s coos and repeats those sounds. The child responds by moving his arms and legs and vocalizing even more. During these back and forth gazes and early \u2018conversations,\u2019 an infant, only a few months old, begins a life-long process of imitating another person.<\/i><\/p>\n
In the second six months of life, this process evolves as a baby begins to imitate her parent\u2019s actions with objects. A parent shows a child how to stack blocks or operate the new Busy Box. Actions begin to look more like communication when a child copies a parent\u2019s movements in early social games like Patty Cake and Peek-a-boo.<\/i><\/p>\n
Contrary to what we may have been taught, teaching imitation first begins with teaching a child to imitate actions, not words, during play. For many of the children we see, this serves a dual benefit of helping them learn\u00a0how\u00a0<\/i>to play.<\/p>\n
\nJust beyond actions, we move on to helping a child learn to imitate other kinds of body movements and gestures that become communicative.<\/h3>\n
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Even then many late talking toddlers aren\u2019t yet ready to begin to imitate single words. The child may need to learn several \u2018in-between\u2019 steps before he\u2019s ready to begin to imitate single words. Learning how to imitate mouth movements, early vocalizations like fake coughing and sneezing, play sounds like blowing raspberries and animal sounds, and easy exclamatory words such as \u201cWow!\u201d should dominate our early sessions with late talking toddlers.<\/p>\n
Many times parents and therapists don\u2019t see success with late talking toddlers because we\u2019re not working on the right things. Changing our approach to target imitation in its earliest and easiest forms is the place to begin.<\/p>\n
Read more about the book:<\/p>\n
In this 180-page therapy manual Laura Mize, pediatric speech-language pathologist and founder of www.teachmetotalk.com, explains the hierarchy of verbal imitation skills she teaches to therapists throughout the country.<\/p>\n
This simple, straight-forward approach is easy for both parents and therapists to understand and implement during familiar play-based activities and daily routines.<\/p>\n
Laura\u2019s method delivers a framework for knowing where to begin work with a late-talking child, provides ideas for what to try when a young child\u2019s progress stalls, and can serve as your new approach when your standard methods don\u2019t seem to be adequate for a particular child\u2019s issues.<\/p>\n
Because young children learn best during play, Laura provides specific examples for using this approach with the following five common toys toddlers love bubbles, farm animals, baby dolls, Potato Heads, and cars and trucks.<\/p>\n
Additionally, Laura lists specific recommendations for using this approach at home for several daily routines including meals\/snacks, bath time, dressing\/diaper changes, reading books, and playing in the kitchen.<\/p>\n
This resource is INVALUABLE for therapists who work in programs embracing a \u2018no toy bag\u2019 or consultative approach. Not only will you receive many, many practical ideas, but you\u2019ll have plenty of written \u2018how-to\u2019 directions to share with parents in an easy-to-understand format.<\/p>\n
PayPal customers can easily order with PayPal Express through our online store. Click the link above to order.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In this 180-page therapy manual Laura Mize, pediatric speech-language pathologist explains the hierarchy of verbal imitation skills she teaches to therapists throughout the country. This simple, straight-forward approach is easy for both parents and therapists to understand and implement during familiar play-based activities and daily routines. Laura\u2019s method delivers a framework for knowing where to begin work with a late-talking child, provides ideas for what to try when a young child\u2019s progress stalls, and can serve as your new approach when your standard methods don\u2019t seem to be adequate for a particular child\u2019s issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":7900,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[1135],"product_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8908","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-therapy-manual","8":"first","9":"instock","10":"featured","11":"shipping-taxable","12":"purchasable","13":"product-type-simple"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n