![]() Have you ever tried having a conversation with someone whose eyes were fixated on the TV? Your conversation probably didn’t get very far. What if that person wanted you to see / join in what they were watching on TV, so they constantly shifted their eye gaze between you and the TV? They probably would have been able to take in more of what you were saying then. This is known as 'joint attention'. It’s the same with children. Joint attention is when a child divides their attention between an object and another person. For example, if your child looks at their toy bear, looks up at you, as if to say “look!” and then looks back at their toy bear. When does joint attention develop? Children typically start to develop joint attention at the age of 9 months, and continue to do so until mastering the skill at the age of about 18 months. Why is joint attention so important? This shared attention and engagement serves as a foundation for learning - otherwise, learning doesn’t happen. Joint attention must be mastered for children to develop good communication, cognitive and social skills. On the other hand, children who have difficulty with joint attention will usually struggle with many areas of development. Here are some important things to remember: In children's development, non-verbal communication skills develop before verbal communication skills. Since joint attention is a non-verbal communication skill, it must be worked on before working on verbal communication skills in therapy. Below are 5 of my favorite tricks for improving your child’s joint attention: 1. Start with what your child is interested in For example, your child will be more keen to interact with you when you show interest in the toy car that they are interested in - rather than the alphabet puzzle which you keep asking them to do. 2. Guide your child’s eyes For example, if your child is interested in a toy, bring this toy slowly up to your eyes, and then slowly put it back down. This will help guide your child about where to look. Since you are starting with the toy that they are interested in, their eye gaze will likely follow your hand movements. 3. Go with the pace your child is setting For example, if your child is making car sounds while they play with a car toy, you can make car sounds too! Try not to break the momentum by placing demands on your child (e.g. "say car! say it!"). 4. Use environmental sounds to draw your child in For example, your child might enjoy it when you make some animal sounds as you both play with the animal toys together. 5. Remember the aim of your interaction The aim is to achieve shared attention and engagement - not to force your child to say everything you want them to say. The greater the demands you put on them, the less motivation they will have to engage with you. I hope you find these tips helpful when working on your child's joint attention. Speak soon, The Expat Speechie Chiman Estephan MSLP, MSPA, CPSP, ACAS © Copyright 2019. The Expat Speechie www.theexpatspeechie.com. All Rights Reserved. ![]() Children love to play games. You can play many games with your child which create fun opportunities for supporting their speech development. When working on a child's speech, one of the tools I use are 'picture cards'. This is because most children learn better with visual support. Picture cards are simply cards with pictures of objects with the target speech sounds which a child is working on. For example, below are picture cards which I've used to teach children to say the 'c' sound at the beginning of words. There are plenty of picture cards (for all sounds of the English language) which you can download free on the internet, or you can even make your own picture cards with your child as a fun and creative activity at home. Once you have your child's picture cards ready, here are my 8 favourite speech games below, which you can play with your child: 1. Word hunt: You can do this at home by hiding the cards around the room. When your child finds a card, they can practice saying the word in a short sentence with the correct sounds. 2. Games with counters: Start by turning the picture cards face down on the table. Take turns to flip a card over and place a counter (use a different colour for each person's counters) on the card when the sounds are produced correctly in the word. Once every card has a counter on it, count who has the most counters on the cards - that person wins. 3. Ball games: Thinking of words that start with a target sound before taking a turn to throw / kick the ball. 4. Bowling: stick one picture card on each bowling pin. Each time your child takes a turn at bowling, they can practice saying the words on the pins that fall down. ![]() 5. Post-it: Your child can make a 'post-box' at home, where they can 'post' a picture card each time they say the word correctly. 6. Magic bag: You can start by placing all the cards in a bag. Then taking turns to pull one card out while closing your eyes. Practice saying the word on the picture cards in a sentence. 7. Fishing: Place a piece of Velcro on the back of each picture card and on the bottom of each fishing rod. Take turns ‘fishing’ for a picture card. Each time you catch a picture, practice saying the word in a phrase.
8. Memory matching: For this you will need two copies of the picture cards. Turn the cards over so that the pictures can’t be seen. Then take turns turning over two cards each, saying the words on each card and keeping the pairs that match. Playing games with picture cards are a great way to stimulate and support your child's speech development at home. Taking turns during these games will give your child constant modeling, as well as opportunities to practice saying their sounds correctly in words and sentences. Have fun and speak soon! The Expat Speechie Chiman Estephan, MSLP, MSPAA, CPSP, ACAS © Copyright 2019. The Expat Speechie www.theexpatspeechie.com. All Rights Reserved. Happy New Year Parents!
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