Monday 14 May 2018

Functional Communication Training For Parents

By Douglas Myers


Children communicate at a very basic level. They indicate in a raw format what they want and how they feel. Functional communication training for parents aims at helping them to understand what these children want or mean by the gestures, sounds and signals they give. This is extremely important considering that children cannot communicate articulately as adults would.

Functional communication training is very important for all parents because it helps in strengthening the bond between them. However, it remains crucially important for parents or guardians of children with special needs like autism and ADHD. Such children try to voice their needs but cannot be easily understood. This is why special attention is required.

Communication training is not limited to guardians and parents. There should be an attempt to teach the children. This applies to a very small clique of children because of their obvious age and ability to understand. The parent or teacher must also be patient with children at this level. Children who understand this form of communication obtain an alternative channel through which they can pass their messages. It will be less frustrating for them to communicate their desires and feelings to adults.

The best trainer is a speech-language pathologist. You should turn to the pathologist if your child is having difficulties communicating what he or she needs. The pathologist will evaluate his mode of communication and areas that have difficulties. It must be noted that children have very unique difficulties and needs. This also means that the solutions provided must be unique. The role of the pathologist is to first identify the real challenge which ushers him to the next solution.

Naturally, human beings communicate using words, gestures and body language. For children with delayed milestones, the challenge is on one of these avenues. The pathologist will identify the next best alternative that will still deliver desired results. At the initial stages, the focus is to get communication going. Pathologists identify a hierarchical order in which means of communicating are arranged.

The means available for children to communicate include gestures and body language. The child will indicate what he wants and his feelings about a particular subject. It is manifested as the child reaches out or points at objects. A child will also communicate displeasure when you want to pick something he or she does not want. Sign language is an option alongside the use of picture exchange and voice output devices.

The parent or guardian needs to identify new words that will be taught to the child. Learning happens through continuous repetition. You need to combine all learning avenues like sound and gestures to make it easier to learn your desired words. Tempt the child to says or gesture the words by providing the objects in his or her surrounding.

It takes a great deal of patience for children to begin to communicate fluently. Try different words and scenarios to avoid frustrating your child. Each child has a unique ability to understand. Be alert to such uniqueness and find a way of going round it to achieve desired results. By trying severally, you will eventually communicate at one level or the other.




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