how can i move forward and help him put the single words he uses and knows into sentences?

kez17

This discussion was created from comments split from: I'm Chris, I specialise in working with children with autism, asperger's and learning disabilities.

kez17

hi Chris. i have a son who is nearly 3 yrs old and is a left sided hemi. his understanding is excellent. if i ask him what single objects are, most of he time he will answer, although some of the words are difficult to understand. he 'babbles' quite alot, his tone is going up and down, but none of it makes sense. hes starting to get to the stage of becoming quite frustrated because no-one understands him. how can i move forward and help him put the single words he uses and knows into sentances?

kez17

he uses 3 makaton signs, 'more, finished and drink' he does find trying to use makaton difficult because of his hemi and, i feel that he really wants to be heard vocally. any help or tips would be greatly appreciated

LondonSpeechTherapy

Hi Kez17,

Thanks for your question.

Makaton can be very challenging for individuals with CP as they often cannot make the appropriate movements for each sign and therefore use 'approximations' of each sign. With such a limited vocab this will be okay as each sign is distinct from the next; however as his Makaton vocab increases the communicative recipient may find it difficult to be sure which sign he is making. Despite this I would still advice using Makaton to sign the keywords is your sentences as this will help his understanding and he will naturally start to increase his vocabulary.

Regarding wider communication have you spoke to your SLT and OT about alternative and augmentation communication. To begin with this can be as 'simple' as a communication book. Each communication book is adapted to the user themselves and may include a page for making a choice with food/toys/drinks/places to go/activities to do etc. the team working eith your child will consider (amongst other things):
1. his access method (e.g. Whether he can point to a picture on a page; whether he can open a book; whether he can turn pages in a book)
2. his visual skills (e.g. What's the smallest size symbol that he can identify and consistently point to on a grid)
3. his cognitive skills (e.g. If he has a learning disability and the impact of this on his overall learning and communication skills)
4. his motivation to communicate
5. the motivation of his communicative partners is communicating with him (are te majority of adults he communicates with responsive to him).

I have also mentioned in my post above strategies for expanding 1 word utterances e.g. adding a word and colourful semantics, but lease talk through with your SLT.

Thanks


Chris