Tuesday, May 15, 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.

Good communication is important to guardians and parents because it helps to strengthen the relationship between parents and their children. However, it is even more important for parents or guardians whose children require special care because of such conditions as ADHD and autism. The children find it difficult to pass their messages and therefore require new avenues to communicate.

Children also need to be taught to communicate functionally. This is only possible to a small group of children considering their ages and ability to understand. However, a parent can slowly impart this knowledge to their children, albeit with a lot of patience. By teaching these children about this way of communicating, you provide them with an alternative way of making their needs and demands known. They will also be saved from frustration that arises from inability to achieve mutual understanding.

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.

Children with special needs learn at a slow pace and will therefore take time to communicate. Since you are not sure of the words that will be easy to learn, interchange them and try new ones from time to time. Appreciate the uniqueness of each child during training and be conscious to avoid frustration or the wrong approach. Over time, you will achieve the results you desire.




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