Useful Resources

News from the Communication Team

Tip of the Term

This terms tip is about enabling pupils to have some control over what they’re doing or what’s happening around them. When you were little do you remember asking for seconds of your favourite dinner 'Mum can I have some more?!!’ or feeling really full up and saying ‘can I finish my dinner now please?!'. Here at school we aim teach pupils key words, signs and symbols that could enable them to have some control in different situations. The first words we consider teaching are 'more', 'stop' and 'finish'.

Here’s something for you to try at home:

During some activities at home, you could start to use the signs and symbols below to tell your child what is happening. For instance, when you’ve read a story you can use the sign or symbol to tell your child it has ‘finished’. If your child is enjoying a snack you can say ‘oh I think you want ‘more’ showing them the sign or symbol.

When your child is more familiar with these key words, you could ask your child to make a choice between 'more', or 'stop/finish'. For example, during dinnertime, you could say 'do you want more? (use the sign or show the symbol for more) or have you finished?' (again using the sign or show the symbol). Your child may say 'more' or 'finish', reach for the symbol they want, copy the sign or give a positive response when they see the option they want. It depends on the activity whether you use 'finish' or 'stop' if you’re playing a tickly game, game on the xbox or listening to music for example, you could ask your child if they want more or if they want to stop. Good luck!

for more
Sign for 'More'
 for finish
Sign for 'Finish'
for stop
Sign for 'Stop'
 
more
finish
stop
 
Tip of the Term

This terms tip is all about sabotage! ‘What has sabotage got to do with communication?’ I hear you cry…..well, sabotage is a great way of providing pupils with opportunities to practice their communication skills in everyday situations. In particular, asking for help. Because we care for our children, sometimes we give them what they need or want without them having to ask. However sometimes it’s a good idea not to!

Here’s something for you to try at home………. have a think about some situations where you can provide your child with opportunities to practice asking for help. Here’s a few ideas….when giving your child a drink, give them an empty cup…..put their favorite DVDs out of reach…..don’t automatically open the car door…… there are lots of opportunities! When you try this, wait for your child to signal they need help, then you can say ‘oh you want help’ and model the sign (see below).

sign

Sign for 'help'







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