Shared reading can help with language development

Newman (2004) also discusses how books can be used to help with language development. Based on her recommendations, here are some guidelines to help you with choosing and using appropriate books. I will use my book, Dave is Brave, to illustrate these as it was written and illustrated with these guidelines in mind.

1- Start with books that have clear and expressive pictures.

The reason for this is that children are engaged or their attention is grabbed by things that interest or attract them. Colourful and clear pictures mean that the child does not have to be concentrating on the book to have their eye attracted to it. Colour and clarity catch the “corner of their eye”, so to speak.

Pictures will also give you the opportunity to label items and ask questions to prompt language attempts. If the child is interested and engaged by the pictures, they are more likely to attempt to communicate about the book, whether it be through gesture or speech.

2- Use books that show characters doing everyday, familiar things.

Books about unfamiliar topics will mean that the child is not able to use their prior knowledge or experiences to identify appropriate words that they might be able to use. If the content is familiar, through the reading process the child will learn words that will help them function or participate in their everyday life activities.

You can also develop your own books by taking a sequence of photos of everyday routines. These books can be a great resource to help expand your child’s vocabulary.

Talk about the pictures, suggest things that the people in the pictures might be saying, ask your child to label objects or identify what the person is doing. If your child’s language is developing, start asking them less obvious questions such as how they think the people in the photo might be feeling.

The activity plans that are sold in the Dave is Brave pack provide you with questions that will not only help develop your child’s language, but also their emotional intelligence. That is, it will help them understand what is going on socially and emotionally, and will prompt them to use language that will help them express this in everyday, real life.

3- Simple stories with few words and lots of repetition are especially good.

As mentioned in a previous post, repetition is a great tool for helping children develop language through imitation and modelling. A book with rhythm and rhyme can also help prompt memory of sounds and phrases.

Dave is Brave is written with this in mind. For example, the text is written with the frequent repetition of the phrase, “Golly was a bully, but Dave was brave.” The text is also rhythmical:
“Golly was a bully when he didn’t act like a friend.”


When interacting with the book, Newman (2004) suggests firstly that you read the book normally, with natural expression in your voice.

Next, ask questions of increasing difficulty depending on the child’s level of language development. Educators often talk about the different levels of questioning as “here, hidden and in the head.”

For example, looking at this picture from Dave is Brave:
“here”: What did Dave say?
“hidden”: How do you think Dave is feeling?
“head”: Is Dave a boy or a girl?

Thirdly, there may be times whey you will need to paraphrase books to make sure that your child understands the language. This relates to your family or classroom language culture – the words you use to describe something may be quite different to those used in another family/classroom.

Finally, get the child to anticipate or guess what words comes next. And example of this is the cloze activity that is part of the listening games on the Dave is Brave music CD. What I do is pause to encourage the listener to say some of the repeated words for me. The rhyme also helps with this.

For example, “This is Dave. He is …..”


My final recommendations?

Read often.

Read about things your child is interested in.

Have fun with it.

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Ask Amanda - PECS system

Hi Amanda - I thought I'd get in early with a question for you - I am exploring the idea of adapting a PECS system to help Hannah cope in an inclusive classroom. Can you suggest some ways to introduce her to this, also how would it work in a classroom? ( Is it really that easy for a teacher to and child to use? it is the one I am considering because my experience is that teachers rarely ahve the time to learn signing and then use it consistently) Also - what should I include in it eg are there categories that are commonly going to be useful in kindy? Anecdotally I have heard parents say that using this system has helped their children increase utterance length due to the sentence strip. I have access to the 2008 pecs cd - if I find it is working I will probably consider buying an updated version - next year. Thanks a lot. Shelley of Mainstream Musings(using Kit's private blog address cos I am not very technologically able - sorry!

What is PECS?

First, for those who aren’t familiar with the term PECS, it stands for Picture Exchange Communication System. The most common picture system used in schools is Boardmaker, with more and more schools actually purchasing the CD for use in their inclusive classrooms. See Spectronics for more information.

However, for families this system is not always affordable. There are other picture systems that have been developed, but if you want some free downloads you can visit Visual aids for learning, Sparklebox and do2learn. Both of these sites have free, downloadable pictures of commonly used concepts at home and at school.

How are PECS used?

The idea behind PECS is that by using concrete objects (pictures), the child can communicate without having skills such as eye contact and shared attention (paying attention to the same thing as the person they are communicating with, and taking turns in conversation) (Charlop-Christy, Carpenter, Lee, LeBlanc, & Kellet, 2002). These abstract skills can be taught in a very concrete, hands-on way using the pictures.

For example, if you are finding it difficult to get your child to pay attention to what your are saying, giving them a picture can help focus their attention. If the child is trying to communicate something, but is struggling to engage in the give-and-take of conversation, exchanging pictures can be like using a “talking stick”. In this way, they are getting your attention, and you are able to respond to their needs.

Pictures can be used instead of speech, but are usually used to supplement speech. PECS has been shown to be effective in helping children develop increased vocabulary and functional communication (Charlop-Christy et al., 2002). That is, children develop the ability to communicate their needs, wants and feelings in a way that helps them participate throughout the day with fewer “meltdowns” due to the frustration of not being able to communicate.

PECS is used for children with a wide variety of difficulties, including children with Down Syndrome and Autism.

How do you teach young children to use PECS?

Applied behaviour analysis and incidental teaching are usually used to teach PECS (Wolery, 2000). Here are some ideas:

a) Put things out of reach so that the child has to request the object:
Make sure you have the picture card readily available. Do this as a game, and be prepared with extrinsic rewards such as stickers if necessary so that it does not become distressing for both the child and yourself. But the aim is to arrive at a place where getting what they want or need, and a hug or a smile is enough to make the activity rewarding for your child.

For example, if you want to teach your child to request to use the toilet (an important skill for school participation), first shut the toilet door. Assuming your child can’t open the door for themselves, that is. Then, blu-tack the picture representing the toilet to the door, making sure it is within easy reach of your child. Praise your child and immediately open the door when they point to, touch or pull the picture off the door and give it to you.

(picture from do2learn)

b) Modelling
Continuing with the above example, have everyone in the house use the same technique. When you want to go to the toilet, give your child the picture of the toilet before you open the door. This means that she will learn to apply the “word” to others, not just herself. And whenever you use the card, say the phrase, “I need to go to the toilet.”

c) Repetition
Don’t vary this routine, right down to what you say. Get her to try to say exactly the same thing every time she uses the picture as well. If you repeat the same phrase, it will become familiar. Your child will also be able to practice and develop an “imprint” of that phrase in their memory – this it will help the shaping of the sounds with their mouth, their hearing of the sounds and their understanding.

d) Prompt and wait
You may also need to have a phrase and a gesture that will help prompt her to use the picture and/or language. Again, this phrase should remain the same … and pass this on to the teacher of her inclusive classroom. Make it something simple, like pointing to the picture and saying, “What do you say?” Then give your child a minute or so to process what you have said, and have a go. If she is getting distracted, use the same gesture and phrase again. Repetition and familiarity with the prompt are important, though at first you may need to use more physical prompts like guiding her hand to touch the picture. But gradually, try and reduce the prompts you give.

How is it used in the classroom?

PECS, especially boardmaker, is used in a number of ways in schools.

Individual communication booklets:
This is where the child carries around a little booklet of key pictures in their pocket, or on a key ring clipped to their waistband. Here is an example from http://www.autismshopper.com/page8.html.

At school the communication booklet usually has pictures of key people, such as their teacher; self-help words, such as “toilet” and “hungry”; and emotions, such as happy or sad. They may also have pictures that represent key timetable features such as lunch, class and playground time.

Timetables and transitions:
Becoming more common are velcro timetables. This is where pictures representing the different activities of the school day are stuck to a strip of velcroe either to the board at the front of the room, or to the child’s desk. Each time a task is finished, the picture is taken of the strip. Therefore the child can keep track of what is going on. This benefits all children in the classroom.

PECS can also be used to break up and teach the steps in specific activities. See an example on the Spectronics website.

Rules:
The differing social demands of school can be quite challenging for the child. Therefore, PECS are often used to communicate the teacher’s expectations. For example, when sitting on the floor in front of the teacher the expectation is to sit quietly and keep your hands to your self. The teacher may stick the appropriate picture reflecting this on the board. They may also give a smaller version of the picture to the child to gain the child’s attention, then give a verbal prompt (shhh) and gesture (finger to lips). This really helps with the transitions and interactions that are an essential part of the school day. See and example here.

Social stories:
The example in the link above is also a demonstration of how PECS can be used also to develop social stories which will teach children skills to cope with the different social challenges of the school day. I discussed this in a previous post.

In sum, the most commonly used categories at school are:

Self-care, including words such as toilet, food, drink, hurt

Timetabling and transitions: desk work, circle time, craft, sport and so on.

Social skills, including greetings, key emotions (happy, sad), rules (sharing, sitting still and quiet, putting hand up)

PECS may also be used during literacy activities to develop story strips, as seen on the right. These are Boardmaker symbols.

Just a note about sign language: Makaton

Makaton sign language (they have a PECS too) is becoming more common within inclusive classrooms as it is based on natural gestures rather than finger spelling. For example, the natural good-bye wave is used for “good-bye”. The “T” that we use in a “time-out” gesture for basketball is used to signify the need for a toilet break.

Check with your school – you might find that these simple gestures can be used for some key phrases. They can be taught in the same ways as your would teach PECS.

Find out about the difference between Makaton and AUSLAN here.

References:

Charlop-Christy, M.H., Carpenter, M., Lee, L, LeBlanc, L.A. & Kellet, K. (2002). Using the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) with children with autism: Assessment of PECS acquisition, speech, social-communicative behaviour and problem behaviour. Journal of applied behaviour analysis, 35(3), pp213-231.

Wolery, M. (2000). Behavioural and educational approaches to early intervention. In J.P. Shonkoff & S.J. Meisels (Eds) Handbook of early childhood intervention (2nd Ed), pp179-203. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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Ask Amanda ... a student who is under three and displaying aggressive behaviour

Amanda, I have a new student who is two and a half. He is extremely impulsive, he cannot have anyone near him that he is not being aggressive to them, to the point where if I am near and pick him up, touch him or in any way try to talk to or remove him from the situation (hitting repeatedly, punching, pushing etc.) he will with one hand try to stop me while continue to strike out at the child. I think he has some form of spectrum disorder, his other behaviors are what appears to the other adults including his parents to make him 'gifted' his speech is very articulate overly complex sentencing (he is 2) but he repeats everything (very clearly) which I think is echolalia (sp?) not cognitive language use.what can I do to help him stop hurting others.

I am meeting with the parents and right now I will just ask them how he is at home types of questions. I have only had this child for 2 weeks and want to set up a good relationships with them. I have learned to approach with caution when this type of issue arises. Thanks Beth


First I just want to apologise for taking so long to answer this very tricky question. The world has been spinning very fast lately.

But now I have time to sit, think and answer your question.

I can’t suggest a quick fix

This difficulty is not something that can be addressed easily. It will take time and some investment of energy. However, I may be able to suggest some practical things you can do to help improve things over time.

I will also shy away from suggesting a diagnosis etc. That is up to the psychologist, paediatrician or other medical professional.

Step one: Formal Observation

The first thing you may need to do is take a step back and really observe what is happening. It may even be worth getting a third party in, for example another staff member who works in your centre, to watch what is happening.

The purpose of this is to get a better picture of what is going on. It will help unlock some clues to why he may be behaving this way.

Observational tools:
The observations should be written down. This written account should be factual rather than an interpretation of what is happening.

There are many forms of written observations. But you may find a couple of these useful.
Firstly, the simple anecdotal observation (click here or here for more info). That is, the observer watches for a certain time period and records everything that is happening. Not just what the child is doing, but what others around him did and in what setting it occurred.

The second example is an ABC observation.

A= Antecedent: Write down everything that happened before the child began to display the inappropriate behaviour. This includes anything that other children did, what setting they are in, what was said etc.

B= behaviour. Record exactly what the child did.

C= consequences. Record the responses of those around him. That includes the response of the other children, as well as the response of the staff.


What might be the function of his behaviour?

Read this previous post for more information on funcational behaviour assessment. However, the description of the behaviour you have given suggests to me a couple of purposes the child’s behaviour might have. However, these are only guesses as they are not based on full observations as described above.

1. A reaction to proximity
He may have sensory integration issues and subsequently have difficulty sharing space and equipment. He may not be able to endure the proximity of others, and his behaviour is his way of communicating this.

I did read somewhere else that when reprimanded he says he won’t do it again. But if it is due to sensory integration issues, and he has difficulty with social communication, he may not be able to change this behaviour without consistent and explicit support. He will continue to react impulsively in order to protect himself from the intrusion of others.

If this is the reason for his behaviour, removing him from play may seem very unfair to him as he will feel he is being punished for his anxieties or for what other children are doing. And it is unlikely that he will be able to articulate this in any other way than trying to continue lashing out whilst being removed.

What can you do in this instance?
- Set up a safe space that he can retreat to without fear of intrusion. This can be done using a mat, book shelves, cushions or a chair and table. All children should be told that this is a quiet space and only one person can be there at a time. In this space place a couple of the child’s favourite games. But this is only a starting point as you don’t want to always isolate the child from other children.
- Have a routine session every day based on a turn-taking game. This needs to be a quiet, highly structured game where only one child has a turn at a time. Start with just one or two other peers, and sit between them and the child. Let the child pick the children he wants to play with in this session. As the child gets used to this routine you may find that you can start introducing more children and less structured games. But it may take some months before your intervention is not needed.
- Use the child’s echolalic language skills to teach appropriate communication alternatives to his aggression. For example, teach him to say, “Move, please!” using an appropriate hand gesture when children get too close.

This is not a comprehensive list, but it may be a start.

2. A desire for interaction but limited social skills
I have worked with a number of children who have an intense desire to interact with others and play the same games but end up ostracising their peers because they don’t know how to get involved without aggression. There was a boy who wanted to play tips, but kept being isolated by staff because he was running around punching children. It turned out this was his invitation or his request to play tips. When he was taught how to play, and taught specific language to ask others to play, he ended up with a nice little bunch of playmates.

So if this is the case it is again not surprising that the behaviour isn’t changing. He may not be able to identify why it is wrong, or exactly what behaviour you want him to stop. He may also have a sense that is it “not fair” that he is being isolated when other children are playing together - even if he couldn't articulate this.

What can you do in this instance?
It will be about teaching specific social and language skills. Your observations will be able to tell you which skills are most relevant, but here are some ideas.
Language (teach a gesture or makaton sign language to go with this):
- Can I play?
- Can I have a turn?
- That’s mine. You can have it later.
- Can you move, please.
Social skills:
- looking at facial expressions and identifying when others are sad.
- Turn taking
- Sharing space and equipment

How could you teach these?

Social stories:
My book, Dave is Brave, is like a social story. It demonstrates a sequence of events that occur in consequence of aggressive behaviour, with pictures to illustrate facial expressions and emotions of others. It also has key phrases like, “Can I play?” demonstrated as an alternative to aggressive behaviour. (Sorry if this sounds like advertising, but I wrote the book for children with these sorts of issues so you may find it useful)

You could use this, or you could work with the student to design your own short picture sequence. You could do this by taking photos (with parent permission) of a short role play. Two photo sequences could be:
1) photo of him watching others playing
2) photo of him role playing pushing another person
3) photo of another person being sad
4) photo of him sitting by himself, not able to play with others
Second sequence
1) photo of him watching others playing
2) photo of him asking, “Can I play?” with a smile and appropriate gesture
3) photo of another person smiling back
4) photo of him sitting with others, playing together.

You could also look into using PECS such as Boardmaker and those seen on the do2learn website. This will help make language more meaningful for him if he learns well through visuals.


Responding to aggressive incidents

While he is learning these new skills, you will still need to have a way of managing or responding to aggressive incidents.

If you think that his behaviour might be due to sensory integration issues, or a difficulty with the physical proximity of others, you might want to do the following:
- Manoeuvre yourself in between him and the child he is lashing out at.
- Firmly but calmly and gently say, “Stop” with a stop hand sign
- If he doesn’t stop after 2 or 3 requests, point to his quiet space and ask him to take his toy to that space, re-assuring him that he can come back to this play space when he is ready to be settled (choose a word he can understand and use that same word all the time, you may even have a picture of the quiet space and being “settled” to help him understand what you are saying)

As much as possible, avoid physical contact. Try and shepherd him to the quiet space rather than physically move him if possible. You may also find that taking his toy to the quiet space will mean he comes with you.

If you think his behaviour is due to poor social and language skills, follow the same process. But instead of just saying, “Stop” get him to repeat a key phrase such as, “That’s mine.” with appropriate gestures so other children can understand him.


Conclusion:

The bottom line is that anything you do will take time and energy. You and anyone else working with the child will need to be consistent, repeating exactly the same process and exactly the same words every time an aggressive incident occurs. Remaining calm will be very important.

And if one thing doesn’t work after you have given it a good go (eg one month), do another observation and analyse whether you might need to think about the behaviour having a different purpose behind it.

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