FACITILATTING SOCIAL COMMUNICATION USING A VERBAL PLAN
Caren Rothstein, MSed, EdS (c)
The Problem: We are by nature, social beings. Our social communication may explain our evolutionary success. Yet some children such as those on the Autism Spectrum or those with Pragmatic Language Disorders, resist social communication. The ability to effectively communicate socially could mean survival as an adult.
Research Question: How does Preparing a Personal Verbal Pan, With Parental Aid, Facilitate Social Conversation in School Children with Pragmatic Language Deficit?
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WHAT IS A VERBAL PLAN?
~A Verbal Plan was a planned social communication for the child. With the help of his parents, the child recorded an event that he/she participated in at home. He/She would paste or draw some representation of the event such as a ticket stub or a postcard. The parents or the child would write a few describing sentences under the representation. Then the child would practice saying it at home. When the child came to the language therapy session, he/she would share the event with the Speech/Language Pathologist and the other members of the group. Other children would have a chance to react to the event, by commenting, if they too had experienced the same thing or if they had any questions. The therapist facilitated the session and used the Verbal Plan to strengthen other language skills as well.
THE VERBAL PLAN:
(Findings)
- ELICITED MEANINGFUL CONVERSATION FROM CHILDREN
- EVOKED ENJOYABLE MEMORIES THAT CHILDREN YEARNED TO SHARE WITH PEERS
- ENHANCED INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THERAPIST AND PARENTS
- DEVELOPED SENSE OF SELF/PRIDE WITHIN CHILD
- GAVE THERPIST AN OPPORTUNITY TO WORK ON OTHER NEEDED LANGUAGE SKILLS SUCH AS SYNTAX, GRAMMAR, ETC.
- AUGMENTED PROSPECTS FOR SOCIAL COMMUNICATION BETWEEN STUDENTS.
- OFFERED TEACHERS A WINDOW INTO THE CHILD’S LIFE
- FURNISHED PARENTS WITH A MEANS TO PROMOTE CONVERSATION WITH THEIR CHILDREN.
“Teaching is mostly listening, and learing is mostly telling.” Deborah Meier