How to Encourage Speech in Developmentally Disabled Children
- 1). Give the child plenty of time to say what he needs to say. Resist the urge to guess what he wants to say or to finish his sentences.
- 2). Create opportunities for the developmentally delayed child to interact with peers who have normal speech patterns. These children can serve as speech models for the child. Since children are often more comfortable talking to one another than to adults, being around children can help the child develop her speaking skills.
- 3). Listen to the child without correcting her speech. Ask questions when you don't understand the speech so that the child rephrases the information, as children with speech difficulties can get frustrated when they are frequently asked to repeat themselves.
- 4). Provide an enriched environment for the speech-delayed child. Children who spend hours passively watching television or playing video games do not have the same opportunity to develop their vocabulary as children who are engaged in activities that involve interacting with others. Read aloud to the child, play games with him and go places together so that there will be plenty to talk about.
- 5). Answer the child whenever she talks. This is rewarding to the child and increases the chance that she will respond or initiate conversation in the future.
- 6). Talk about things that are relevant to the child. Look at family photos together, talk about favorite toys or discuss whether or not he enjoyed lunch today.
