1. Georgia State University Series: Communication Development Day 3, Part 1 July 2001

2. What is normal Communication Development? All Babies Gestures Vocal Signals Behavioral English ASL Note: All of these serve a pragmatic function.

3. Gestural Communication Pointing to something Holds up what he wants

4. Vocal Signals Crying Babbling Cooing Gurgling

5. Crying May Indicate: Boredom Feeling alone Hungry Wet Tired

6. Behavioral Communication Trying to open cabinet Reach for an object Avoid unpleasant situation Attention getting

7. Communication: Turn Daily Activities into Language Lessons

8. Rules for Daily Interaction Specific Objectives Choose vocabulary and grammar that is developmentally appropriate Focus on a few goals each week BUT also Learn in context Talk, Talk, Talk Sign, Sign, Sign Explain what your doing and why even if it appears the child does not understand

9. Work on Specific Objectives Discuss ways with Resource Team Choose developmentally appropriate objectives Post on the refrigerator Keep notebook Who How Often Childs attempts to imitate

10. Objectives (cont) Reinforce Praise Picture Notebook of Family Saying / Signing / Playing

11. Learning in Context

12. Bath Count toes Sing songs: “This little piggy” Drying off and massage with lotion while labeling body parts Dressing

13. Meals Count Cheerios Peek -a- Boo Drop the napkin Cover head with napkin “where’s ---?

14. Play Baby dolls: feed or dress doll Cars: Vroom Sounds

15. Trade Books Board Books – large pictures / few words Name & Describe pictures Repetition

16. Activity Books Make a book out of small 5 x 7 picture album with pictures of family members, pets, favorite toys etc. Let child take the book in the stroller, car, bed and talk about the pictures

17. Making Logical Connections Do not assume that the child connects one even to another Examples: Drive – Thru? Greeting Card? What day you do it? Use pictures sequences to show event relationship

18. Do not assume that the child can anticipate events Examples: Going to doctor Losing candy Having a birthday party Have chat Before, Now and Later

19. Do not assume that the child understands cause-effect relationship Examples: Hot burner To do: First, Then

20. Watch Watch Ways Your Child Tries to Communicate Point? Babble? Squeal? Communicate to get attention? Get something he or she wants?

21. Both deaf and hearing babies develop communication skills in similar ways.

22. Typical Sequence of Language Learning for Hearing Children: Early prelinguistic stage Late prelinguistic stage Single sign/word Early word combinations Multi-word combinations Expanded grammar Adult-like language development

23. Early Prelinguistic Stage: 0-6 Months Infant turns toward a speaker Attends to an unfamiliar voice Highly sensitive to touch Uses different sounds to communicate different needs Shares sounds with their parents (coos, babbling of vowel-like sounds)

24. Later Prelinguistic Stage: 6- 12 Months The infant listens when spoken to Turns/looks when name is called Begins to respond to requests and questions Uses sounds, other than crying, for attention Babbling sounds like words (dada, mama) Utterances begin to vary in stress and have adult-like intonational patterns

25. Single Sign/Word: 12-18 Months The infant understands and responds to basic communication First words appear that are reduplications of consonant-vowels (dada, mama, bye- bye) Continues the use of jargon (strings of non- sensical utterances with varied stress and adult-like intonational patterns)

26. Early Word Combinations: 18-24 Months Points to pictures in books, or body parts, when named Follows/understands simple commands and questions Listens/enjoys simple books, rhymes, songs Rapidly developing vocabulary Combines two words into simple questions/statements (daddy work; more juice)

27. Multi-word Combinations: 24-36 Months Infant understands complex sentences Understands contrastive meanings of words (hot/cold) Learns 2-4 new words every day! Uses attributes to describe nouns (BIG dog) Jargon disappears Establish topic-comment relations

28. Expanded Grammar: 3-4 years Understands complex language forms Sentences and questions are becoming longer and more complex 90% of sentences are grammatically correct Children will talk about events that happened away from their home and what may happen in the future

29. Adult-like Language: Age 5 Has a large vocabulary, as well as grammar Enjoys stories and can answer questions about them Constructs long and detailed sentences Tells long and involved stories May tell fantastic, tall stories May engage in conversation with strangers

30. Typical Sequence of Language Development in American Sign Language

31. Stage 1: Infant begins to use basic handshapes (B, C, O, A, S, 1, 5) Begins to use single-signs Begins to use simple movements (up, down) Begins to combine signs into two sign utterances Copies actions/signs of others Begins to use headshake with negative sign Begins to use questions (yes/no/what/where)

32. Stage 2: Tries to use complex handshapes, but tend to simplify them Starts to modify verbs Begins three-four sign sentences Begins to use classifiers Storytelling: different roles, body shift, facial expression (not always clear) Substitutes objects that are present to talk about objects that are NOT present

33. Stage 3: Uses complex handshapes with accuracy (X, Y, T, R, 3) Begins to use complex movement (wiggles) Continues refining verb modification Begins to use noun modification for intensity, size, and quality Begins to use rhetorical questions (turtle run-who win-turtle) Begins to use topicalization Inconsistent use of points in space when storytelling

34. Stage 4: Consistent use of complex handshapes, movements, fingerspelling, and names Begins to show spatial agreement of objects Begins to use conditionals (e.g. if) Appropriate use of referencing objects that are not present; storytelling is clear Uses bracketing to indicate “wh” questions

35. Differences between deaf and hearing infants begin to develop around six months of age.

36. At six to seven months, hearing babies begin producing rapid consonant-vowel productions, termed “canonical babbling”: Ba-ba-da-da-ma-ma…. However, the deaf infant’s babbling decreases dramatically.

37. Some experts have hypothesized that there is a “critical period” in which children must be exposed to a complete language in order to have native-like competence. Lack of a first language results in the child progressing at a “semi-lingual” state.

38. Therefore, it is imperative that parents or caregivers understand how language develops in their infant in order to assess their progress.

39. Studies have found that Deaf mothers use more facial expression and more gestures when communicating with their children. This kind of non-verbal feedback encourages children to look at their mothers, which is an important step in supporting visual communication and in developing speechreading skills. This can be achieved through several strategies:

40. Gaining and Directing Attention Break the child’s line of sight and gain attention using movements of the hands and body Touch the child Use pointing to direct attention while still permitting language input Reinforce eye-contact by smiling, clapping or signing

41. Make Language Salient  Reduce the frequency of communication so it is recognized as worthy of attention  Meaningful  Relevant

42. Reduce need for Divided Attention Use short utterances Position self and objects in child’s visual field Move hands, face or both into child’s visual field

43. Link Language and Meaning Bracketing: Sign or Phrase at both the beginning and end of an utterance “BIRD TREE SIT(point) BIRD” Modify Signs: Displace, Repeat, Enlarge and Prolong sign

44. Describe Event While it Happens Instead of directing a child’s gaze to an object or event and talking about it while he or she looks at it, talk about the object or event before or after directing the child to look at it. With a child who is using manual communication, the location of the signing can be moved into the child’s line of sight, or the child’s body can be used instead of the signers.