Let's Get Social

Communication isn't just about building words. It's about making an effort so that the student has that self-confidence to be a good communicator, so that we have that one-on-one partnership of communication. Social competency is really about building self-confidence for your student, for your child, to give them the strategies and tools in order to be confident in their social situations.

Communication Strategies:

• Turn-taking- This usually comes naturally but for those who use a device, they sometimes anticipate that the communication partner will not wait for them. Then their confidence could really be diminished. What we need to do is ensure that and promote confidence within that turn-taking process.

• Eye contact- When you have a device sort of in the way, that sometimes obstructs the eye contact with your communication partner. Ensuring that you establish eye contact with your communication partner and then that device slowly goes away.

• Listening- The user is trying to make a message and they're so intent on making that the message that they forget about listening. Listening is so important for communication and establishing that relationship.

• Gestures- Ensure that your child uses gestures or those nonverbal cues when they communicate. It helps emphasize what they're trying to say in a natural way. 

Communicating with a device may be different, but it's communicating. And once we acknowledge that and get past that, we're starting something wonderful.