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Promoting Communication and Language Development in Infants and Toddlers: Providing Choices (Part 3)

  • Writer: Rose Reyling
    Rose Reyling
  • Jul 25, 2024
  • 6 min read

Welcome back to our series on promoting communication and language development in infants and toddlers! In our first post, we discussed the importance of observing and following your child's lead. In our second post, we explored the benefits of language modeling and how to incorporate it into your daily routine. In this third installment, we’ll focus on the strategy of providing choices to encourage language development and improve articulation, particularly for children with language or developmental delays.

What is the Strategy of Providing Choices?

Providing choices involves offering your child two options during interactions. This technique encourages them to use language to make decisions and express their preferences. It’s a simple yet effective way to promote communication by giving your child a reason to speak.


In the video below, I demonstrate how to offer choices effectively and explain the benefits of this strategy for promoting communication and language development. Watch to see practical examples and tips.


Why is Providing Choices Important?

  1. Encourages Communication:

    1. By offering choices, you motivate your child to express their needs and preferences.

  2. Builds Vocabulary:

    1. Presenting choices introduces new words and helps reinforce existing vocabulary.

  3. Promotes Decision-Making:

    1. Making a choice helps children develop their decision-making skills and gain a sense of independence.

  4. Reduces Frustration:

    1. Giving choices can reduce frustration by allowing your child to feel in control of their environment.

  5. Improves Articulation:

    1. When children are given choices, and you model the speech while holding the choices near your face, they get to see how your articulators (e.g., lips, tongue, teeth, jaw) move to produce the different sounds of that word.


How to Implement the Strategy of Providing Choices

  1. Use Simple and Clear Language:

    1. Offer two options using simple language.

    2. Example: "Want milk....or...Want water?"

    3. Example: "Ball....or...Car?"

  2. Make the Choices Visual:

    1. Show the items or point to them as you name them options. This helps your child associate the word with the object.

  3. Hold the Choices Near Your Face:

    1. Hold the items close to your face when you offer choices. This draws your child's attention to your mouth, allowing them to see how the words are formed. This visual cue helps them learn to articulate the words correctly.

  4. When Labeling, Shake the Items Near Your Face/Mouth:

    1. Gently shake the item near your face when you label it. This movement brings your child's attention to the item and helps them connect the spoken word with the object.

  5. Pause and Wait:

    1. Give your child time to think and respond. Wait for at least 3-5 seconds for them to make a choice.

  6. Honor and Accept Nonverbal Responses:

    1. If your child points, reaches, or looks at the item instead of speaking, acknowledge their choice verbally and then give them the item. Accepting non-verbal responses helps children feel successful and understood, reinforcing their communication attempts. This approach is especially important for children who are not yet verbal or have limited verbal skills.

      1. Example: *child reaches for the toy ball* "BALL...you want the ball."


Real-Life Scenarios

Scenario 1: Snack Time

  • Activity: Offer your child a choice between two snacks.

  • Providing Choices: "Do you want APPLE...or...BANANA?"

  • Hold Choices Near Your Face: Hold the apple and banana near your face as you name them.

  • Wait for a Response: Pause and give your child time to choose.

    • Response 1: If they point to the apple, say, "APPLE. You want the APPLE."

    • Response 2: If they say, "apple," expand by adding a few more words, "You want the RED APPLE. Apples are yummy!"


Scenario 2: Playtime

  • Activity: Offer a choice between two toys.

  • Providing Choices: "Do you want BLOCKS...or...TRAIN?"

  • Hold the Choices Near Your Face: Hold the block and train near your face as you label them.

  • Wait for a Response: Pause and give your child time to make their choice.

    • Response 1: If they reach for the train, say, "TRAIN, you want the TRAIN."

    • Response 2: If they say, "want train," expand their utterance and model new language by adding 1-2 more words, "You want to PLAY with the TRAIN!" or "The TRAIN goes CHOO-CHOO!"


Scenario 3: Getting Dressed

  • Activity: Offer a choice between two pieces of clothing.

  • Providing Choices: "Do you want RED SHIRT...or...BLUE SHIRT?"

  • Wait for a Response: Pause and give your child time to choose.

    • Response 1: If they look at the blue shirt for a long time, say, "blue," say, "BLUE SHIRT, you want the BLUE SHIRT."

    • Response 2: If they say, "blue shirt," you can expand it by describing something more about it, "You want the BLUE SHIRT, it has STRIPES."


Scenario 4: Outdoor Play

  • Activity: Offer a choice between continuing an activity or stopping.

  • Providing choices: "Do you want MORE SLIDE...or...ALL DONE SLIDE?"

  • Visuals of Choices: I suggest you sign the word "more" and point to the slide while you say "Want MORE SLIDE" and then sign the word "all done" when you say, "ALL DONE SLIDE."

  • Wait for Response: Pause and give your child time to make their choice.

    • Response 1: If they gesture toward the slide, say, "You want MORE SLIDE."

    • Response 2: If they say or sign, "more," expand their utterance, "You want MORE SLIDE. The slide is FUN! Let's go up!"


Practical Tips for Everyday Activities

  • Mealtime: Offer choices for food, drinks, or utensils.

  • Bath Time: Offer choices for toys or different bath products.

  • Reading: Offer choices between two books to read.


Helpful Tips for Providing Choices

When implementing the strategy of providing choices, it's important to remember the following guidelines:

  1. Give Choices Only When Real Choices Exist:

    1. Provide options only when the child genuinely has a choice.

      1. Example, "Do you want to play with CARS or ANIMALS?" but NOT, "Do you want to put the toys away before going outside?"

  2. Avoid Manipulative Choices:

    1. Do not offer on choice that you want the child to choose and the second choice that you know the child won't like. Choices should be equally acceptable to both the child and the parent.

  3. Be Prepared to Accept Either Choice:

    1. Only offer choices that you are willing to accept. Remember that you must be willing to live with the choice the child makes.

  4. Respecting the Child's Preferences & Try to Be In-tune with Their Emotional State:

    1. Some children might not be used to having others play with them or hold their toys. They might become frustrated, withdrawn, or upset with the idea of others presenting them with choices and holding onto their toys. If this happens, reduce the frequency of presenting choices and ensure you give the object to the child as soon as they communicate (by looking, pointing, grabbing, speaking) their preference (be prepared...it might be both --grabbing for both of the objects!). This helps your child learn that you are not withholding or taking their toys.

  5. What to Do if the Child Reaches for Both Choices:

    1. If your child reaches for both items, acknowledge this by saying, "You want both X and Y!" and gently try to guide them to choose one while still labeling the items to model language.

      1. Example: "You want both APPLE and BANANA....which one FIRST...APPLE or BANANA."

      2. Remember, if you see your child getting frustrated when you attempt to guide them to choose only one object, don't push it. Instead, while they are grabbing both objects, label them again, gently shaking the hand (and likely your child's hand because they're grabbing at that item) that has the first item you label and letting go and then quickly doing so with the second object.


Conclusion

Providing choices is a simple yet powerful strategy to support your child's communication and language development. By offering choices, you encourage your child to use language, make decisions, build their vocabulary, and feel confident that they have some control over their life. Remember to hold the items near your face and gently share them to capture your child's attention and help them see how words are formed. Be consistent, patient, engaging, and have FUN in your interactions!


Stay tuned for our next post in the series, where we'll explore the strategy of commenting and reducing the number of questions to further boost your child's language skills.


Call to Action

At RosyTalk, we are dedicated to helping parents support their children's communication development. If you have concerns about your child's speech and language skills or need personalized guidance, contact us a text at 815-587-4452 or email at rose@rosytalk.com. Let's work together to create a joyful and communicative environment for your child.


Feel free to share your experiences and any questions in the comments below. We love hearing from you!

 
 
 

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