Supporting Communication
Each child in the EYFS setting will have a unique communication profile. Once their individual strengths and needs have been assessed, strategies can be put into place to support the child’s communication.
The ongoing monitoring and implementation of strategies is best carried out as a collaborative process, involving the child, their family, teachers and support staff.
Any support provided should be child-led and focused on affirming their methods of communicating. The child should never be expected to mask or change who they are in order to conform to neurotypical expectations (e.g. setting a goal enforcing eye-contact or sitting still).
Expressive language targets should prioritise functional skills that allow the child to express their needs (e.g. food, toilet, rest) and support their wellbeing (e.g. language related to emotion and problem solving).
Strategies to support communication:
- Modify the environment – Be mindful of visual distractors and how we can minimise these within the environment. Reduce background noise and distractions where possible.
- Establish attention – Develop attention and listening skills by following the child’s lead and using preferred objects/activities/interests.
- Create opportunities – Create communicative opportunities during all activities and practice generalising language concepts across environments.
- Support communication visually – Children or young people who struggle with listening and understanding language often rely on non-verbal communication. Visual information such as objects, pictures and symbols can support understanding.
- Be slow and clear – Allow additional processing time when giving verbal instructions and simplify your language to avoid non-literal or ambiguous language.
- Use open questions – Avoid closed questions – one which usually involves responding with ‘yes’ or ‘no’ or giving a one-word answer.
- Respond – Respond by modelling language which is useful for the child/young person.
- Stay with the interaction until the goal is achieved – It is important that the child is able to communicate their needs. Encourage the child to persist if you don’t understand. This may not be easy to do, but helping the child use a variety of strategies, particularly visual strategies, to communicate will help repair the breakdowns.
Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC)
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) refers to a range of techniques that support or replace spoken communication. These can be no-tech, low-tech or high-tech, and are highly individualised to the communication needs and preferences of the person.
Different types of AAC Systems
No-tech communication requires no equipment – it is sometimes called “unaided communication”. Examples include body language, gestures, pointing, facial expressions, vocalisations and signing.
Low-tech communication systems do not need power to function. They are sometimes called “aided communication” because they use basic equipment. Examples include: pen and paper, alphabet and word boards, communication charts or books with pictures, photos and symbols, particular objects that represent what someone needs to understand or say.
High-tech communication systems need power to function. Most gadgets or software speak and/or produce text. Some are based on familiar equipment such as mobile devices, tablets and laptops and may have simple buttons or pages that speak when touched. High-tech communication is also sometimes called “aided communication” because it uses equipment.
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