Helping Your Non-verbal Child

A couple months after my son’s first birthday, he became non-verbal. Before he stopped speaking, he had 12 words in his vocabulary and was starting to combine words. By 16 months, all he made was sounds/ noises. Eye contact was rare. I knew that early intervention was the key to help him if he was going to speak again. The next six months were some of the hardest months I have ever been through. My son would get so frustrated when we couldn’t understand him. He would cry, yell, hit, and bite.

Our Speech Pathologist (or Speech Therapist) gave me four ways that I could help my non-verbal child:

1.     Sign Language: She recommended that we focus on sign language. We would sign while saying the words. The two programs we used were “Signing Time” (www.signingtime.com) and “Baby Babble” (www.talkingchild.com). These programs also helped me learn sign language very quickly. Signing really helped my son’s frustration level.

 

2.     Simplified Speech: She recommended me simplifying my language so my child had opportunities to mimic. This was a huge challenge for me since I am known to speak fast. She also wanted me to repeat myself. The “Baby Babble” series really helped teach me how to do this with my child. For example, while staking blocks, I might repeat the phrase “on top” each time a block is stacked.

 

3.     Visuals (Word Wall/ computer device): She encouraged me to make a work wall. I printed pictures of main things he wanted / needed and glued them to a poster. That way, he would point to what he wanted, and we could practice the word. Things I put on the poster include: water, milk, juice, snack, plate with food, potty, toys, television, and bed. My son also had a language computer that had buttons with pictures on them. He would push a button, and it would say what he wanted. For example, if he pushed the cup, it would say “drink”.

 

4.     Use child’s interest: She told me to use my child’s interest to encourage speech. If he loved playing with trains, I would encourage words while moving a train around the track.

 

Today my son is able to speak in conversation because of these four early intervention strategies. I am so thankful that he got his voice back. If your child is non-verbal, I highly recommend the two programs I mentioned above. I also would suggest talking to your therapist and seeing if these four strategies would also work for your child.