At the ASHA convention I heard a report on research using Project ImPACT, an NDBI that taught parents to use strategies with their child. Good results were found with both in-person and telepractice sessions. In addition to increased communication skills, children had fewer problem behaviors.

Your child learns concepts by experimenting with how things work. Encourage your child to use any objects where they can put things in and take them out, put things in a tube so they roll out the other end or you pull it out the other end, see what size and shape fits into a container, open and shut a door or lid, stack things up or nest them inside each other, dials, clickers, jack-in-the-box, pull with a string.

Today’s activity: Find a few objects that help your child experiment with concepts like cause/effect, in/out, big/little, open/shut.

Use these charts as a checklist for your child's progress.

Send your questions to [email protected].

Visit www.TheInteractionCoach.com to see the directory of speech-language pathologists licensed in your area. If you can’t find one in the directory, contact me at [email protected] and I’ll track down someone for you.

Here’s Dr. Wetherby’s report on an effective parent coaching program and possibilities for online delivery.

Visit the Autism Navigator for the free screening tool plus parent education modules with video examples of development and what you can do to support

At level 4 your child starts to understand cause-and-effect and doing things on purpose (intentionality). They explore how things work with actions like: bang 2 objects together; put things in and take them out of a container; put nesting object inside another; shake, bang, throw, drop things to explore what happens; use familiar objects correctly; pull a string to get an object; push a button to get a result; put rings on a stacker; move one object to other hand to reach for a second object.

Today’s activity: Show your child how to do something with an object that gets a result, then let them explore it on their own. Take turns, so you can demonstrate how it’s done then your child has another chance. Use an occasional hint for where to push a button or put an object. Add a single word to describe what’s happening.

Here’s the link for my course teaching parent strategies for supporting your child’s communication development.

Use these charts as a checklist for your child's progress.

Send your questions to [email protected].

Visit www.TheInteractionCoach.com to see the directory of speech-language pathologists licensed in your area. If you can’t find one in the directory, contact me at [email protected] and I’ll track down someone for you.

Here’s the link for the waiting list for the course teaching parent strategies for supporting your child’s communication development.  

Your child’s memory for objects helps them develop preferences for certain toys. It’s useful to know their preferences when you want to use materials that are motivating for them.

Today’s activity: Observe what your child chooses to play with or something they like to keep with them.

Use these charts as a checklist for your child's progress.

Send your questions to [email protected].

Visit www.TheInteractionCoach.com to see the directory of speech-language pathologists licensed in your area. If you can’t find one in the directory, contact me at [email protected] and I’ll track down someone for you.

I just returned from the national convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. I heard several presentations about research on naturalistic, developmental behavioral interventions. Some links to my blog posts on NDBIs:

NDBIs get best results

What is NDBI?

Advantages of NDBI

Dr. Amy Wetherby reported on research using the SCERTS model, where parents were taught to use strategies with their child. They received coaching 2-3 times a week in 1:1 sessions compared to weekly small group sessions. Both groups made progress, but the 1:1 sessions got better results that group. She recommended 25 hours per week of focused parent-child interactions as an effective amount of time. Use these charts to monitor your child's progress.

At level four, your child will reach for small objects with their fingers and large objects with both hands, and will search for dropped objects or when you remove or hide them. This reflects their growing understanding of the concept of object permanence

Today’s activity: Cover an object of interest completely with a blanket. Pat the bulge and ask,” Where is it?” Encourage the child to uncover it. Or cover the object with a box and tap on the box to encourage them to hunt for it.

Send your questions to [email protected].

Visit www.TheInteractionCoach.com to see the directory of speech-language pathologists licensed in your area. If you can’t find one in the directory, contact me at [email protected] and I’ll track down someone for you.

Your child’s cognitive development shows up in how they now react to you leaving. They understand object permanence so they know you are still somewhere when you disappear. They miss you when you leave.

That makes it harder for you to leave because you don’t want them to be upset. But if you go back when they cry, you are reinforcing the crying. That means they’re more likely to cry again the next time, and they might cry even harder if that’s what it takes to get you to come back. (This is not conscious on their part, it’s just how intermittent reinforcement works.)

Today’s activity: Have a regular routine that you follow when leaving your child in someone else’s care. Discuss it with the other adult so you both understand what you are doing and why. Get your goodbye hug, then let the other adult get your child engaged in something distracting. Be consistent—once you leave, don’t turn back.

Use these charts as a checklist for your child's progress.

Send your questions to [email protected].

Visit www.TheInteractionCoach.com to see the directory of speech-language pathologists licensed in your area. If you can’t find one in the directory, contact me at [email protected] and I’ll track down someone for you.

During this level your child may start to show they want to do more for themself. Self-help skills tend to develop without our awareness of how they are shaped by the child’s growing independence and how we respond to that.

Some children show less of this independence and initiation. In that case, it’s even more important for the adult to be a mediator and help the child try to do more for themself.

Today’s activity: Allow your child to sometimes take the lead in daily activities like dressing and feeding. Share objects, take turns, wait, point, give just enough assistance to let them take the next act in the process.

Use these charts as a checklist for your child's progress.

Send your questions to [email protected].

Visit www.TheInteractionCoach.com to see the directory of speech-language pathologists licensed in your area. If you can’t find one in the directory, contact me at [email protected] and I’ll track down someone for you.

In the future, your child will be learning to manage their feelings. At this level, though, they will just go with their initial reaction. If something happens that they don’t like or is upsetting, they will naturally act upset.

Here’s a principle of learning that applies to these situation: Whenever we practice a behavior, it gets stronger.

While there is a time and a place for acting upset, we don’t want to cause your child to practice acting upset when it can be avoided. Let’s save that reaction for when it’s really needed.

When possible, we want to avoid your child practicing an overreaction to problems. Helping them see an alternative is a way to help them stop one activity and substituting another activity.

At this stage, we can avoid presenting your child with upsetting events when they aren’t necessary. That way, your child doesn’t build up lots of practice with immediately being upset over any kind of change or surprise.

Today’s activity: When your child is exploring, they may pick up something they’re not suppose to have. Instead of just taking it away, make a trade instead. Make the new item extra interesting as you give it to them. Take away the other item without calling attention to it.

Use these charts as a checklist for your child's progress.

Send your questions to [email protected].

Visit www.TheInteractionCoach.com to see the directory of speech-language pathologists licensed in your area. If you can’t find one in the directory, contact me at [email protected] and I’ll track down someone for you.

Your child will start to recognize that things don’t magically appear and disappear. They might want to keep doing or having something and will miss it when it’s gone.

Your child can start to see connections between what they are doing and the next thing that will happen. This can make it easier to make transitions.

Instead of just stopping an activity or taking away an object, you can have the next thing visible so they see what they are transitioning to. Seeing the next thing helps them give up the current thing.

This is a good way to introduce the concept of first this - then that.

Today’s activity: When making a transition, have an object from the next activity visible. Use language like “all done X, now do Y” or “bye-bye X, time for Y.”

Use these charts as a checklist for your child's progress.

Send your questions to [email protected].

Visit www.TheInteractionCoach.com to see the directory of speech-language pathologists licensed in your area. If you can’t find one in the directory, contact me at [email protected] and I’ll track down someone for you.

Your child will start to show preferences for certain objects or experiences. It’s useful for your child to have a preferred object they can use for soothing when they are tired or upset. Using a soothing object helps your child learn to self-regulate their emotions.

Today’s activity: Observe what object helps your child feel soothed and make it available consistently. Use a word to describe how they are feeling to help them learn to recognize and label their internal state.

Use these charts as a checklist for your child's progress.

Send your questions to [email protected].

Visit www.TheInteractionCoach.com to see the directory of speech-language pathologists licensed in your area. If you can’t find one in the directory, contact me at [email protected] and I’ll track down someone for you.

Send questions about the podcast or communication development to [email protected].

Skills that develop in Level Four include knowing that people who go away still exist, so your child is more likely to cry when you leave. Your child will also be uncomfortable with strangers.

Your child also notices the results they get from their actions. They do a lot of testing out actions to see what will happen.

Your child wants to do more things independently. They help with dressing activities, try to feed themself, and use an object to help soothe themself. This growing independence supports their motivation to use communication to have an effect on others.

Your child can participate more independently when they know what to expect next. A routine gives them confidence in knowing the next step of a process. It also helps feel comfortable transitioning from one activity to another.

Today's activity: Examine your daily activities to see what routines you can use to help your child participate more independently.

Use these charts as a checklist for your child's progress.

Visit www.TheInteractionCoach.com to see the directory of speech-language pathologists licensed in your area. If you can’t find one in the directory, contact me at [email protected] and I’ll track down someone for you.