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SUPPORTING YOUR CHILDNORMAN ADAMS LBIPP, ABERDEEN CITY COUNCILLookwho’stalkingTop tips for developing your child’s languageand communication skills by Kim HartleySPEECH AnD language iscentral to the way parentsand children make aconnection with oneanother. By talking to your childand responding to what they sayand do, you are creating a bondwith them that will last yourwhole life.Speech and languagedevelopment needs to happenbefore your child can make astart on reading and writing.Although children developcommunication skills atdifferent rates there are lots ofthings parents can do to help.Talk about everyday activities,like putting away the shopping.is helps children connectlanguage to the world aroundthem and it can extend theirvocabulary.Use objects and gestures tohelp your child understand. Orgive them two or three options:“Do you want teddy or the car?”,“Is this your nose or your foot?”Look at pictures in books16Bookbugtogether, describing and talkingabout who and what is in thestory. is is just as good asactually reading the story. Don’tbe afraid to tell a story more thanonce – repetition helps childrento understand and remember thelanguage they hear.As well as repeating back whatyour child says, you can also startexpanding what they say. If yourchild says “Juice” you could say“More juice”, “Juice, please” or“Juice gone”. is shows yourchild how words can be puttogether to make short sentences.Children can get frustratedwhen adults don’t understandthem, and this can lead totantrums. Encourage your childto use gestures, objects oractions to show you what theywant. is will give them analternative to tantrums whenthey get frustrated with you!Children learn speech soundsgradually. If your child hasdifficulty saying some words,gently saying the whole wordKim Hartley isScotland officerat the RoyalCollege ofSpeech andLanguageTherapistsJoin in withyour child’spretend play– and letthem takethe leadback to them is the best way toencourage language. If youcorrect them or make them say itagain, you can make them feelanxious. Make sure your child cansee your face when you are talkingto them. is helps them to watchand copy the movements yourlips make as you say words.IF YOU HAVE CONCERNS ABOUTYOUR CHILD’S SPEECH,LANGUAGE ORCOMMUNICATION...Let your health visitor know orask your local speech andlanguage therapist for anappointment. You can find yourlocal speech and languagetherapist through your healthboard, nursery, GP or in thephone book. ●More advice, ideas and tips...The tips above come from Talking Point(www.ican.org.uk/talkingpoint/), a website full ofideas, advice and useful resources to help childrendevelop speech, language and communication.Talking Point was produced by experts from the RoyalCollege of Speech and Language Therapists, I CANand AFASIC.