Follow your child's lead and natural interests
Speak s-l-o-w-e-r singing out all vowels and consonants
When the child wants an object or action provide a choice of two (what is likely desired and what is unpreferred)- name both and pause for an answer
When the child is choosing an object out of two, provide the verbal model for each item a few times, hold a short delay to wait for a response (pointing is a start!), then hand the desired object over
Provide "auditory bombardment" by naming the target object/ action/ location over and over, especially while the child has it in possession
Model the initial sound/ syllable and encourage that the child attempts to imitate
With emerging words, always praise all attempts at verbalization (this is SO important)
Withhold desired items often but do so playfully to create opportunities for verbal requesting or maybe even protesting! NO is a great word and it’s certainly better than hitting or throwing
Ask “what do you WANT?” often while offering and naming possible choices
During play create playful obstructions (e.g. cover the top of the tower you both are building when it’s the child’s turn to place the next piece on top)
Ask “What should we do?” a lot and pause, allowing the child to make sense of the question and, perhaps, think of a word to answer. If no answer is offered- model it and pause again (e.g. open? Close? Up? Down? In or out?)
Always offer functional choices and avoid too many Yes/No questions
Play repetitive games that naturally provide numerous opportunities to practice sounds or words your child is already successful producing; feeling successful is key to wanting to learn more
Imitate the child’s actions, sounds, words- this will teach copying us back
Always acknowledge gesture use but be ready to provide immediate and specific reward (e.g. verbal praise and/or bubbles) once the child is attempting actual words
Avoid doing speech therapy ALL day; instead focus on 3-5 functional simple words that occur across naturalistic contexts, which will make it easy to practice
Finally, avoid correcting every production to minimize pressure to speak; speaking should be a fun communicative experience and it should feel like a game for which the highest possible reward is being able to communicate with others and, of course, being understood!
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