Welcome to this introductory video about how to support social communication. In this short video, we will learn how to make activities desirable, meaningful, and predictable.
It is useful to think about how the children and young people we work with may experience the world, and how this links to their social communication. For some children, social information may not be as motivating as non-social information. For example, they might be very motivated to learn words about their favourite objects or subjects, but less motivated to learn social language, such as people’s names, or words for actions (for example share, open, give, come). Understanding social information can be challenging for some children.
Social communication needs to relate directly to the things that are important for the child. It needs to relate to something that the child wants or is motivated by.
This will make social communication desirable and meaningful.
Here are some strategies for making sure activities are desirable and meaningful for the child:
Likes and interests: Making communication desirable means making activities fun and enjoyable. Making communication meaningful means using things that the child likes. This is particularly important for activities that involve interacting with other people – as this will help the child to associate social interaction with fun. For example, if they are interested in different kinds of transport, you could use this as part of an activity about giving and following instructions. You could also use the child’s interests as the basis for a social group where they can use their social communication and social interaction skills with others who share the same interest.
Modify sensory aspects of the activity and environment. It’s often helpful to think about the impact of any sensory sensitivities and make any necessary adaptations – think about things like noise, space, light and so on. Giving movement breaks in between sitting down or standing still may help the child maintain concentration and might help them with their sensory needs.
Adjust the difficulty of the task and use developmentally appropriate materials, so that it is an achievable jump from what the child can already do. Try to use materials that are adapted to the child’s age and their stage of development. Perhaps the child can already ask familiar adults for help but struggles to ask unfamiliar adults for help. Making the jump between the two skills may involve opportunities for rehearsal, observation, and practise. Adjust the group size to allow successful interaction. For example, when the child is learning the activity, you could do it with just one other child, and then add another child when they know the activity well.
Social situations may be confusing or stressful for the child. Providing predictability can help them to navigate social situations with more confidence. Predictability enables a child to know what to expect and increases the chance of success. For example, by learning the routines and norms of a classroom, children can arrive on time, follow the rules, and engage in learning and social interactions. Predictability is also essential for building solid relationships. When you know what to expect from someone, you can better understand who they are and what they can offer. This allows you to build a stronger connection with them.
Here are some strategies on how to make activities more predictable: Use Visual support. This is often helpful for children with social communication difficulties. For example, you can use pictures, written words, timelines, charts, and checklists to structure interactions, show steps and help with transitions ; Have a clear beginning and end, showing a completed example.
Model language that the child can use in social contexts, for example “my turn” or “can I play?”.
Modify your language to the child’s language level. For example, if they are using single words then you can use 1-2-word phrases.
If you have any further questions or would like to find out more information you can:
Watch the other videos on our website including introduction to social communication, comic strip conversations, and social stories, emotional regulation, and zones of regulation ; Access the Neurodiversity Support Pack by following the link on the screen ; Speak to the 0-19 team, setting or school.
For more information on supporting children and young people’s speech and language needs please visit our website by following the link shown on the screen. Our Facebook page contains lots of useful tips for supporting speech, language, and communication.
Thank you.
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