This Scribble was scribbled by Laura Whyte (Speech and Language Therapist at TCP). 

You may have previously heard about Hanen Programs, programs such as ‘It Takes Two To Talk’, ‘More Than Words’ or ‘Talkability’. These programs come from the Hanen Centre, a world renowned Centre in Canada for developing specialised programs to help children with speech and language difficulties. The Hanen Centre have developed excellent programs, resources & workshops for both parents and professionals.

I recently had the opportunity to attend a ‘More Than Words Hanen Workshop’ in London. I had heard such great things about Hanen and I was so excited to learn new strategies to put into practice with my little ones and help support my families. It was an intensive three-day workshop where I got to meet like-minded people and learn in depth about what the ‘More than Words’ program offers.

As a speech and language therapist (SLT), I work closely with parents. I understand that a parent is a child’s number one teacher and an educated parent is a child’s best chance at achieving his or her communication potential. This particular program ‘More than Words’ is specifically aimed at parents who have a child aged 5 years and under, diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It teaches the SLT how to teach and coach the parent on specific strategies in order to facilitate and set up communication exchanges with their child. It teaches parents how to turn everyday activities into communication and learning opportunities.

I love how this program empowers parents, giving them tools and strategies to help them teach their child specific communication goals. It aims to develop social communication; supporting back and forth interactions, improving play and imitation skills which are all important foundation skills for successful communication.

 

 R.O.C.K. in your Routine

One strategy I love is “R.O.C.K in your Routine”. This strategy helps parents to communicate with their little one by remembering exactly what steps to do;

You can use the R.O.C.K strategy with so many games at home, even with social/people games, such as chase, swinging, tickles, bubbles, hiding games etc. Below I have described a people game where you can bounce your child on your knee while using R.O.C.K:

Repeat: sitting face to face with your child on your lap, bounce him/her up and down while saying “bounce, bounce etc.” or “lets bounce” match the language to your child’s language level. Repeat the action with the same words.  You may have to do this game a lot of times, so that he/she learns how the game works and what to expect.

Opportunity: This is the turn that you want your child to take to keep the game going, so for this game, the opportunity might be that you want your child to let you know that he wants more by either; bouncing his body up and down to continue with the game or using sounds (e.g. bu..) or words (e.g. bounce, more, go).

Cue: Now you can cue in your child so that he knows its his/her turn.  After a few turns of fun bouncing, stop and wait and expectantly look at your child to encourage him to request for more bouncing.  If he doesn’t move his body or say a sound or a word to request more then you can provide him with some prompts such as; lifting your legs ready to start bouncing and say say “ready…” or “lets bounce” or “bo..” (again depending on your child’s language level) and wait for him to finish your request.  If he still does not take his turn to request, pick off where you stopped and bounce him/her again saying “bounce, bounce, bounce” to show him the game again.

Keep it going: As soon as your child sends an intentional message (e.g body movement, sounds, gesture, word or even a smile) that he/she wants more of this game, then you must bounce him, repeat the same words and keep it going! Once he/she is familiar with the game you can add in fun ways to keep him interested and motivated, e.g. moving side-ways, or moving very slowly or fast! Keep it going but make it fun!!

I would recommend this program to parents as you will learn so many valuable and effective skills that you can utilise throughout your daily routine such as meal times, dressing, social outings etc. You will learn to observe and find out what motivates your child. With the support of an SLT you’ll learn how do set appropriate and realistic goals individual to your child. Best of all, you will learn how to make positive interactions last longer and make them fun!

If you haven’t heard about Hanen and its specialised programs, I would highly recommend having a look at their informative website at www.hanen.org or speaking to your Speech and Language Therapist for more information and guidance.