STRATEGIES FOR
ENHANCING NONVERBAL
COMMUNICATION
Susan Batstone
Provincial Integration Support
Program
Communication Skills
• Social Interactions
• Educational Performance
• Behaviour
What is Communication
Anyway?
What is Communication?
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Interactive: Involves at least 2 people
Efficient
Has a purpose or reason
Gives independence & control
May not always be intentional
Communication Involves
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Establishing or shifting attention
Taking in information
Processing information
Storing Information
Retrieving Information
Sending Information
• Baby smiles and coos
Parent imitates
Baby repeats
Child with a disability
Baby with disability may smile or coo
Parent Imitates
Baby doesn’t imitate
Parent decreases speech output
Parent anticipates child’s needs
Child doesn’t have opportunity
Child becomes passive
Our Challenge
• Help students communicate as best as
they can to :
– have some control in their environment
– be able to have social relationships
– to prevent loneliness and isolation
– to learn
• “Every person, regardless of the
severity of their disabilities, has the right
and the ability to communicate with
others, express every day preferences
and exercise at least some control over
his or her daily life. Each student,
therefore, should be given the chance,
training, technology, respect, and
encouragement to do so.” (B. Williams)
SUMMARY OF
COMMUNICATION
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Involves at least 2 people
Needs to be a means of communication
Need to be a purpose
Efficient, understandable, functional
Gives independence
Gives control
Begins long before there’s a formal system
• Everyone can communicate and
meaningfully interact with the
environment - there are no prerequisites to developing communication
skills.
WHAT IS AUGMENTATIVE/
ALTERNATIVE
COMMUNICATION (AAC)
• Augments what a student is already
using to communicate
• Adds other ways of communicating to
help a person be better understood or
able to give more information
INTERVENTION
STRATEGIES
• Active involvement
• Means of communication
• Purpose of communication
How Does Your Student
Presently Communicate?
• Personal Dictionary
– Why does your student communicate?
functions/purpose
- How does your student communicate?
» Means or modes
Common Communicative
Functions
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Seeking attention
Requesting objects/activities
Protesting
Greetings
Asking and answering questions
Labeling
Commenting
Common Communication
Modes
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Vocalizations
Gestures
Facial expressions
Pointing
Sign language
Pictures
Speech
Creating a Communication
Goal
• Build upon a student’s existing
communication skills
– With different people
– In different contexts
– More consistency
– Greater frequency
What are the Motivators?
• Observe the student
• Talk with others who know the student
well
• Look at what the student may be
communicating informally for clues
about what they may be interested in
• For some students, a goal may be to
facilitate the development of interests
Comprehension
(receptive language) Skills
• Understanding the communication of
others
• Understanding what is happening
• Interpreting cues and signals in the
environment
• Handling changes and transitions
What forms of
communication does the
student understand?
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Gestures
Cues from the environment
Speech
Manual signs
Printed material
Signs, logos, pictures
Writing
Sensory Challenges
• Visual
– Cortical Visual Impairment
• Auditory
– Hearing loss
– Difficulty filtering background noise from
foreground auditory information
Specific Comprehension
Skills
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Follow directions
Object labels
Matching
Sorting
Functions of objects
Answering yes-no questions
Strategies to Facilitate
Receptive Communication
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Visual Supports
Ask student to “show” you
Ask student to “look” at
Ask “what”, “who”, “where” questions
Match in appropriate contexts
Associate objects with functions
Learn attributes in context
Strategies to Develop
Expressive Communication
• Stepping Stones to Developing
Communication Skills
Common Expressive
Communication Objectives
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Attending to communication partner
Initiating communication
Requesting and choice making
Greetings and closings
Responding to initiations from others
Turn taking
Asking and answering questions
Frequently Occurring
Problems
• Amount of time
• Restricted message set
• Difficulty initiating communication
• Lack of Partner Training
Strategies
• Patience!
• Respond to all communication attempts
• Maximize use of already used communication
modes
• Use motivating natural contexts that have
opportunities for interaction
• Use specific words; avoid ‘this’ & ‘that’
• Teach vocabulary that will have an effect on
the student’s environment
• Use routines
– Predictable
– Reliable
– Create anticipation
– Provide opportunities for choices
Prompts
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Pause
Environmental cue
Expectant delay
Gesture/point
Model
Indirect Verbal
Verbal feedback
Partial Physical
Full Physical
Choice Making
Choice Making
• Important in developing personal
autonomy
• Gives power and control
• Our job: create opportunities for choice
making; coach others to do the same
• Beginning choice makers: pair preferred
object with non-preferred object
Sample Choice Making
Opportunities
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Food (snacks, lunch)
Music
Musical Instruments
Position (w/c; stander; bean bag, etc.)
People (who to sit next to, push chair)
Art (materials, colour, texture)
Books
Computer programs
Physical Considerations
• Positioning
• Eye-hand coordination
• Crossing Mid-Line
Sign Language
Considerations
• Handshape (finger position/isolation)
• Location
• Movement (active ROM, sequential
bilateral/unilateral)
• Motor planning (affects speed &
accuracy of sign production
• Orientation of sign to body (away,
toward, face, body, midline)
Easier Signs
• Movement toward body
• Performed at, or toward, but not across,
body
• Within signer’s visual field
• Performed with the forearm in neutral or
pronated position
Voice Output
• Opens door to:
– Participation
– Inclusion
– Independence
– Fun
Voice Output Ideas
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Greeting classmates; staff, visitors
Respond to attendance call
List day’s activities or schedule
Asking for a turn
Giving an announcement - PA system
Giving steps of recipe
Assign weekly or daily classroom jobs
More Voice Output Ideas
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Sharing a joke or riddle of the day
Asking for a song during circle time
Talking about item brought from home
Cheering classmates during sports
Complimenting others
Asking for more of something enjoyed
Commenting while reading a book
Yes…No…Maybe So?
• Questions serve many different
functions
• Acceptance/rejection: in the here & now
• Confirmation/denial: in the past
• Avoid rhetorical questions
• If you do ask a question, show that you
expect a responses
Integrating Communication
Objectives
• Ask yourself, “Does the student have a
reason to communicate in this
situation?”
• Remember to use a Visual Schedule
– Use some type of symbol (object, picture)
to represent each activity
– Present the symbol to the student just prior
to the beginning of each activity
– Eventually student may learn to use the
symbol to initiate a request for the activity
Arrival Time
• Greeting peers and staff
• Make a choice who the student helper
will be for the day using photos to
choose between
• Use Voice Output to request removal of
outdoor clothes; removal of items from
back pack
• “Forget” to do something that’s routine
Reading Activity
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Choosing between books
Choosing a classmate to read with
Requesting a page to be turned
Requesting “more”
Repeating a line using Voice Output
Answering questions
Making comments (picture board)
Social Studies
• Use Voice Output to call on peers to
answer questions (Example: Identify
capital cities)
• Use switch activated spinner to ask
questions
• Use Voice Output to direct peers to
move from location to location on a map
Math
• Use switch activated spinner to select
numerals to create math calculation
problems for peers to compute
Circle or Sharing Time
• Attach souvenir to top of Voice Output
device that has a message about it to
share with rest of class
• Use Voice Output or picture
communication board so that student
can ask peers questions, or comment
on topic
Cooking
• Use Voice Output or picture
communication board to direct peers in
multiple step recipe
• Ask student to get one of the needed
item, but have it in the wrong place
(Example: Ask student to get the
wooden spoon, but have it in a different
drawer)
Science
• Use Voice Output or picture
communication board to give directions
for a science experiment
• Present objects that are unexpected
• Use a puzzle that relates to topic. Have
some of pieces missing so student
needs to request them
• Play a trivia game with spinner & switch
Lunch
• Use a place mat with picture symbols to
make comments or requests
• “Forget” to give student part of lunch
• Give student a carton of juice instead of
juice in a cup
• Give part of lunch in a container that is
tightly sealed so that student needs to
request help
Recess
• Choice making between recess
activities (swing, slide, etc.)
• Have photo board to make choices of
peers to hang out with
• Use picture board to make comments
• Indoor games (e.g., Simon Says)
• Choices of where to go outside
• Perform unexpected actions
Art
• With-hold some of the needed
materials, such as a brush, in order to
elicit a response
P.E.
• Engage student in turn taking activity
such as a bean bag toss. Wait for the
student to communicate, ‘my turn.’
Dismissal
• Use Voice Output to relay a message
about events of the school day to the
home setting
Personal Care
• Violate object function or manipulation
(Example: Pretend to brush teeth with
comb; put shoe on hand), with goal of
eliciting a protest
Vocabulary
• Not necessarily the same as for typically
developing children
• Needs to be functional
• Needs: bathroom, food/bevs, TV, bed, go
• Feelings: sick, tired
• People: family, friends
• Pets
• Concepts: up/down, day/night; cold/hot
Communication
Development
• Improves self-concept & self-esteem
• Reduces frustration and behaviour
problems
• Increases active participation
• Changes expectations about the
student’s potential to learn
Internet Resources