THE MOOG CENTER
FOR DEAF EDUCATION
Where Deaf Children Talk
Techniques for Parent Support
Listed are ideas for techniques on which to focus during parent support sessions when working
on activities using real-time embedded coaching.

Child’s Language: Pre-lingual/no words
o Positioning
 for feeding
 for reading books
 for play
o Using appropriate volume and rate of speech
o Using wait time, to emulate conversation
o Eye contact
o Parent labeling items using single words/two-word combinations
o Pointing out sounds and demonstrating sound awareness
o Observing the child
 to recognize when he is hearing
o Making talk meaningful
 labeling items in the “here and now”

Child’s Language: Single Words and Two-Word Combinations
o Positioning
o Behavior
o Using hand-over-hand as a technique to demonstrate for and engage the child
o Using appropriate volume and rate of speech
o Expecting the child to vocalize/talk
 Looking expectantly at the child for a vocalization
 Using wait time
 Withholding items
 Bringing items up toward one’s mouth/face
o Maintaining the child’s attention to the activity
o Providing positive reinforcement for vocalizing, attempting to produce a word,
etc.
o Parent labeling items using single words
o Child using single words
o Parent modeling using two-word combinations
 Listening for intent and modeling two words to express the idea
 Using acoustic highlighting to get both words
o Child using two-word combinations
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office@moogcenter.org
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Modeling grammatically correct utterances
Pointing out sounds and demonstrating sound awareness
Ending an activity/having closure to an activity
Observing the child
 to recognize when/what he is hearing
 to recognize when he is understanding

Child’s Language: Simple Sentences of 3 or More Words
o Maintaining control of the materials
o Pushing for three key words
o Modeling an utterance using chunking
o Asking questions to get a three word response
 Asking questions that need a three word response
 Asking a variety of questions
 Embedding the answer in the question (when appropriate)
o Commenting, instead of asking a question
(i.e., parent says, “Uh oh” child says, “fall down”)
o Working on adjectives
o Raising one’s expectations throughout the day
o When to provide a model, when to just ask the child for more, so that the child is
thinking for himself and not just imitating
 Using expressions such as, “Tell me,” “Ask me again,”
giving only a partial model
 Pretending not to understand so the child will say more
o Using acoustic highlighting

Simple and Complex Sentences of 6 or More Words
o Using acoustic highlighting to include the missing words
o Using wait time to get longer utterances
o Ask for clarification to encourage the child to use a more complete utterance
o Using sabotage
o Using questions to enhance or challenge the child’s communication
 The child’s ability to respond may be dependent on the language provided
in the question
 Tell me about the girl.
 What is the girl doing?
 Where is the girl pouring the juice?
o Verb tenses
o Using higher level vocabulary and/or language structures