3. Supporting Communication for All Learners

Supporting children’s communication can be one of the most rewarding and one of the most challenging things we do! Young children are always learning how to communicate with the people around them, including their peers, family members, teachers, or other caregivers.

Most children learn to communicate using spoken words. Some children learn words in one language, while children from multi-lingual homes may learn words in different languages. Some children with disabilities may not develop speech. Of course, this does not mean that they do not communicate; rather, they may have different ways to communicate.

This could be sign language—a formal language with its own grammar—or they may use gestures, like waving to say hello, or pointing at a toy that they want. Other children may use pictures or symbols to communicate. These children may have a notebook with picture symbols or have a tablet with an “app” that generates a voice when they touch a picture.

And while these communication modalities look different, they all have a common function—they provide children with a way to tell us what they want or need, what they do not want, and how to share about the world around them.

All children communicate; it just may look different for every child. And it’s our job as the adults supporting them to understand and provide ways for the range of communication children may use.

In this video, we are discussing communication. Communication is an important issue for all learners because many children with and without identified disabilities have differences or delays in how they learn and use language. We also know that there is a relationship between children with delayed communication skills and challenging behaviors.

Imagine if you were attending a camp program and you needed to tell the counselors that you were hungry or thirsty, but they did not understand you. This happens to many children with disabilities or learning differences.

In this video, we’re discussing communication. We’ll start by discussing the different ways children with disabilities may communicate. Then, we’ll reflect on the frustration of communication breakdowns.

In addition to discussing what communication is, we’ll see three examples of communication supports that can be used in a range of different settings.

Unfortunately, many children with communication support needs are not always given opportunities to communicate or be heard by their friends, teachers, or other adults. Think about how frustrating it would be if you were unable to tell the people around you what you wanted. Imagine that your class was discussing what everyone did over the weekend, but the teacher kept skipping you because you communicate with pictures instead of words. Wouldn’t you feel left out?

Or imagine how frustrating it would be if you felt very thirsty and wanted a drink, but your teacher kept offering you a salty snack! Wouldn’t this be annoying? Would you be tempted to just toss the snacks on the floor and walk away? We certainly do not want the children in our programs to feel this way. Let’s look at some examples of how we can support children with communication support needs.

Isabella is a four-year-old who loves princesses and stickers. She has Down syndrome and uses an augmentative and alternative communication, or AAC, device to communicate. In her preschool classroom, the teachers worked with her family and speech-language therapist to learn more about Isabella’s tablet and how they can use this at school.

Prior to her starting preschool, Lucia, her grandmother, and Elena, her mother, met with the teachers to show them how the tablet worked. They shared that the tablet is programmed to say what Isabella selects, allowing Isabella to communicate. Together, they added in the necessary vocabulary words for the school foods, toys, and pictures of the other children and teachers.

The teachers made sure her tablet was always available and charged, and encouraged Isabella to bring it with her when the class went outside to play, have it during playtimes, and make sure it was ready to use at circle time. They also talked with the other children in the class about it, so everyone knew that this tablet was how Isabella communicates.

Teachers helped children learn to listen to Isabella when she used her tablet to talk, and patiently wait as she created sentences to share her thoughts. In this example, Isabella’s teachers intentionally planned for her to use her tablet across all activities and made sure all the other children in class understood how their friend communicated—these are crucial ways to promote communication for children using tablets!

Elaine is a bilingual three-year-old with complex needs who attends a developmental preschool in the morning and recently started attending a community preschool in the afternoon. Due to her disability, it is challenging for Elaine to form the correct sounds when she is talking, making it difficult for others to understand her.

Prior to starting at the community preschool, her new teacher, Jen, met with Elaine’s Speech and Language Pathologist to learn how she can support Elaine’s communication needs. Together they developed a plan to support Elaine in her new classroom.

Jen printed and laminated copies of a visual that can give Elaine ideas of what to do when someone does not understand her. This visual includes options to “talk slower and louder,” “point to pictures,” “act it out,” or “say more about it by describing it or giving clues.”

Jen also taught her teaching team and students the signs for “my turn,” “wait,” and “help.” Elaine has learned these signs in her special education classroom and uses them to help communicate important information or phrases she may need in the moment.

Finally, Jen put topic boards up in the classroom to help Elaine communicate. The topic boards have images related to different activities and areas of the classroom, such as snack time and the block area. For example, while playing with playdough, Elaine can use this topic board to communicate what she wants to make with the playdough, such as a ball or snake.

To accommodate topics or materials that are not on the topic boards, Jen also added a few whiteboards to the classroom, so that a teacher can quickly draw different options for Elaine to choose from.

In this example, Elaine’s new teacher put supports in place to help Elaine communicate when others are having difficulty understanding her.

Khalid is a four-year-old with a developmental delay. Khalid stutters when he talks, which can make it hard for him to communicate and be understood by others. Khalid’s teachers at his neighborhood preschool have implemented a few strategies to help support Khalid when he stutters.

While Khalid is talking, his teachers actively listen by getting down on his eye level and showing interest by nodding their head or smiling. His teachers know that it is very important not to draw attention to Khalid’s stutter, complete words for him, talk for him, or finish his sentence. They also focus on modeling slower speech and pausing in between sentences when talking with Khalid. This will encourage him to speak more slowly and is much more effective than telling him to “slow down” or “take a breath and try again.”

Finally, Khalid’s teachers also plan to introduce a “talking stick” during large group and snack time to support students in taking turns talking. This will provide a calm, structured environment for Khalid to share. With these supports in place, Khalid will be more likely to talk and share his thoughts throughout the day.

After seeing three examples of the support staff put in place for children with complex communication needs, take a moment to reflect on your program. Are there children in your program like Isabella, Elaine, or Khalid? Would they benefit from similar supports?

Or, you might be thinking about a different way to help children meaningfully communicate. Supporting children’s communication takes time and is one of the most important things we can do to promote inclusive spaces where everyone can participate.