2 Strategies to Increase Parent Participation in Early Childhood Intervention

Most speech-language pathologists agree that increasing family participation in treatment increases children’s success in communication. The tricky part is how. Obviously, the same approach may not work with every family, but I find two strategies—both backed by research—consistently succeed in increasing family participation. For those of us working with young clients, we know our intervention work best when parents participate and actively helping a child reach his goals. My colleagues and I find these approaches so effective they also result in fewer cancelations or missed appointments. Give the why. When we share with families why we suggest changes in how they interact with their child, parents more likely will use these strategies because they know why they work. A study of Mexican immigrant mothers’ perceptions of their children’s intervention found most participants felt SLPs just played with their children. By helping mothers—and all caregivers—recognize the importance of play in development, they more likely will see play as a way to incorporate new language strategies. Additionally, teaching how individual cognitive skills contribute to language development—such as understanding objects still exist even out of sight—encourages families to work on those cognitive skills in play. For example, here’s how I explain to parents why rolling a ball helps their child develop language skills: “As people talk like you and I are, we take turns. I talk and...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - Category: Speech Therapy Authors: Tags: Speech-Language Pathology bilingual service delivery Early Intervention Language Disorders Source Type: blogs