4.135 PLAY: Attention to Objects: Use two objects together

I attended a panel presentation at the ASHA convention that described how the state of Florida is training speech-language pathologists (SLPs) how to be effective parent coaches when they are helping parents learn to use interaction strategies with their child. An SLP described how much more effective her therapy was when she focused on including parents as partners in the treatment and supporting them to be confident and competent. Your child will learn to combine two objects in play. They are learning about the relationships between objects and activities, which lays the foundation for their language skills. Showing them how to use things together helps them see the relationships. This play helps build connections between several areas in the brain. Repeated activity in meaningful contexts builds stronger connections, which makes thinking and language stronger. Keeping materials organized helps your child have more frequent experience with seeing the relationships between objects. Playing with your child and taking turns with the objects helps you demonstrate to your child a little more of what they could do with those objects. Today's activity: Keep materials in logical collections when you store them in boxes or on shelves. Encourage your child to put objects away in their assigned locations, to make the organization more noticeable for them. When playing with your child, demonstrate an action with two objects, then give your child a turn to use those items. Use these charts as a checklist for your child's progress. Send your questions to [email protected]. Visit www.TheInteractionCoach.com to see the directory of speech-language pathologists licensed in your area. If you can't find one in the directory, contact me at [email protected] and I'll track down someone for you.