One trend I’ve noticed over the years is the frequency with which we use snack and meal times for focusing on communication. No wonder our kids are stuck with “I want ….” as their most-used phrase in their aac systems.
The other day I had an interesting slightly different opportunity arise at snack time, as two young boys “fought” over an item one had brought to school.
The second boy reached over and grabbed the first boy’s snack. Before the first boy could retaliate physically, the teacher intervened by modeling, “Stop that. That mine!” as a way to get the item back. An aide picked up on the interaction, and modeled for the second boy “I want that.”
Teacher modeled for the first boy again, “No. Stop. That mine,” and he picked up the refrain, using the phrases appropriately.
It took a couple of models and both sets of adult arms and hands to get the snack back to boy #1, but I thought they did a super job of not only keeping the episode from escalating or becoming more physical, but of modeling the appropriate communicative responses and expecting the boys to use them.
In March, I’ll talk about integrating core words into your shared reading/read aloud sessions. If you want a head-start, check out this terrific post http://praacticalaac.org/praactical/praactically-reading-a-house-for-hermit-crab/
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