Non-Speech Communication... We Do It All the Time!

How Do We use Non-Speech to Communicate?

It Looks Like This....

Notice the little signs that others give you!



We Gesture all the time......

• Eye contact or eye gaze- A toddler may gaze at an object of interest out of his reach that he would like to play with.

• Pointing at things to show interest- A child may use a point to indicate he is interested in something.


• Facial expressions-. We all use facial expressions to communicate our feelings to others. A child that is happy will have a different expression than a child who is angry, sad, scared, etc.


• Body Language/Movements- These are SO important! Children with speech delays often use body language or movements to try to communicate.


• Gestures- In addition to pointing, a child may use gestures to try to communicate with you, like gesturing towards the fridge when he is thirsty.


• Tone of voice, vocal volume, pitch and inflection- Even when a child is using little to no real words, often times we can use their tone, volume, pitch or inflection to help figure out what they are trying to say.


• Whining, grunting, and other non speech noises- Often times littles ones with speech delays will use a combination of these with other nonverbal communication to try to communicate. The tone of these grunts and noises (as mentioned above) could give us more information on what our child is trying to communicate.

Signs of Learning Disabilities in Children

What are the Red Flags of Learning Disabilities?

Preschoolers
* Problems pronouncing words

*Difficulty rhyming words

*Difficulty learning letters, numbers, shapes, and colors

Kindergarten to 4th Grade

*Difficulty connecting letters with sounds

*Confusing basic words (i.e. Run or Want)

*Making consistent reading and spelling errors

*Having trouble remembering facts

5th to 8th Grade

*Difficulty understanding/comprehending what he/she has read

*Difficulty following oral instructions

*Difficulty understanding spelling strategies

High School and Young Adult

*Spelling the same word differently in two documents

*Difficulty answering open-ended questions

*Difficulty understanding abstract concepts

*Misreading information

*Difficulty focusing on details


If you are concerned that your child demonstrates any of the following behaviors, please speak with your child's teacher!

Lets Play With Word!!

Phonological Awareness Skills

Phonological awareness skills are important in order to develop good reading skills.

Having good phonological awareness skills means that a child is able to manipulate sounds and words, or “play” with sounds and words. For example, a teacher or speech-language pathologist might ask a child to break the word “cat” into individual sounds: “c-a-t.”

Phonological awareness includes the following skills:

• Recognizing when words rhyme (e.g., “Do ‘cat’ and ‘shoe'

rhyme?”) and coming up with a word that rhymes (e.g., “What rhymes with ‘key’?”)

Segmentation of words in sentences (e.g., “Clap for each

word you hear in the sentence ‘The dog is furry.’”)

• Blending syllables (e.g., “I am going to say parts of a

word. Tell me what the word is. ‘Pan-da.’”)

• Segmentation of syllables (e.g., “Clap for each syllable

you hear in the word ‘refrigerator.’”)

• Deletion of syllables (e.g., “Say the word ‘strawberry.’

Now say it without saying ‘straw.’”)

• Identifying sounds in words (e.g., “What sound do you hear at the end of ‘tulip’?”)

• Blending sounds (e.g., “Put these sounds together to make a word. ‘D-oo-r.’”)

• Segmentation of sounds (e.g., “Tell me each sound you hear in the word ‘cat’?”)

• Deletion of sounds (e.g., “Say ‘chair.’ Now say it without the ‘ch.’”)

• Addition of sounds (e.g., “Say ‘cook.’ Now say it with an ‘e’ at the end.”)

• Manipulation of sounds (e.g., “Change the ‘s’ in ‘sad’ to a ‘d’ and say the new word.”)

Phonological awareness is important because it is a basis for reading.

Children begin to read by listening to others read aloud, then recognizing sounds in words, sounding words out for themselves, recognizing familiar words, and so on. By engaging in word play, children learn to recognize patterns among words and use this knowledge to read and build words.

Warning Signs! When To Get A Speech-Language Evaluation

Warning Signs Your Child May Need a Speech-Language Evaluation:

There is several warning signs that indicate that there may be a problem with your child’s development. You may need to get a hearing and speech evaluation if you notice any of the following signs:

• 12 months: no babbling or jargon
• 18 months: no single words
• 24 months: vocabulary of 10 words or fewer
• 30 months: vocabulary of fewer than 100 words or no two-word phrases
• 36 months: vocabulary of fewer than 200 words, no sentences, clarity less than 50 percent
• 48 months: vocabulary of fewer than 600 words, no complete sentences, clarity less than 80 percent of the time

Children who point at objects in the first year and who use symbolic gestures at 13 months are likely to have completely normal language, even if they are late bloomers.