Going Beyond Labeling - Auditory Verbal-Therapy and Modeling Comments

kqcarlin

5/31/2017 9:59 PM

The Desire: Independent Use of Expressive Language

As many of us know, our learners are trying to communicate with us but we do not always know what they are saying. Or in many cases, it seems our child or student has nothing to say that is their own. I want to see Marcos express his own desires without other’s propulsion. Although Marcos can hear with his cochlear implant his expressive language is through sign language. We have been pairing Auditory-Verbal Therapy strategies with sign language so that Marcos has access to the language he hears and can see what he will learn to say himself.
 

The Challenge: Minimal Expression Unless Requested

Marcos needed to be prompted to touch objects or pictures and to respond to “yes” and “no” questions as well as “wh” questions. Marcos became skilled at labeling, and his vocabulary is, I think, pretty impressive because he can touch just about anything that has a name if you ask him to. He knows a lot of words but he rarely strings them together. I remember feeling the same way when I was acquiring my second language. I learned sign language vocabulary from watching vocabulary dictionaries and videos and I was afraid to talk to Deaf people because I knew I could not form a sentence. I knew there had to be more to it than, “word, word, word” and I was embarrassed. Once I began immersion classes everything started to come together. How could we get him to understand that language is more than answering questions and waiting for someone to guess what it is you want?

The Observations: Questions, Questions, Questions and Anxiety

First, I noticed he was shy of signing the words he knew because they did not look the same on his hands compared to mine and others. It was hard for him to move his fingers into the right shapes and control the right movements. I started co-signing with him as well as looking in a mirror together so he could see better. After feeling and studying the movements of signs, he began to gain more confidence and I was able to “catch” what he was saying as he labeled. He began to understand that I understood him. The second thing I noticed was the amount of anxiety he would exhibit when asked a question that he did not know the answer to. “Marcos’, what do you want? What do you need? What is that? Where is that? Is that a _____? Yes or no!?”  I realized that, often, we were expecting far too much from him. We had to go back and remember that the incidences of him seeing anyone else answer these kinds of questions in sign language was not only low but probably zero. He had minimal exposure to others who signed like him. It must have felt like every day was a new and confusing test for which he had never been given the chance to study.

The Gem: Model Comments

We started modeling the answers to the questions instead of pelting a multitude of questions to a little boy who had never ever seen anyone answer a question.

Examples:

1. Me: Nurse Kim, what do you want?

Nurse Kim: I want water.

Me: Oh ok. I can go get you some water.

2. Me: Marcos, I need the bathroom. I am going to the bathroom now. I’ll be right back, okay.

Marcos: [Looks at me]

3. Me: I need compressions, Nurse Kim. Help me?

Nurse Kim: Yes, I’ll help you. (Gives compressions). Does Marcos want a turn?

Marcos: Yes! Yes! Yes!

4. Me: I want to put my coat on because its cold outside. Marcos’ lets go get your coat. We can wear coats together.

5. Me: Oh look! That cat is blue! That’s funny!

Marcos: Blue, blue, blue. Funny, funny, funny!

The Suggestion: Model More, Test Less

I think it is easy to fall into the habit of asking questions all the time for several reasons. The learner may not be offering information and this is a way to extract it. It may be easier to ask a “yes” or “no” question to get the answer we need to know at that moment. And it also very well may be what the child needs. I am not saying that it is wrong to ask questions of our learners. I want to discourage questions from being the go-to strategy because if we do not model the answers (and comments) we might not reach the goal of self-driven expression.

In the case of developing language, I suggest to let the questioning (read: testing) rest for a little while. Model comments and answering first. I do suggest being mindful of what the child may have in their language mode vocabulary. This can help the student by using what he knows and building on his ability to also produce it independently or with minimal assistance.

Side Note: We are still currently at this stage of modeling. This stage should never end. It continues for each of us. We are all constantly being exposed to language and new ways of arranging thoughts into words. Keep it going!

SGD/Communication device,Manual signs,Social,Information,Attracts attention,Makes choices,Expresses comfort,Express discomfort,Protests,Requests more of an action,Requests a new action,Requests a new object,Requests absent object,Names things, people,Makes comments,Expresses interest in other people,Obtains more of something,Requests attention,Asks questions,Requests more of an object,Level 2. Intentional Behavior,Level 4. Conventional Communication,Level 5. Concrete Symbols,Level 6. Abstract Symbols,Level 7. Language,Speech-Language Pathologist,Educator,Parent/Family Member,Researcher,Other,Intervention Strategies,CHARGE Syndrome, Deafblindness, Hearing, Hearing Loss, Deafness, Sign Language, Manual Signs, Auditory-Verbal Therapy, Expressive Language, Modeling

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