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Communication Strategies page has information regarding central auditory processing, written expression abilities, and visual processing challenges and how they affect a person's ability to communicate.

Take a look at the Memory/Learning Strategies page also for some ideas of changing any task into a visual, auditory, kinesthetic emphasized task.

Below is how to communicate with a person that has limited verbal or processing (word finding or comprehension) abilities:

Decide what you want for a response:

1. word for food/object

2. word from a choice of two “____ or ____”

3. “more” or “all done”

4. “yes” or “no”

The gesture/phoneme list is under the Speech Issues page.

If want Word response say: “Do you want ______? Say ________”

Use gesture/phonemes

Use sing-song voice, hold out sounds or duplicate the sounds

(b^b^)

If he doesn’t imitate decide if you want to:

“I’ll wait until you try”

“Do you want _____? Yes of no?”

If he doesn’t state yes/no, then use hand over hand assist to move his head and state “You are getting _____ because you told me ‘yes’ with your head”

If want Word from Choice response say: “Do you want ____ or ____”

Use gesture/phonemes, pictures with pointing/taking

Use sing-song voice, hold out sounds or duplicate the

Sounds (b^b^)

If he doesn’t imitate decide if you want to choose one for him and use Word protocol or go to yes/no protocol

If you want a “More” or “All done" response say: “Do you want “more” or are you “all done”?”

Show pictures of the choices along with gestures.

Use the gesture/phonemes while you say these words.

Praise him for pointing/taking and then request him to

repeat the word with the gesture/phoneme

Use hand over hand assist with the gestures and then

praise him for telling you instead of crying.

“You just told me ‘more’ with your hands; that is

why you are getting _____ and not because you

are crying”.

If you want a Yes/No response say: “Do you want more; Yes or no?”

OR “Do you want ______; yes or no?”

Show pictures of these gestures.

Use gesture/phonemes while you say these words.

Use hand over hand assist with the gestures and then praise him for telling you yes/no instead of crying.

“You just told me ‘yes’ with your head; that is why you are getting _____”

How to get to the Boca Raton, FL office:

From I-95, head east on Palmetto until you reach Boca Raton Blvd (aka NW 2nd St) and take a left and go past the Glades intersection and we are the 2nd building; just after the 7-Eleven strip mall