Lack of Communication?

You don’t need to wait until your child is talking in sentences to communicate interactively. By 15 to 16 months, children understand a great deal of what is said to them. Most young toddlers also likely have opinions, preferences and perhaps even comments. They just can’t yet produce the language to express themselves. At 12 months most children already know some gestures or signs and use them, such as the wave for goodbye or the arm extension for “pick me up.” All that needs to be done is to expand the system to allow more and richer communication. Developing the means by which you and your child can have a mutual understanding about an object or event has social, intellectual and even language benefits.

Yes, nonverbal interactions have been found to promote the development of language. On the face of it, helping children learn signs and gestures would seem to slow their learning and use of the spoken language. After all, if they use signs they would be able to get their message across without having to speak. But research suggests just the opposite is true. The use of nonverbal communication appears to help children understand and organize information relating to interactions. In one study, Erkerman and Didow (1996) found that nonverbal imitation was a factor in toddlers’ mastery of coordinated language-action behaviors, such as telling others what to do, protesting others’ behavior, suggesting or negotiating a play activity and responding to what others say.

You can definitely help develop your child’s learning and use of signs and gestures. In their book, How to Talk to a Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk, authors Acredolo and Goodwyn present numerous ideas on expanding infants’ and toddlers’ use of meaningful gestures through case studies. You can choose a gesture someone else has used or you can create your own. Any easily made movement or hand configuration will do. American Sign Language books offer some ideas, too, such as the putting together and separating of the closed fingers of each hand in front of the body to indicate “more.” You could modify that sign to have the hands simply coming together two to three times in front of the body. Devise whatever seems logical to you. Here is the teaching method: Use the sign when you say the word, then engage in the action. Then motor your child’s movements as you say the word and take the action. So if you were teaching the use of a finger motion towards the window to mean “I want

Here are some additional types of requests that pre-verbal children might want to communicate with gestures: to have something to eat or drink, to play with some particular object, to be changed, to hear some music, to engage in fingerplays, to smell something, to play ball (or something else) with you and to take a bath (or play in water). As suggested above, gestures/signs can also be used to make a comment, such as in sharing feelings or thoughts. What is your child showing an interest in right now? Here are some ideas for commentaries your child might sign: it’s cold, it smells good, I’m full, I’m finished.

There is another way to assist your child to expand communication. You can take pictures of objects he/she might request (such as the stroller), laminate the pictures and then teach that when you are given the picture, it will be treated as a request. One way to do this teaching is to sit down on the floor with a picture of a small item that he/she would definitely want just then (perhaps a cracker). Give the picture to him/her, showing how it is a picture of a cracker you are holding. Then request the picture. If the cracker is a distraction, put it behind your back and again request the picture with your other hand, saying, “Give me the picture of the cracker.” When he/she does so, take it and offer the cracker immediately. If your child still does not give you the picture, take it, saying, “You are giving me the picture of the cracker” and offer the cracker. Repeat the process by giving him/her back the picture and securing another picture. After you have used this method with a few others your child will get the idea. You can attach Velcro to the backs of their pictures and put them on a flannel board that is accessible to your child.

Being able to communicate nonverbally facilitates verbal development, enhances intellectual skills and makes life a lot more fun for both parent and child.