We just finished filming our newest class for Professional Development Resources. Our Speech Pathologist, Anna Fredman, presented on the topic, “Beyond the Basic Symbols: Using visuals more effectively for individuals on the autism spectrum .”
It was a fantastic class and afterwards we were discussing how so many of these interventions that we use with children with special needs can also be used with typically developing children.
In Anna’s class, she discussed, that there are 7 Functions of Communication:
(As defined by Shane & Weiss-Kapp (2007) and the Monarch Model¹)
- Requests
- Protests
- Directives
- Comments
- Questions
- Social Pragmatics
- Organization/Transitions
All children need help learning to use language to appropriately communicate the functions listed above. I was particularly intrigued with the idea of teaching children to “protest” appropriately. How many times have our typically developing children melted down because they were not able to “protest” appropriately? Their only recourse was to cry, scream, or throw themselves on the floor, in frustration. All children need to be able to communicate:
“I don’t like this activity!”
“This is too hard for me.”
”I don’t want to do this.”
”This is making me uncomfortable.”
”You are too close to me.”
”Stop making that noise!”
Once we have given children the language that they need to protest, maybe then we can take it even one step further and have them tag on a request:
“I don’t like this activity! Can we do something else?”
“This is too hard for me. Can I have some help?”
”I don’t want to do this. How much longer?”
”This is making me uncomfortable. Can we finish this now?”
”You are too close to me. Can you move away?”
”Stop making that noise! Can you help me cover my ears?”
Teaching children the language skills to communicate their needs is a gift, one that should be available for all children.