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Speech and Language Therapy

building social competency 

 

As a parent, you want your child to interact successfully with others and connect with the world around him. Your child will develop his communication skills through his preschool  and school age years. Around the age of 3, children use language to talk not only about the present, but about the past and the future, and also to problem solve. Conversations start to sound more mature; children start to consider their partner’s interests by making a comment or asking a question about what the other person has said, and they listen to and look at their partner when he or she talks.

 

The early years are especially crucial for children with social language difficulties because they face special communication challenges. Often, these children find it difficult to:

 

  • Establish emotional engagement 

  • Maintain joint attention

  • Engage in back and forth interactions 

  • Play with friends  

  • Be engaged in "people" games or social activities  

  • Change an activity or routine without becoming frustrated

  • Self regulate 

  • Start, maintain and end conversations appropriately 

  • Understand people and express themselves 

 

If you’ve noticed these difficulties in your child, social skills classes can help.

 

The Language and Learning Lab creates a nurturing environment that encourages children to work on social skills with peers and adults in a small group setting.  Classes promote the child's ability to “tune in” and engage with others by paying attention to verbal and non-verbal cues such as body language, facial expressions, eye gaze, and tone of voice.

 

Depending on the age range of the social skills group, different social skills are developed.  Early learners improve their ability to engage in back and forth interactions, understand simple requests, questions and comments, and develop a nurturing bond with caregivers. Older children learn how to be aware of their own and others' thoughts and intents, answer more complex questions, talk and learn within a group, engage in positive interactions, initiate play and avoid conversation “killers"; these are called social problem solving skills. 

 

When you enroll your young learner in social competency classes at The Language and Learning Lab you will learn : 

 

  • How your child learns best and what motivates him to communicate

  • How to use your knowledge about your child to set realistic goals

  • How to make interactions with your child last longer and be more meaningful

  • Tips for using pictures, sign, gestures and print to help your child’s understanding

  • Tips on how to talk so that your child understands you

  • Strategies for developing your child’s play skills

  • How your child carries on conversation and the next steps to take to help him have back-and-forth conversation

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If you are a caregiver of and older child you will learn: 

 

  • How to assist your child in identifying feelings in self and others

  • How to help your child with perspective taking (aka tune in to what others are thinking and feeling)

  • How to help your child identify positive friendships and deal with bullying appropriately 

  • How to help your child make friends and set boundaries

 

If you have an older child he or she will learn how to: 

 

  • Establish and maintain friendships

  • Consider others points of view (perspective taking)

  • Develop empathy for others

  • Work in a group successfully 

  • Plan, organize and complete school tasks (time management skills) 

  • Develop social problem solving skills 

  • Initiate and sustain conversations

  • Understand hidden meanings in our social world 

  • Interpret social cues and clues (verbal and non-verbal) 

  • Increase context awareness 

 

 

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