PrAACtical Suggestions: 5 Ways to Elicit Language Without Asking a Direct Question

June 26, 2012 by - Leave your thoughts

PrAACtical Suggestions: 5 Ways to Elicit Language Without Asking a Direct Question
A- A+

SLPs love to talk, of course, but sometimes that works against us. Over-prompting. Jumping in to repeat the last question. Re-phrasing the previous comment. Nature abhors a vacuum and sometimes we just can’t stop ourselves.PrAACtical Suggestions: 5 Ways to Elicit Language Without Asking a Direct Question

What makes us fun at parties, though, can make it difficult for our AAC friends to become active, assertive communicators. Too much verbiage on our part can really slow down the journey toward communicative independence.

We know better. We really do. But sometimes we need a little help to remind ourselves. And, so, a few reminders to us all…

1. Make the expectations clear using visual supports and aided language input.

2. Create a motivating context in which the learner needs to communicate in order to get his/her own agenda met. 

3. Pause. Look expectantly at the communicator. Pause some more. Look even more expectant.

4. Keep pausing. Use a gesture for emphasis (e.g., cup your ear to indicate “I’m listening”). Bite your tongue (it’s almost over).

5. Pat yourself on the back for having created a nice conversational space. Over time, it will help your clients become more independent. 

And that’s a very good thing.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Filed under:

Tagged With:

This post was written by Carole Zangari

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.