Snack time, bath time, book time and bed time....all provide opportunities for our children to make choices. These particular times of day can be some of the most frustrating times for children with difficulty communicating their wants and needs. To help increase successful communication exchanges, reduce the number of "Yes and No" questions with your child. Often, the ability to answer Yes/No questions is very reliable...we all know the sweet little toddlers who answer "yes" (or "No!") for everything! :-) So, as parents and caregivers, let's use fewer of the yes/no kinds of questions "do you want cheese?" Do you want crackers?"
Instead, let's....Offer choices.
For example: At snack time, hold out two options for your child. In one hand, I may have a Goldfish bag and the other hand, fruit puffs. I will say "What do you want?" and then label items as I hold each out. So it will look like this:
Parent: "What do you want? Goldfish?" (Show goldfish) "Fruit puffs?" (Show Fruit puffs)
Child: May point, gesture or verbalize word.
Parent: "You choose ____. Yum!" (And say item again).
This provide opportunities for children to practice labeling and requesting their wants/needs from a grown. It will alleviate frustration because the options are visible and ready to go. Be patient with this new way of asking and work together with your child to have successful communication exchanges with you.
Have fun letting your child make choices!!
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