Ming from Agents of Speech explains how to praise children with developmental delays. Use specific, varied praise for behaviors you want to see repeated, even if they don't fully understand words yet. Consistent social praise works better than waiting for a therapist to reinforce the same behavior.
Learn how to give feedback in terms of behavior. If you go into the mode of always praising the best behavior and ignoring the rest, it's going to go a long way. Whether your child is on the spectrum, speech delayed, has a genetical disorder. Whether he's cognitively delayed or disordered, it doesn't matter, because even cats and dogs understand the tone of praise, right? I want you to think about how to praise this kid in 10 different ways. He doesn't even understand simple English. Why should I praise him? Look, why do you think whenever the therapist says something, he's going to do his bidding? Why does the mother not have the same power as the lead therapist? It means having the habit of praising. Good behavior will always make the person keep on doing the behavior. Because social praise, even if a child who is on the spectrum, they understand that because that's a preferable behavior.
