Ming from Agents of Speech shares how to get nonverbal children talking. Match your language to what they're already looking at, use predictable routines so they know what comes next, and pick rewards they actually want so both of you are waiting for the same thing.
Does your language match with the child's focus? Are you talking about something that your child is really looking at? The first thing we should think about is joint attention or joint engagement or, like, having a routine or something, an activity that bonds both your child and you together. A lot of times parents, they keep on repeating a word and they get nothing out of the child is because there's no joint attention. There's no joint engagement. There's no routine that puts them in the same place looking at the same thing. And most of the time, when we're talking about nonverbal children, that needs to be something that your child likes. It might be a reward. Right. It might be a toy that is very repetitive and it keeps on doing the same thing. You guys can both anticipate what's going to come next that creates a joint attention.
