5 Helpful Hints for Dealing with Communication Challenges for Students with Special Needs

5 Helpful Hints for Dealing with Communication Challenges for Students with Special Needs

Many students with particular desires have challenges with communication. Broken down generally, there can be concerns with any of the following:

  • Speech disorder – This can incorporate articulation concerns like not becoming in a position to pronounce the “th” sound fluency concerns like stuttering more than words or phrases and/or a voice disorder exactly where students have difficulty with pitch, loudness, resonance or duration.
  • Language disorder – This can incorporate phonology which requires patterns of speech sounds semantics which involves the meanings of words and sentences, and/or pragmatics which requires combining the language elements in functional and socially suitable communication such as greeting a peer upon meeting or following guidelines such as taking turns when speaking.
  • Hearing disorder – This can incorporate deafness or really hard of really hard of hearing (hearing impaired), or a more complicated auditory processing disorder exactly where words are heard but not processed appropriately. A student may perhaps have problems differentiating the “ch” sound in choke vs. the “sh” sound in show, or they may perhaps have difficulty with auditory figure ground or the potential to tune out background sounds to hear the teacher speaking.

With all the adjustments in studying formats these previous couple of years, such as an enhance in on the internet courses and modifications to onsite studying environments, a lot of students are at danger of decreased efficiency for the reason that of these underlying communication challenges. Let’s appear at 5 crucial tactics to aid address these concerns:

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1. Reasonable Wait Time

For speech problems such as not becoming understood or stuttering concerns, be confident to incorporate a affordable wait time for a response from the student. This will cut down the pressure of a timed response. You can also have option selections for communication on hand. Low tech ewriters like a Boogie Board are a fantastic tool for the student to communicate answers.

2. Articulation Skill Practice

Continue with articulation ability practice. If an choice, a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) can work with a classroom teacher and/or style a household plan working with SuperDuper articulation tools that determine precise sounds and blends to reinforce.

3. Visual Reinforcement

Students with concerns with pragmatic/social abilities may perhaps have difficulty understanding non-verbal communication. This can be specifically difficult whilst working with clever phones or other devices. Interpreting the tone of e mail or text messages and “reading” facial cues of pleased, sad, angry and so forth. may perhaps be more difficult. You may perhaps aid bridge the gap by working with visual reinforcements for cues, such as emoticons for written formats or physical supports through screen or telephone time.

4. Closed Captioning

Depending on the level of impairment, some students with auditory concerns may perhaps advantage from closed captioning. Several on the internet platforms have the accessibility option to add this. Invest in a good headset for students with auditory discrimination concerns. Students with auditory figure ground concerns will need to have a quiet work atmosphere away from background sounds and devices (like a washer/dryer or HVAC unit) that may perhaps distract focus and consideration. Noise reduction headphones may perhaps also be beneficial.

5. Develop Self-Regulation Skills

Students with speech and language challenges in basic have to place more work into communication below standard situations. Whether it is in individual or virtual communication, it requires added work and can be fatiguing. Be confident to add in movement breaks, outside time, and/or generate a sensory space to aid help the improvement of self-regulation abilities to cut down anxiousness and pressure.

Every kid has the correct to have a voice that is heard! For more facts visit our website for further tools to help language and communication abilities.

Cecilia Cruse

Cecilia Cruse, MS, OTR/L has a BS degree in Occupational Therapy from the University of Florida, and her Master’s degree in Education from Georgia State University. She is SIPT certified and has more than 25 years’ encounter in pediatrics with college-primarily based services, acute care, and outpatient pediatric settings.
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Originally published in blog.schoolspecialty.com