Embracing Child-Led Therapy
When you truly follow a child's lead, your connection becomes the motivation for communication. This has been on my mind for a while because once I embraced this mentality, everything changed. When I stopped listening to others who recommended using a child's interests as "reinforcers," I witnessed incredible progress in my clients that not only looked good on a data chart, but felt good for everyone involved.
When you use reinforcers to build communication, you miss out on the opportunity to follow a child’s intrinsic motivation. Communication should be intrinsically motivating, and if it’s not for our child or student, we should check in with ourselves to figure out why that might be.
Before I switched to 100% child-led therapy, I used to say things to my students like, "first work, then you can play with your toy." I believed I was teaching communication, but what I was actually doing was teaching compliance. I was teaching kids that I was in control of their favorite things, and that the only way that they could have them back was to do what I expected.
Nothing makes kids want to communicate LESS than being forced or required to interact.
So, I decided to cut out the first/then reinforcement boards and became a more flexible and responsive therapist. I learned to embed language opportunities and models directly into play, so that there was no longer a separation between work and play, because for kids:
The play is the ‘work.’
When you view a child holistically and follow their lead unconditionally, magic happens. They will communicate. They will seek out toys and activities that motivate them and look for ways to meet their sensory needs. And here's the best part: communication happens all day, regardless of context. There's no need to plan specific activities to support communication. We can model language in whatever the child is doing—no external reinforcers needed.
If you want to see this approach in action and transform the way you support communication development, I recommend checking out our Child-Led Play Guide for Gestalt Language Processors. In the guide, I give you step-by-step guidance on how to support your GLP through play, no matter what play looks like to them!
Ready to take the next step toward communication more effectively with your GLP? Check out The Great Language Partner Program Course- it will transform your connection & your child’s communication!
