How can teachers help children with special learning needs develop their communication skills?

Importance of communication skills

Communication is the process of passing information from one person to another. Communication can be verbal (speech) and nonverbal (gestures, body language, and written language). Communication skills are vital for the overall social and emotional development of a child and thereby build their self-confidence . Children need good communication skills at different stages in life across different settings some of which include school, college, and social gatherings. Children with special needs show a wide array of communication deficits therefore it is imperative for the teacher to identify and understand those areas of difficulty and assist them to develop the skills in the classroom setup. Teachers play a vital role in developing their communication skills in a class. At Adity Birla Integrated School we focus on complete development of communication skills for children with special needs.

Now let us discuss the strategies for teachers in class

• Giving the child more opportunities to ask questions related to the ongoing topic.

• Encouraging the child to answer questions appropriately while teaching a topic. Give them sufficient time and cues while answering.

• Give positive reinforcements for any small communication attempt. Use encouraging words like Great work! Keep it up!

• Encourage them to use elaborate sentences while talking in class. If the child says ‘I studied yesterday’ the teacher can expand the sentence with “I studied sincerely yesterday for my English test and my mother helped me while studying”

• Have a dedicated conversation time where children can discuss current affairs and hobbies. They can exchange ideas, give opinions and also express their thoughts and feelings. The teacher can also use conversation cards to initiate a conversation with open-ended questions like

• If you could change one thing in school what would it be? Why?
• Which superhero would you like to be? Why?

• Make a small group and encourage the kids to work as a team wherein one child can lead (give instructions) others can follow.

• Carry out storytelling sessions where children could role-play the characters in class. The teacher can ask the children to narrate the events in the story in sequential order.

• Make learning more interactive and experiential rather than passive learning.

• Use simpler language and examples to explain complex topics in class.

• Encourage the children to empathize with others (understand others' points of view). Explain to the child saying “He is feeling sad because you snatched his crayons”. Can you please return it and say “Sorry”.

• Have set social rules in class

• Wait for your turn to speak
• Talk respectfully with others
• Request for things
• Listen carefully when others are talking.
• Look at others when they are speaking.
• Use words like “Please” “Thank you”, and “Sorry”.

• Teach children to ask for clarification if he or she has not understood a topic. Use statements like

• Please can you explain it again?
• I was not able to understand.
• I am confused

• Encourage children to speak slowly and pause appropriately.

• Developing vocabulary is critical for reading and comprehension skills. The teacher can introduce "WORD OF THE WEEK" wherein a new word is introduced by the teacher and she explains its meaning, how best to use it in a sentence, and which are the words related to the same.

• Encourage children to be a good listener and comprehend the ideas and thoughts others are sharing.

• Teach children how to identify nonverbal cues (body language, facial expressions, hand movements, gestures, and tone of voice). The teacher can play a simple game like dumb charades wherein kids have to enact different emotions and others have to identify.

• Encourage kids to share jokes in class to develop their sense of humor.

Author – Smita Bhimjiani

Faculty – Consultant Speech Pathologist, Aditya Birla Integrated School.

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