fbpx

Tag: middle school

Pragmatic Language

The Power of Pragmatic Language

Social Language Milestones

Pragmatics is the way we use our language in social settings. For example, how to start a conversation, interpreting body language, understanding different perspectives, and using sarcasm. Pragmatic language is typically learned incidentally (learned through experience) but with some children, it may need to be directly taught. Pragmatic language begins to develop as an infant and continues to grow and form until the high school years. Below is a list of “milestones” to expect along with activities/strategies to enhance social language. 

Infant (3-12 months)

  • Starts making eye contact
  • Reaching 
  • Participates in parallel play (playing next to caregiver, sibling) 
  • Participates vocal turn taking
  • Uses vocalizations to request, protest, express feelings 

Activities: Peek-a-boo, stacking blocks, waving, songs, nursery rhymes

Toddler (12-36 months) 

  • Imitates routines
  • Imitates other children
  • Uses words (12 months)/phrases (18 months)/sentences (30 months) to request, protest, express feelings
  • Asks questions
  • Begins at 18 months
  • Initiates pretend play (ex: playing in toy kitchen, pushing trucks/cars, playing with baby doll)
  • Begins at 18 months
  • Takes two turns in conversation
  • Begins to describe/retell events 
  • Begins to return/initiate greetings by waving 

Activities: Ask questions during pretend play (“What’s baby doing? Where are they going?”), “sabotage” by putting toys out of reach, shared reading activities, scrapbooks to encourage retelling 

Preschool (3-5 years)

  • Uses language for teasing, joking, fantasies 
  • Starts to share with others
  • Joint play with peers (participating in others play schemes, including self in play) 
  • Theory of Mind: Understanding that others have different beliefs 
  • Begins at 4 years
  • Produces narratives as “chain”
  • Takes 4-5 conversational turns 
  • Improves describing skills to repair communication breakdowns
  • Begins to inference/predict 
  • Participates in turn-taking games

Activities: Sequence 3-4 pictures and retell story, give simple riddles (i.e., “This is an animal that lives on the farm and says ‘Moo’”), play “Go Fish” or “Bingo”

School age (5-11 years)

  • Invites others to play 
  • Initiates conversations with familiar topics (ex: school, weather, weekend) 
  • Problem solving (individually and in a group) 
  • Begins 6-8 years old
  • Gives and responds to compliments 
  • Tells and understands jokes of greater complexity 
  • Politely interrupts 
  • Responds to and uses facial expressions (ex: smiles, frowns, looks of surprise) 
  • Recognizes spatial boundaries 

Activities: Practice multiple meaning words, Apples to Apples, Emotion charades, Red Light Green Light 

Middle/High School (11-18 years)

  • Recognizes if listener is interested or bored 
  • Shifts topics during lulls in conversation 
  • Understands difference between friends/acquaintances
  • Engages in collaborative discussions 

Activities: Would You Rather questions, book club, Let’s Talk Conversation Starters

If you notice delays in the way your child is using social language such as having difficulty making friends, understanding body language, or maintaining age-appropriate conversations, schedule a screening with an SLP at BDI Playhouse today!

 

Middle School Picky Eater

Middle School Picky Eater

Are you a middle school parent on the fence about whether or not to try feeding therapy for your picky eater?  At BDI Playhouse, we work with middle schoolers both in the clinic or from the comfort of your own home.  We help kiddos with a variety of feeding needs such as increasing their caloric or nutritive intake without the need to supplement all the way to eating chicken at your neighborhood BBQ or pizza with their friends after a sports activity and anything in between.    

The best part about doing feeding therapy with older kiddos, in our opinion, is that they can tell us what they are feeling and thinking when it comes to food and they can be active participants in setting (and achieving) their own goals.  

Here are a few thoughts from a middle schooler in feeding therapy:

What’s the best part of doing feeding therapy?

I get to try foods that I haven’t tried before and that I am interested in trying.  I like doing it at food therapy because more than one person gets to see my reaction and I get to talk and chat!  

What’s the best part of doing food therapy online?

You can do food therapy and not worry about the virus.  Whenever I am at home, I don’t have to wait until my parents drive me home, I get to do whatever I want as soon as the session is done.

What would you tell a kiddo your age if they were on the fence about trying feeding therapy?  

The more therapy that you do the more excited you will get to try new foods.  

What’s your favorite thing you’ve done in feeding therapy?

I got to try a food from a show (dalgona cookies from Squid Games).  We also get to do “challenges” where we pick a food and try different flavors of it!  We had a candy night and tried all different candies.  We’ve done a poptart night and tried 8 different flavors of pop tarts.  We make food together.

Still on the fence of whether it would be a good fit for your kiddo?  Schedule a free screening with one of our feeding therapists to learn more about how we can help your middle school kiddo learn to love trying new foods!