Children with autism often have difficulty processing information taken in through the senses. Some children may be over-sensitive to certain sensations, while others are under-sensitive. Discover what you can do to meet your child’s particular sensory needs while at the same time creating fun opportunities for communication and interaction.
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Communication doesn’t just happen verbally. Much of what people are thinking and feeling is conveyed through the eyes and face. Individuals with Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) and High-Functioning Autism (HFA) have difficulty understanding this important information that people send non-verbally.
Find out what you can do to help your child with AS or HFA tune into your face and eyes to make it easier for him to understand non-verbal messages.
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Can electronic books promote language and literacy as well as paper books? Do moving parts in a book help children learn or are they distracting? Do the types of pictures in a book affect what a child learns? Find out what the research says.
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Is it wise to introduce a second language to children who have language delays? Is a second language immersion program a good idea? When a child is diagnosed as language delayed, should bilingual parents stop speaking to him in their home language? Find out what the latest research says about this topic.
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Is bilingualism an advantage to a young child or can it cause language difficulties? Should parents speak their native language to their children or should they try to speak the “majority” language? Discover what the research says about children learning two languages.
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Many babies and toddlers under the age of two spend a significant amount of time watching “educational” programming or videos. But does watching such programming really help children learn? New recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics suggest that parents should re-think the amount of time their toddler spends in front of the television…
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As a parent, you know that you play an important role in helping your child communicate. But did you know that when you learn to interact with your child in certain ways, you can be just as effective at helping your child as a speech-language pathologist? Learn more.
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The results of a recent Australian study on the emotional outcomes of late talking toddlers have been reported under headlines such as, “Late Talkers Do Fine as They Grow Up” and “Late-Talking Toddlers Likely to Be Fine by Age 5”. But could such headlines be giving false assurance to parents whose children are late to talk?
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When parents notice that their toddler is late to talk, their first instinct is to seek help. But they’re often told by friends, family, and even their doctor that their child will probably “grow out of it”, and that they should just “wait and see”. But is a ‘wait and see’ approach really a good idea? Or could parents be losing precious time?
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“He’s a little late to talk because his older sister talks for him”.
This statement has been made by many parents with more than one child. But is it really the case that second and third-born children speak later than first-borns? And if you see a difference in the language development of your later-born child, should you be worried?
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A new study has demonstrated that toddlers with autism who play with a limited number of toys show greater improvement in their communication skills if they participated in Hanen’s More Than Words® Program than if they received other community-based treatments.
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Do you ever wonder if boys really do talk later than girls? Or if it’s confusing to speak two languages to a child? And when grandma says using a pacifier is going to cause speech problems later, should you believe her?
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TV watching is a part of our everyday lives. Since television burst onto the scene in the 1950s, we have grown to the point that 98% of households in first-world countries have at least one television. Considering the pervasiveness of TV in modern life, what does the research have to say about the impact of TV on young children's development?
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"... Children with rich vocabularies have an enormous educational advantage. Many studies show that vocabulary is the best predictor of reading comprehension at the end of grades 2 and 3, and that vocabulary growth is directly linked to overall school achievement. Not all children have the same opportunities to learn new words. As a result, children’s vocabularies can differ enormously in size by the end of their preschool years. Building children’s vocabulary in early childhood settings must therefore be a priority if children are to have the foundation they need to succeed at school..."
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An enormous amount of learning can take place when children are involved in daily routines such as bathing, feeding, diaper changing and riding in a car - things that parents do with their children every day. These daily events are so important because they provide opportunities for repetitive learning in a natural, enjoyable yet structured way.
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Learn about the four stages of children's communication - drawn from our popular It Takes Two to Talk® Guidebook!
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In recent years, products such as the Brainy Baby and Baby Einstein DVD series, as well as baby sign language products and programs have become very popular. Parents have come to expect that these “educational” products will give their child some educational advantage. But do they? Recent research has produced some surprising results about these widely-used products.
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When your child has been diagnosed with a language delay, perhaps the first question that comes to mind is, “Now what?” Here are a few guidelines to keep in mind when selecting a speech-language pathologist...
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As a parent of a child on the autism spectrum, you want to help your child communicate and interact with others. To provide the right support, you need to understand how communication typically unfolds so you can spot the differences between typical communication development and the delayed or different communication development in your young child with ASD.
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