Program Information

Target Word® - The Hanen Program for Parents of Late Talkers

This Hanen Program is designed specifically for parents whose primary concern is that their child is not using very many words or is not using word combinations. In this program, parents become aware of the importance of each of their children’s communication attempts and that when children send messages without words it creates an opportunity to “say it for him as he would if he could.” This means modeling the word that matches the child’s message. Providing this model creates an opportunity for the child to imitate the word- the first step to saying it on his own.

Program Features:

• Delivered by a Hanen Certified speech language pathologist/therapist who has received specialized training at a Hanen certification workshop
• Offered to groups of parents (up to eight families per program) in five group sessions over 10-12 weeks
• A parent workbook containing information specific to children who are late talkers and practice activities for parents
• Two major components:
  • A pre-program assessment and baseline videotaping of parent-child interaction
  • Two individual video feedback sessions for each parent attending the program (parent-child interaction is videotaped by and reviewed with the SLP)

What Parents Learn:

• What to do when their child communicates without using words
• How to turn everyday activities into opportunities for their child to use words
• How to choose 10 specific target words for their child and how to use these target words to expand their child’s vocabulary
• How to “set up the situation” for their child to learn new words

For information on finding a Hanen certified SLP/T trained to run the Target Word® Parent Program, click here