Overview

For over 30 years, The Hanen Centre has provided leadership in the field of speech-language pathology regarding best practice for working with parents, educators and caregivers of young children with language delays.

The importance of viewing the family as the client and of involving parents in their children’s intervention is now widely accepted as best practice in the field of speech language pathology. The Hanen Centre has developed a mediator model approach, which provides speech-language pathologists with the training and tools needed to provide family-centred early language intervention. The Hanen approach equips speech-language pathologists to expand their role from early language interventionist to adult educator and coach/counselor. In so doing, speech-language pathologists learn to help parents and other caregivers foster the child’s communication development – and make learning to communicate an enjoyable, natural part of everyday life.

Speech-language pathologists worldwide utilize the Hanen approach in a variety of contexts. Whether used in family homes, community agencies, hospitals, early childhood or preschool programs, school boards, early intervention programs, private practice or treatment centres, the Hanen approach makes it possible for speech-language pathologists to empower parents, educators and other caregivers to become the child’s language facilitator. 

The Hanen Centre is best known for its Hanen Programs, which provide early language intervention by training parents and other caregivers to facilitate a child’s language development in naturalistic contexts. Hanen Programs involve a combination of group training sessions and individual consultation using videotaping and feedback. This powerful combination facilitates multifaceted changes in parents and caregivers: changes in the understanding of language development and communication, the importance of nonverbal communication and the role parents/caregivers play in fostering a child’s language learning; attitude change in terms of the desirability of a child-centred approach to language facilitation; and behaviour change in terms of increased and appropriate application of responsive strategies.

The Hanen approach can be used with parents and other caregivers in many formats. SLPs draw upon Hanen resources and the overall Hanen approach within any service provided, such as consultation or direct treatment. By educating parents about the critical role they play in their child’s development, by exposing them to Hanen’s user-friendly guidebooks and videotapes and by helping them apply responsive interactions strategies with friendly names such as OWL (Observe, Wait and Listen) and Follow the Child’s Lead, parents learn that they are key to their child’s developmental progress.

Uri Bronfenbrenner, (1974) professor of human ecology at Cornell University, stated that the family’s active involvement in a child’s intervention program is critical and, without family involvement, intervention is unlikely to be successful and any short-term effects are unlikely to be long-lasting. The Hanen approach equips speech-language pathologists to successfully involve families and other caregivers in the child’s early language intervention.

Hanen Programs

The Hanen Centre has a number of Programs for Parents each one geared to the child’s diagnosis and individual needs.

For more information on a program please click on the appropriate link.