With the long weekend coming up and fairs and events starting to take place, I am reminded of a few summers ago when I went to the local fair with a friend and her sons. While at the fair spending time with her sons and thinking about the event through their eyes, I was reminded about how much stuff there is to look at and talk about at an event like that.  You can talk about the rides, the foods, the lights, the people, your feelings, the displays, etc.  

Throughout the day, whether I was talking to the littlest boy in the stroller or talking to the older brother, I would squat down infront of them to face them or off to the side where I could still see their face.  As an SLP this is a strategy that I use oten at work of getting to their level and facing them. At the fair, using the strategy allowed me to follow their gaze and talk about what it was they were looking at and interested in. As the day went on I noticed that rarely did I see another adult doing this.

Reflecting on it made me realize that this is a strategy that is commonly overlooked in the chaos of everyday life.  So often we are anticipating what we are waiting in line for and can easily take for granted all of the stuff going on around us while in that line. The strategy, getting to their level, is as straight forward as it sounds but is very useful for supporting speech and language. By getting down to your child’s level and positioning yourself face to face, not only is your child able to see your face for sound cues and facial expressions but you are able to see what their focus is on. You can follow their gaze and map language on to their interests.

This is a strategy that can be used at events in the community but it is also a very useful strategy when reading books with your child.  While it feels more natural to have them sit in your lap to read with you, by switching it around and having them face you, you can follow their interest in the book, map language onto what it is they are looking at, and follow their lead in the story instead of being limited to reading the words on the page.