STRATEGIES FOR

ENHANCING
NON-VERBAL
COMMUNICATION

Provincial Integration Support

Program

Communication Skills
Social Interactions
Educational Performance
Behaviour

What is Communication
Anyway?

What is Communication?

Interactive: Involves at least 2 people

Efficient
Has a purpose or reason
Gives independence & control

Communication Involves

Establishing or shifting attention

Taking in information
Processing information
Storing information
Retrieving information
Sending information

Baby smiles and coos

Parent imitates
Baby repeats

Child With a Disability

Baby with disability may smile or coo
Parent Imitates
Baby doesnt imitate
Parent decreases speech output
Parent anticipates childs needs
Child doesnt have opportunity
Child becomes passive

Our Challenge
Help students communicate as best as
they can to :
have some control in their environment
be able to have social relationships
prevent loneliness and isolation
learn

 Every person, regardless of the

severity of their disabilities, has the right
and the ability to communicate with
others, express every day preferences
and exercise at least some control over
his or her daily life. Each student,
therefore, should be given the chance,
training, technology, respect, and
encouragement to do so. (B. Williams)

What is Non-Verbal
Communication ?

Non-Verbal Communication

Body Movement, Posture and Tone

Facial Expression and Eyes
Gestures
Signs and Signals
Tangible Symbols
Picture Boards and Systems that use Pictures
such as PECS and PODD
Technical/Voice Output
Vocalizations

How Do We Enhance
Non-Verbal Communication?

Some Guiding Principles

Creating a Communication
Goal
Build upon a students existing
communication skills
With different people
In different contexts
More consistency
Greater frequency

Common Communication
Objectives

Attending to communication partner

Initiating communication
Requesting and choice making
Greetings
Responding to initiations from others
Turn taking
Asking and answering questions

What are the Motivators?

Observe the student
Talk with others who know the student
well
Look at what the student may be
communicating informally for clues
about what they may be interested in
For some students, a goal may be to
facilitate the development of interests

Integrating Communication
Objectives
Ask yourself, Does the student have a
reason to communicate in this
situation?

 Use routines
Predictable
Reliable
Create anticipation
Provide opportunities for choices

Prompts

Pause
Environmental cue
Expectant delay
Gesture/point
Model
Indirect Verbal
Verbal feedback
Partial Physical
Full Physical

Frequently Occurring
Problems
Amount of time
Restricted message set
Difficulty initiating communication
Lack of Partner Training

Strategies
Patience!
Respond to all communication attempts
Maximize use of already used communication
modes
Use motivating natural contexts that have
opportunities for interaction
Teach vocabulary that will have an effect on
the students environment.
****

Comprehension Skills
Understanding the communication of
others
Interpreting cues and signals in the
environment
Handling changes and transitions
****

What Does the Student

Understand?

Gestures
Cues from the environment
Object cues
Signs, logos, pictures
Manual signs
Printed material
Speech

Sensory Challenges
Visual
Cortical Visual Impairment

Auditory
Hearing loss
Difficulty filtering background noise from
foreground auditory information

Specific Comprehension
Skills

Follow directions
Object Labels
Matching
Sorting
Functions of objects
Answering yes-no questions

Strategies to Facilitate
Receptive Communication

Provide Visual/Auditory Supports

Ask student to show you or look at
Ask what, who, where questions
Associate objects with functions
Teach attributes in context

Schedules
Use some type of symbol (object, picture,
auditory cue) to represent each activity
Present the symbol to the student just prior
to the beginning of each activity
Eventually student may learn to use the
symbol to initiate a request for the activity
****

Strategies to Develop
Expressive Communication
Stepping Stones to Developing
Communication Skills

How Does Your Student

Presently Communicate?
Personal Dictionary
- Why does your student communicate?
- How does your student communicate?

Common Communicative
Functions

Seeking attention
Requesting objects/activities
Protesting
Greetings
Asking and answering questions
Labeling
Commenting

Common Communication
Modes

Vocalizations
Gestures
Facial expressions
Pointing
Sign language
Pictures
Speech ****

QuickTime and a
Motion JPEG OpenDML decompressor
are needed to see this picture.

Choice Making
Important in developing personal
autonomy
Gives power and control
Our job: create opportunities for choice
making; coach others to do the same
Beginning choice makers: pair preferred
object with non-preferred object and
switch the position

Sample Choice Making

Opportunities

Food (snacks, lunch)

Music
Musical Instruments
Position (w/c; stander; bean bag, etc.)
People (who to sit next to, push chair)
Art (materials, colour, texture)
Books
Computer programs ****

Physical Considerations
Positioning
Eye-hand coordination
Crossing Mid-Line

Examples of Ways to Make

Choices

Augmentative and Alternative

Communication (AAC)
Augments what a student is already
using to communicate
Adds other ways of communicating to
help a person be better understood or
able to give more information

Sign Language
Considerations
Hand shape (finger position/isolation)
Movement (active ROM, sequential
bilateral/unilateral)
Motor planning (affects speed &
accuracy of sign production)

Easier Signs
Movement toward body
Performed at, or toward, but not across,
body
Within signers visual field
Performed with the forearm in neutral or
pronated position

YesNoMaybe So?
Questions serve many different
functions
Acceptance/rejection: in the here & now
Confirmation/denial: in the past
Avoid rhetorical questions
If you do ask a question, show that you
expect a response

Using Picture
Communication Systems
Your student might point to pictures on
boards
Your student might use systems like
Picture Communication Exchange
(PECS) (PODD)

Vocabulary
Not necessarily the same as for typically
developing children
Needs to be functional
Needs: bathroom, food/bevs, TV, bed, go
Feelings: sick, tired
People: family, friends
Pets
Concepts: up/down, day/night, cold/hot

Voice Output
Opens door to:
Participation
Inclusion
Independence
Fun

Voice Output Ideas

Greeting classmates, staff, visitors

Respond to attendance call
List days activities or schedule
Asking for a turn
Giving an announcement - PA system
Giving steps of a recipe
Assign weekly or daily classroom jobs

More Voice Output Ideas

Sharing a joke or riddle of the day

Asking for a song during circle time
Talking about item brought from home
Cheering classmates during sports
Complimenting others
Asking for more of something enjoyed
Commenting while reading a book

QuickTime and a
Motion JPEG OpenDML decompressor
are needed to see this picture.

Arrival Time
Greeting peers and staff
Make a choice who the student helper
will be for the day using photos to
choose between
Use Voice Output to request removal of
outdoor clothes; removal of items from
back pack
Forget to do something thats routine

Reading Activity

Choosing between books

Choosing a classmate to read with
Requesting a page to be turned
Requesting more
Repeating a line using Voice Output
Answering questions
Making comments (picture board)

Social Studies
Use Voice Output to call on peers to
answer questions (Example: Identify
capital cities)
Use switch activated spinner to ask
questions
Use voice output to direct peers to
move from location to location on a map

Math
Use switch activated spinner to select
numerals to create math calculation
problems for peers to compute

Circle or Sharing Time

Attach souvenir to top of Voice Output
device that has a message about it to
share with rest of class
Use Voice Output or picture
communication board so that student
can ask peers questions, or comment
on topic

Cooking
Use Voice Output or picture
communication board to direct peers in
multiple step recipe
Ask student to get one of the needed
items, but have it in the wrong place
(Example: Ask student to get the
wooden spoon, but have it in a different
drawer)

Science
Use Voice Output or picture
communication board to give directions
for a science experiment
Present objects that are unexpected
Use a puzzle that relates to topic. Have
some of the pieces missing so student
needs to request them
Play a trivia game with spinner & switch

Lunch
Use a place mat with picture symbols to
make comments or requests
Forget to give student part of lunch
Give student a carton of juice instead of
juice in a cup
Give part of lunch in a container that is
tightly sealed so that student needs to
request help

Recess
Choice making between recess activities
(swing, slide, etc.)
Have photo board to make choices of
peers to hang out with
Use picture board to make comments
Indoor games (e.g., Simon Says)
Choices of where to go outside
Perform unexpected actions

Art
Withhold one of the needed materials,
such as a brush, in order to elicit a
response

P.E.
Engage student in turn taking activity
such as a bean bag toss. Wait for the
student to communicate my turn

Dismissal
Use voice output to relay a message
about events of the school day to the
home setting

Personal Care
Violate object function or manipulation
(Example: Pretend to brush teeth with
comb; put shoe on hand), with goal of
eliciting a protest

When could you

incorporate one of your
students communication
objectives into his/her
school day?
What are your students objectives?
When could they be incorporated
into the school day?

Communication
Development
Improves self-concept & self-esteem
Reduces frustration and behaviour
problems
Increases active participation
Changes expectations about the
students potential to learn