The Activity Kit for Babies and Toddlers at Risk: How to Use Everyday Routines to Build Social and Communication Skills
240
The Activity Kit for Babies and Toddlers at Risk: How to Use Everyday Routines to Build Social and Communication Skills
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Overview
Winner (First Place)--American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Award, Child Health Category
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781462523801 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Guilford Publications, Inc. |
| Publication date: | 12/04/2015 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 240 |
| File size: | 3 MB |
About the Author
Molly Helt, PhD, is Assistant Professor in the Departments of Psychology and Neuroscience at Trinity College, and the parent of a child with autism.
Lynn Brennan, EdD, BCBA-D, is a board-certified behavior analyst, based in Massachusetts, who has worked with children with autism spectrum disorders for more than 20 years.
Marianne Barton, PhD, is Clinical Professor and Director of Clinical Training in the Department of Psychology at the University of Connecticut, where she is also Director of the Psychological Services Clinic.
Read an Excerpt
The Activity Kit for Babies and Toddlers at Risk
How to Use Everyday Routines to Build Social and Communication Skills
By Deborah Fein, Molly Helt, Lynn Brennan, Marianne Barton
The Guilford Press
Copyright © 2016 The Guilford PressAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4625-2380-1
CHAPTER 1
What Is a Developmental Delay and How Can Games in Routine Activities Help?
When parents become concerned that their children may not be developing as expected, one of their first questions is "Exactly what is a developmental delay?" The best person to answer that question is your child's pediatrician or a specialist like a developmental/behavioral pediatrician or a child psychologist, but here are some general guidelines for some of the major areas of development, especially social–emotional functioning, language, and thinking, up to the age of 3 years. Please note: These are very general guidelines. Not every child with typical development will be able to do every single one of these things at the "correct" time. There are also exceptions; for example, children who are adopted internationally during their first year, and did not have the benefit of hearing English for the first 6–12 months of life, are often delayed in their communicative milestones until the third year, when they frequently catch up with their peers. If your child seems to be missing a number of these milestones, do consult with your child's doctor.
3-MONTH-OLDS
By the time a child is 3 months old, she should be able to do the following:
• Coo and perhaps produce a variety of vowel sounds.
• Visually fixate on an object and track it when it moves.
• Lift her head up when she is on her tummy.
• Smile to show pleasure.
• More often than not, stop crying and be able to be soothed when a caregiver attends to her needs.
6-MONTH-OLDS
By the time a child is 6 months old, he should be
• showing a wider range of facial expressions and vocalizations, including laughter.
• able to anticipate some of your actions — that when you bring your hands close to him, you are about to tickle him; when you bring a spoonful of food close to him, you are about to feed him; when you go to the refrigerator, you are about to get him a bottle, etc.
• reaching out his arms when he wants you to pick him up.
• beginning to imitate some of your facial movements (such as sticking out his tongue).
• beginning to take solid food.
• beginning to have a somewhat predictable sleep schedule.
• sitting (or close to sitting) independently.
• most important, paying more and more attention to people by looking at their faces and watching what they do.
9-MONTH-OLDS
By the time a child is 9 months old, she should
• be interested in following the source of her mother's attention (Where is she looking? Where is she pointing?).
• check her mother's face in response to uncertain situations (How does Mommy feel about this stranger?).
• have some meaningful gestures (waving bye-bye, clapping hands) and be able to make some movements associated with songs like "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" or "If You're Happy and You Know It."
• show a clear preference for her caregivers over strangers and be beginning to show you affection by "kissing" (may be more like face sucking) and nuzzling you.
• have a beginning sense of object permanence (knowing that things still exist when they go out of sight) and be interested in games such as "peekaboo."
• be able to reach for the object she prefers from two objects (two shirts, two books, two pieces of food) you hold up.
• have a beginning understanding of sharing and turn taking (for example, offering you a bite of her food).
• have the ability to shift her attention back and forth between you and something else (such as a toy you are playing with together).
• be able to recognize the meaning of some words even if she is not yet able to speak.
• be able to show you, by looking at you and either moving her body or vocalizing (though not typically with words), when she wants you to continue an activity.
• smile in response to her parents' smiles, at least some of the time.
1-YEAR-OLDS
By the time of a child's first birthday, most babies demonstrate the following in social and communication skills:
• They know their family members.
• They react differently to people they know well as compared to strangers.
• They like to be hugged by familiar adults or siblings.
• They seek out familiar adults or siblings for comfort if they are hurt or scared.
• Between the ages of about 1 and 2, many children do not want to be separated from their parents; they may cry and fuss when left with an unfamiliar person and cry when they see the parent leave.
• Your child should be looking you in the eye many times each day. Of course, the child may avoid looking at you if he's feeling shy, or teasing you, if he doesn't want to do what you're asking him to do, or if he's very busy with something else, but with familiar people when he's interacting comfortably, there should be a lot of eye contact.
• They enjoy playing back-and-forth games like peekaboo.
• They should understand that when an adult holds out her empty hand, palm facing upward, it means she wants the child to give her something. They may not necessarily do what you want — but they understand what you mean.
• They should enjoy imitating the faces that you make, like a happy, sad, or surprised face, or imitating simple movements or sounds. Most babies aren't very successful at imitating older children or adults, but they think it's fun to try.
• Children by about 1 year old should try to see where you're pointing, even though they may not be very good at it. They should look at an object that you point to if it isn't too far away. They should also look in the direction that you are looking in, especially if you seem very interested in what you are looking at.
• Most babies are starting to point to things they want, although pointing can appear as late as 15 months. They also should be starting to point to things they want to show you.
• When they are interested in something, they should hold it up to show you and bring it over to you to share their interest.
• If they're not sure whether a new sound or object or person is scary, they may look at a parent's face to see how the parent feels about it.
• When you smile at your baby, he should smile back at you most of the time.
• Your baby should also show definite emotions, like happiness, fear, and sadness, and he should be affectionate to family members; 1-year-olds show this affection by hugging, cuddling, or kissing.
• They are interested in their surroundings and pay a lot of attention to both people and objects in their environment.
• Other people should be very important to them, and not just objects. They are also starting to notice how other people feel, so they know when you're happy with them and when you're not.
• When you laugh or show obvious happiness, the baby will at least sometimes respond with smiling or laughing too. They like adults to laugh, and if you laugh at something they do, they might do it again to see you laugh again. They also find it funny when you do something unexpected to amuse them, and they like to have these things repeated. Babies should be happy at least some of the time, with big smiles to show you how joyful they are.
• By the time they are 1 year old, babies should recognize their names. They won't always respond to their name, especially if they're busy with something else, but they know their name, and sometimes they look at you when you call their name.
• They pay attention to people speaking. Most babies can also follow a few simple instructions; for example, if the baby is holding a ball and you hold out your arms and say "Throw the ball" or "Give it to me," or "No!" she should understand you. Of course, she may not want to do what you say or be able to, but you can tell that she understands. Most babies of a year old will understand a few instructions (like "Put it down," "Give it to me," "Throw it," or "Put it on top" with a few different objects — that is, a 1-year-old baby will usually know the difference between "Give me the ball" and "Give me the spoon").
• One-year-olds will understand your tone of voice; that is, they will understand from your voice when you're happy and when you're angry, and they may understand when you're asking a question or expressing surprise.
• The baby who's just past his first birthday may be saying a few words. If not, he should be making a lot of babbling sounds that sound like language (like "ba ba ba").
• Some babies don't say any words until 15 months, and typically the first recognizable words appear between 12 and 18 months. They may not sound much like an adult producing the word, but you can tell that "baba" means "bottle" or "iss iss" means "Elizabeth."
In the development of thinking and attention, you should start to see the following by the age of a year:
• The baby should be very interested in the environment around her. She should notice sounds, like a telephone ringing, at least some of the time. She should be interested in exploring her environment and like to crawl or walk around and see new things. But she likes to look around from time to time and make sure a familiar adult is still around to take care of her. Some children are very bold and like to explore a new environment very actively, while others are more cautious and like to stay close to the familiar adult and only explore in a careful way after getting used to a new place.
• One-year-olds know that if something goes out of their sight, it still exists. So, if they drop something from a chair, they will look for it, for at least a few seconds. If you hide a toy your 1-year-old is playing with under a cloth, he will lift up the cloth to find it. If he drops it off of his high chair or out of his stroller accidentally, he will want it back.
• Many children are not yet doing any pretending at this age, but you might see the beginning of pretend or make-believe play, like holding a toy phone to the ear as if talking or holding an empty cup to the mouth as if drinking.
18-MONTH-OLDS
At this age, the child should have all the skills we talked about for 1-year-olds, and the child should be doing them better and more often, including skills like pointing, looking at your face and your eyes, listening to language, saying a few words, and imitating you. If your child loses skills he or she previously had at any point, it is cause for immediate concern and you should take the child to a specialist to be evaluated. Eighteen-month-olds should
• be pointing pretty often, both to show you what they want and to show you interesting things because they want to share their interest and enjoyment with you. When they point to something, they will often look back at you to make sure you're looking at the right thing.
• enjoy it when adults pay attention to them and watch what they're doing.
• be noticing how adults feel (if they haven't already been doing so). They like adults to be happy and may get upset if the adult, especially a parent or caregiver, is sad or angry or scared.
• be really sure about what they want. They are starting to really assert themselves and may be hard to distract from what they want.
• like to try to help adults do things, even if they cannot really help, like helping you clean or make something in the kitchen.
• be interested in other children, and sometimes like to play near other children, although they don't know yet how to really play with other children. (An 18-month-old is usually not too happy about sharing his things with other children!)
• be able to imitate simple actions, like clapping hands, or putting his hands on his head, when an adult does it, as well as actions with objects, such as banging on a drum.
• be interested in language and paying attention to adults when the adults talk to them, at least some of the time, even if they cannot always understand what the adults are saying.
• understand a variety of words, phrases, and instructions. They should understand some words for body parts, like "Where's your head?" or clothing items, like "hat," or people, like "Mama," food items, like "cookie" or "juice," simple actions, like clapping, simple adjectives, like "silly" or "big," and highly emotional words such as "yay!" and "uh-oh!"
• be using simple gestures like blowing a kiss or waving bye-bye.
• be saying at least a few words that you can understand. Usually children of this age use their words to ask for the things they want, like "cookie!" or "up!" or "again!" or "more," or they may use their words to show you something interesting; for example, the child might point at a firetruck and say "look!" or try to say "firetruck!" They usually have a name or a word for a parent or caregiver and sometimes call the adult using that word.
• often be able to understand if they are given a choice of two things and reach for the one they want or point to it.
• often be starting to really get the idea of pretend or make-believe, so they may find it fun to pretend some very simple things, like to drink out of an empty cup or hug or feed a stuffed animal or doll.
• be interested in learning new skills and feel proud of themselves when they can do something.
• understand, if they have experience with mirrors, that they are looking at themselves in the mirror.
2-YEAR-OLDS
Between the second and third birthday, you should see all the skills we've talked about for 1-year-olds and 18-month-olds continuing to develop, like eye contact, pointing, imitating, understanding language and speaking, pretending, being interested in other people and how they feel. Remember that if at any time you feel your child is no longer able to do some of the skills previously acquired, it's time to speak with a doctor.
Two-year-olds should also
• be interested in developing more skills, like putting a piece of clothing on or taking it off or feeding themselves.
• be trying to imitate adults doing more complicated things like brushing their hair or wiping a table.
• be getting better at pretend, so they may pretend to do things like feed a baby doll or stuffed animal and pretend to put it to bed or talk on the telephone or pretend to be an animal.
• like learning new skills and showing adults what they have learned.
• interact very actively with adults, saying things to them, looking at their faces, pointing and showing things to the adults, wanting to see what the adults are doing and paying attention to, and playing with them.
• be interested in other children and like to watch them and sometimes to play next to them, but their ability to play together with another child is limited except for physical play like chasing or wrestling.
• be more self-centered than cooperative in their play with another child, wanting the other child's toys and protecting their own toys and finding it difficult to share, especially things they really like.
• understand more language now, so if you say, "Where's the cup?" or "Where's the cat?" they should be able to point to the real thing or a picture of it.
• know several parts of their body (for example, they should point to or touch the right part if you say, "Where's your ear? Where are your eyes? Where's your nose? Where's your mouth? Where's your tummy? Where's your head? Where's your hair? Where are your feet?").
• follow simple directions like "Bring me the key" or "Put the bowl on the table" without needing gestures (for example, a younger child might need you to hold out your hand and point to the key, while the 2-year-old can understand your directions without that). Of course, they won't always cooperate! But if they're paying attention and being cooperative with you, they can do simple things that you ask them to do.
• be starting to speak more, so children at this age should be combining some words into phrases or sentences (for example, they can say "more juice" or "big hat" or "go store" or "Mommy cup").
• start, when 2½ or close to 3, saying longer phrases or even sentences. They can name pictures in a book, like some animals or common household objects. They will be able to refer to themselves as "I" or "me" or by using their name, like they might say "I want juice" or "Me hungry" or "Susie hungry."
• demonstrate a strong sense of what is theirs (or what they wish were theirs!). So you will often hear 2-year-olds saying "mine" or "my cookie" or "my puzzle" very assertively. It may make them difficult to handle sometimes, but it's quite natural.
• be very determined to get what they want and to do things their own way, and if they don't want to do something or don't want someone else playing with their toys, they will let you know. You will probably hear "No!" very often from a 2-year-old.
• understand the idea of making a choice and be able to make choices more consistently and quickly and may say what they want as well as point.
• start to understand the idea of sequence or order, so they can take a small set of things, like three doughnut shapes, and put them in order of size on a peg or take three balls and put them in order from smallest to biggest. • be able to play with something for a few minutes before losing interest and moving on to something else, although their attention span is still very short.
• be very interested in learning to do things for themselves, like trying to put socks on or pull them off, or trying to put on a pair of pants or shoes. Since they usually have difficulty doing these things by themselves, they may get very frustrated and angry.
• pretend to be an adult, so they may come into the room trying to walk while wearing your shoes or an article of your clothing.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Activity Kit for Babies and Toddlers at Risk by Deborah Fein, Molly Helt, Lynn Brennan, Marianne Barton. Copyright © 2016 The Guilford Press. Excerpted by permission of The Guilford Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Is This Book for You?I. Helping Babies and Toddlers Learn and Develop
1. What Is a Developmental Delay and How Can Games in Routine Activities Help?
2. Keystones: Attachment and Behavioral Teaching
3. 12 Rules to Play By
4. Language, Eye Contact, and Imagination: Important Targets of Learning
II. Games and Activities for Toddlers at Risk
5. Waking Up and Going to Sleep
6. Dressing, Undressing, and Diaper Changing
7. Mealtime
8. Bathtime
9. Chores
10. Errands
11. Indoor Play
12. Outdoor Play
III. Games and Activities for Babies at Risk
13.0–3 Months
14. 3–6 Months
15. 6–9 Months
16. 9–12 Months
IV. More Tips and Tools
17. Specific Words, Phrases, Gestures, and Signs to Work On
18. Preventing Problem Behavior
Appendix: Activity Lists
Interviews
Parents who want to help very young children develop communication, attention, and social skills; also of interest to mental health and early education professionals.