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Pets and child development are often discussed in relation to communication, social interaction and emotional development. While having a pet does not automatically improve these skills, everyday interactions with pets can create enjoyable opportunities for shared attention and communication.

Activities such as feeding, brushing, playing with or talking about a pet can create natural opportunities for children and adults to communicate, take turns and talk about emotions and experiences.

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Asking for help is an important communication and problem-solving skill that children develop over time. It allows a child to communicate when they need assistance, clarification, comfort or support and can help them become more confident and independent in everyday activities.

Children can ask for help in many different ways. Some may use spoken words, while others may communicate through gestures, pointing, eye gaze, signs, pictures or an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) system. Parents and carers can support this skill by recognising these different forms of communication and creating natural opportunities for children to practise asking for help at home.

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Taking turns with music can be a fun and natural way to support a child’s early communication skills. Songs, actions and familiar routines create repeated opportunities for children to listen, respond, anticipate what comes next and participate in back-and-forth interactions.

Turn-taking is an important foundation for communication because conversations involve sharing attention and giving another person an opportunity to respond. Children can begin developing these skills before they use spoken words, through sounds, movements, gestures, eye gaze or other forms of communication.

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Visual schedules for children use pictures, symbols, words or photographs to show what will happen and in what order. They can help children understand routines, follow steps in everyday activities and prepare for transitions or changes.

Some children find spoken instructions difficult to process or remember, particularly when several steps are given at once. A visual schedule provides information that remains available for the child to look at, rather than relying only on spoken language. Visuals can be used at home, school, preschool or in the community and can be adapted to suit the child’s communication and learning needs.

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Home practice can help children strengthen and use the skills they are developing in Speech Pathology sessions. Short, regular opportunities to practise at home can help children become more familiar with new speech, language or communication skills and use them in everyday situations.

However, fitting therapy activities into family life is not always easy. Home practice does not need to be long or complicated. A few minutes of focused practice, incorporated into routines, play or everyday activities, can often be more manageable for children and families.

Research suggests that parent-implemented home programs can support children’s speech and language development when families receive appropriate guidance and training from their therapist.

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Waiting can be a simple but powerful communication strategy. By pausing and giving your child time to respond, you create more opportunities for them to initiate, communicate and take an active role in the interaction.

Children communicate in many different ways, including facial expressions, body language, gestures, sounds, words and sentences. Some communication attempts can be subtle, especially for children who use few spoken words or need more time to process what has been said.

When adults slow down and wait, children have more time to notice, process and respond. This can support communication, shared attention and participation in everyday interactions.

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Music and language development are closely connected through rhythm, sounds, repetition and shared interaction. Songs and musical activities can create enjoyable opportunities for children to listen, anticipate what comes next, take turns and communicate with other people. 

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Learning a new skill can take time. Whether a child is developing speech, language, communication, motor or everyday functional skills, progress often happens through many small steps rather than one sudden change.

Celebrating small wins can help children and families notice progress that might otherwise be overlooked. Recognising effort, persistence and new skills can also help make therapy feel encouraging and meaningful while keeping the focus on each child’s individual goals.

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Visual supports are all around us. Calendars, road signs, shopping lists, timetables and maps all help us understand information without relying only on spoken language.

For children, visual supports can make information clearer and easier to remember. They can be particularly helpful for children who have difficulties understanding language, following routines, communicating their needs or knowing what is expected of them.

Why are visual supports important?

Spoken language disappears as soon as someone says it. In contrast, a visual support remains available for a child to look at again.

Visuals can help children:

• understand spoken instructions
• know what is happening next
• remember information
• follow routines and sequences
• organise their thoughts
• understand expectations
• communicate choices, needs and ideas
• become more independent

For some children, seeing information as well as hearing it can make a significant difference to their understanding.

Visual supports give children more time

Children who find language processing difficult may need extra time to understand what they have heard.

A picture, symbol, written word or visual schedule gives the child something they can refer back to rather than having to remember everything that was said.

As a result, visual information can reduce the need for adults to repeatedly give verbal instructions.

What kinds of visual supports can we use?

For some children, visual supports may also form part of a broader AAC communication system.

They can include:

• real objects
• photographs
• pictures
• symbols
• written words
• gestures or signs
• choice boards
• communication boards
• first–then boards
• checklists
• visual timetables
• visual schedules

The type of visual support used should suit the individual child, their communication skills and the situation in which it will be used.

How can visual schedules help?

A visual schedule shows a child what is going to happen and, where appropriate, the order in which activities will occur.

For example:

Get dressed → Eat breakfast → Brush teeth → Pack school bag → Go to school

Visual schedules can be used at home, preschool, school, therapy sessions and in the community. For example, a child might use one to follow their morning routine at home or understand the order of activities at school.

As children become familiar with their schedule, they may begin checking it independently. As a result, they may rely less on an adult to tell them what comes next.

Tips for using visual supports

To make visual supports more effective:

• Pair the visual with spoken language. Keep your words short and clear.
• Keep visuals accessible. Place them where the child can easily see or reach them.
• Be consistent. Try to use similar pictures, words and language across different environments.
• Give the child time. Children may need repeated opportunities before they understand what a particular visual means.
• Keep it simple. Too many pictures or words can make a visual harder to understand.
• Change the support as the child develops. A visual that works today may need to be adapted as their communication and independence increase.

Visual supports can be used anywhere

Visual supports can be particularly useful when families, educators and therapists use them consistently across the places a child spends time. In this way, the child receives clearer and more predictable information across different environments.

This might include:

• home
• preschool
• school
• therapy
• community activities
• outings and appointments

Parents, educators and therapists can work together so that the child receives clear and consistent information.

How can Innerlink Therapy help?

There is no single visual support that works for every child.

At Innerlink Therapy, our Speech Pathologists and Occupational Therapists can work with children and families to identify strategies that support communication, understanding, participation and independence.

We can help families develop practical visual supports for everyday routines at home, school and in the community. In addition, we can work with families to choose strategies that match the child’s communication needs and daily environments.

If you would like to discuss whether visual supports may be helpful for your child, contact our Client Care Team.

Related Links

• Occupational Therapy
• Speech Pathology
• AAC Communication Support
• School Students
• Contact our Client Care Team

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Story writing for children can be much easier when they have something meaningful to write about. Real experiences, familiar people, photographs, drawings and imaginative play can all provide ideas that help children organise their thoughts and turn them into a story.

Writing a story involves more than putting sentences on a page. Children need to think about characters, settings and events, organise ideas in a logical sequence and use language that helps the reader understand what happened. These narrative skills also support everyday communication, reading comprehension and the ability to share experiences with other people.

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