Receptive Communication

Receptive Language is the facility to listen and comprehend communication. Children and individuals with a receptive language disorder struggle to process language, written or spoken. A receptive language disorder may result from a traumatic brain injury, stroke, however most causes are still unknown. While children may suffer from a receptive language disorder this does not denote low intelligence, most children have average to above-average intelligence. Symptoms of a receptive language disorder may cause problems with communication, academic activities, and social interactions but can also include:

• ·      Trouble following directions
• ·      Confusion when faced with complicated or long sentences
• ·      Difficulty with abstract language
• ·      Difficulty responding to questions
• ·      Requires extra time to process information
• ·      Trouble differentiating between sounds

Therapy is provided to help improve the child’s ability to follow directions and increase their listening comprehension skills. Additionally support can be given to help differentiate similar sounds, sentence structure, and word recovery. Furthermore, scenarios are set up to help build vocabulary development and language in social situations. 

Completed Visual Daily Schedule:

Many teachers, whether they have students with special needs or not, are turning to visual aids in their daily schedule to help their visual learners. By attaching a picture to each part of the daily schedule allows a student who may not be able to read to follow the schedule, know where they are in their day and what is to follow. This is a GREAT tool to help students feel independent in an area where they may struggle the must.

 “No” Symbol:

By using the “NO” symbol students can see what is not allowed or ok in different environments without needing to read. The most common symbol for this is a red circle with a diagonal red line through the circle. Different examples of this and where they would be found include:

1.     “NO PEANUTS”                      (Peanut Free School/Lunchroom/Classroom)

2.     “NO CAMERAS/PHOTOS”    (Museum)

3.     “NO FOOD”                             (Museum, Clothing Stores)

4.     “NO SMOKING”                     (Airplane, Shops, Hospitals)

5.     “NO PETS/ANIMALS”           (Restaurants, Grocery Store)

6.  “NO PARKING”                       (Bus lane, Fire Lane, Loading Zone)

Specific Activity/ Mini Schedule:

Mini schedules are a type of visual aid used to help break down and sequence routines into more manageable steps. They are most often found in the location in which they are used for convenience.

            Example 1: Bedtime Routine

            Example 2: Morning Routine

Sequential Step Direction:

           Washing Hands:

           Brushing Teeth:

           Getting Dressed:

Change Symbol: 

Activity Termination Signals: