AN EVEN DOZEN WAYS FOR TEACHING LANGUAGE TO CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
1. Wait long enough to give the child time to answer. This is a particular strength we have noticed in most reservation-based programs, so if yours is like most Native American early childhood programs in this regard, we just want to encourage you to continue. If you have new staff, particularly if they are from off the reservation, observe and be aware if they need to be reminded of this strategy. We have noted in programs off the reservation staff generally allow a much shorter period of time for a child to respond. For children with speech disorders, including stuttering, patience is the greatest virtue for a teacher. When you know the child is struggling to get the right word out, it may be a temptation to try to talk for the child. Count to ten, or twenty silently. Just wait.
2. Slow down your speech. Again, this is a strength of many reservation programs. The staff and volunteers do tend to pace their speech appropriately. Young children, and children with disabilities especially, may have trouble understanding people who speak too rapidly.
3. Encourage conversational turn-taking: Ask questions and wait long enough for the child to reply. This, too, tends to be a strength in programs throughout the Great Plains. Children are considered sacred in Dakota culture and given enough respect to assume they may have something to say worth asking about and waiting to hear.
Our first three suggestions tend to be strengths of most reservation programs. The next two are more often weaknesses. We have noticed that although tribal early childhood staff tend to wait longer for children to respond, pace their speech more slowly and encourage children to take turns in the conversation, they also tend to talk less compared to off-reservation program. Here are two suggestions most of our staff could do more.
4. Talk about what the child is interested in. Give him words for his experiences. "Look at you! You're sitting on the table!" This is even more important for children with special needs who often need to be deliberately taught what other children learn on their own.
5. Give labels to things and actions. "That's a notebook you're sitting on. Table, notebook, you. You're on top of everything. People don't usually sit on notebooks or tables. They sit on chairs.
