Communication is something we pass down from one generation to another. Words change, accents change but one thing stays the same and that is the human connection it creates and the profound impact it has on our wellbeing and time on this planet.
If communication is something we pass on and teach each other, how we communicate with our children inevitably has an impact on how they learn. When children start to find communication tricky it is hard not to seek answers and wonder why. There are many different reasons and it is not your fault. And there are things you can do to help your child, because ultimately you know them best and you will be the person they communicate with the most.
We all want to be the very best for our children, do the right thing, say the right thing at the right moment. We live in a time where information is at our fingertips – the ‘answers’ are out there, ready to learn and implement.
What if there is no special script, no specific thing to do, no special ‘fix it’ magic wand. What if there are many different things you could do and the real thing we have to learn is what works for us, and what works for our child?
This is something we are specifically passionate about at MTW Speech and Language Therapy.
There are many many tools in our tool kit that we can teach you – and if you have just completed our quiz to discover your own current style of being a communication partner the chances are you have just recognised you already know many tools. Facing your child when you speak with them, getting down to their level, following their lead in play to see what lights them up….
And there is still more you can do, we can do, together to help your child and their communication development.
Being a good communication partner is more than the skills you have to get communication ‘done’. It is an art, a space you create, an ability to see what is happening underneath your child’s behaviour, a willingness to be proven wrong, to listen so deeply (beyond words) to someone that your own perspective on a situation is no longer dominating your actions. And it is from this space where the answers click into place. The right ‘tool’ that your child needs feels easy and effortless and becomes the perfect scaffold to bridge a communication breakdown.
We invite everyone we work with to watch us doing this, to show you how these off the shelf tools that are easily found on the internet actually work and feel. We create the spaces to create more connection, safety and joy and then we gently step back to allow you to experience this for yourselves. Once you have experienced it, there is nothing more for you to ‘learn’. Communication becomes clearer, the path ahead makes more sense, you can see how all the small little moments build and create the change you are hoping for. Frustration reduces and then before you know it you are at a new moment in time, looking back and realising how different life has become and how much more communication you are now experiencing with your child.
