Goals for Karis 2014

ENCOURAGE EYE CONTACT

Solution: offer cheers and praise whenever Karis looks at you. "I see you looking at me! Great job!" "I love it when I can see your pretty brown eyes! Thanks for looking." "Great job looking, Karis! Hooray!"  Be specific what the praise is for. Don't say, "good job" without saying why.

Also position yourself for optimal eye-contact:  in front of her and a little below.  

Be goofy, dance and prance and spin to get her to look at you.

Check out my blog articles on "Maximizing Eye Contact" for some great ideas by the Son-Rise Team.

ENCOURAGE SPEECH

Solution: praise speech attempts, encourage Karis to ask for what she wants (water, trains, etc.), use thomas and trains to talk about speech (can use names of trains, colors, numbers), play games to encourage speech---such as- tickle game (say "tickle" over and over as you tickle, vary tone, pitch, tempo, and expression, then when she wants more, ask for her to say "tickle." Ask once or twice, then tickle anyway, even if she doesn't perform. You want to be approachable and trustworthy.). Trying it with "dance," "spin," "swing."

Praise her like crazy when she speaks, even if you don't understand what she's saying.  Praise her like crazy on steroids when she uses speech appropriately, both prompted speech and spontaneous speech.

ENCOURAGE PRETEND PLAY

Solution: join, then introducing one more thing. E.g. Karis lines up her trains, you line up something else (she won't share the trains), or help her line the truisms if she'll let you. When she looks at you, praise eye contact, then introduce one more thing, "look! Thomas is going down the slide!" "Percy is dancing!"

Issue:  Potty training

Solutions:  I have lots of ideas on this one, but bigger fish to fry right now.