How the Communicator Expresses Himself: The Communicator begins
to send messages with a specific purpose in mind. Even though he isn’t
using words yet, he communicates with you by looking at you, making
gestures, pointing and making sounds. At first, he communicates
to protest or refuse something he doesn’t want.
He’ll also let you know that he wants an object — a toy,
for instance — or that he wants you to do something,
like take him out of his high chair.
Later on, the Communicator becomes more
social in his communication, sharing his interests
with you. He communicates to get your attention, to
say hello or goodbye, or to show you something. Often
he’ll point to tell you about something. He may also
make sounds in a questioning tone of voice to ask questions.
As he gets better and better at communicating with
you, he may even make up his own gestures. For example, if he rubs
his face with the back of his hand, he may be communicating about his
special blanket.
The Communicator may keep trying to get his message across until
you respond the way he wants. For example, if he reaches and makes sounds
to ask for a cracker and you hand him a cracker, he may become quiet. He
may also smile to let you know that’s what he wants. But if he wants a
cracker and you hand him a drink, he’ll often let you know that’s not what
he wants. He might appear quite frustrated, raising his voice. He may take
your hand to show you exactly what he wants. Succeeding at making himself
understood is an important part of his communication development.
Another important part of his development happens when he learns
to focus on a person and an object at the same time. Previously, your child
could focus on either you or an object, but not both together. At
the Communicator stage he looks at an object and points to
it, and then he looks at you. Then he looks back and
points to the object again, to make sure you know
what he’s communicating about. This new skill
makes it possible for him to show you things and
let you know what he thinks about them. This is
one of the most important steps on the way to
using first words or signs.