Let Your Child Lead 17
OWL to Let Your Child Lead
Letting your child lead begins with OWL:
The first letters of these three important
words can help you remember them.
OWLing is an important strategy that you can use
with your child throughout an interaction.When you
OWL, you open up all sorts of opportunities for communication.
Youmay even discover that your child is
communicatingmore than you realized.
Observe
Sometimes it’s hard to know what’s on your
child’smind. Taking the time to observe her
body language — her actions, gestures and
facial expressions — will help you figure it out.
By tuning in to thesemessages, you can learn
a lot about what she’s interested in and what
she wants to tell you. Notice what your child is
looking at. Look in the direction in which she’s
reaching or pointing. Discovering what has
captured your child’s interest will help you
share themoment with her.
Mom was trying to get Megan to
look in the mirror, but then she
observed that Megan was more
interested in something else — her
sock had come off. Now they can
talk about what Megan is really
interested in.
Observe,Wait and Listen:
Taking the time to OWL is
a wise way to start.
Look! Your
sock’s off!
Observe
Wait
Listen
© Hanen Early Language Program, 2011. All rights reserved.
18 Chapter 2
Wait
Waiting is a powerful tool. It gives you time to observe what your child is
interested in. Evenmore importantly, it gives your child time to start an
interaction or respond to what you’ve said or done. In this book, wait
means three things: stop talking, lean forward and look at your child
expectantly. Your childmay be used
to everyone else doing the communicating.
Waiting in this way
will send her themessage that
you’re ready for her to respond
to you or, better still, to take the
lead herself. Once your child
does one of these things, it’s
important for you to respond to
her immediately. (You’ll learn
more about how to do this in
Chapter 3.)
If you need to remind yourself
to wait, count slowly to 10 —
silently, of course. At first, you
may not be used to thatmuch
silence. Your childmay not be
used to it either. But be patient
and don’t rush to say something.
Itmay take some time
for her to communicate with
you. If your child switches from
one activity to another, wait
again. Give her a chance to get involved in the new activity. Then give
her stillmore time to start an interaction.
Themost important thing to remember about waiting is to give your
child enough time to understand that you expect her to send you amessage
— anymessage. It doesn’tmatter whether she sends it with sounds,
words or gestures. Anything that your child does or says tomake her
needs or interests known to you is amessage. Take another look at the
Expression side of the checklist you completed in Chapter 1, “My Child’s
Stage of Communication Development.” There you’ll find some of the
ways in which your childmay send amessage.
Instead of answering
the door when the
doorbell rings,
Robert’s dad waits.
This gives Robert a
chance to tell him
there’s someone at
the door.
Uh.
© Hanen Early Language Program, 2011. All rights reserved.
Let Your Child Lead 19
Listen
Listeningmeans paying close attention to all of your child’s words and
sounds. Take care not to interrupt her, even if you’ve already figured out
what she’s telling you.When you listen to your child’smessage, you’re
also letting her know that what she says is important to you. This helps
build her confidence and self-esteem.
Even when you OWL, there will be times when you cannot understand
your child’smessage. This can be frustrating for both of you. At times like
these, look at the situation for clues and guess what she’s trying to tell
you.
Dee-dee.
Kitty.
Elizabeth’s mom listens carefully
and realizes that Elizabeth is
trying to say Kitty.
If you can’t even begin to guess your child’smessage, imitate her
sounds or actions and then wait to see if she does anything tomake her
message clearer. Youmay still not understand, but it’s important tomake
the effort.When you do, you let her know that you’re trying your best to
understand her. You’re also showing her that what’s on hermind is very
important to you.
© Hanen Early Language Program, 2011. All rights reserved.