Suggestions for a babysitter dealing with a "slow"child? Mothers, doctors,teachers answers appreciated!

Question

I'm going to be babysitting a devolpmentaly challenged 2 year old who doesnt speak. What are some things I can expect and how do I deal with them? Are there any games I can play or activites that he can do? Thanks!

Answer 1

The more language the child is exposed to, the better.  Read to her, play with her, talk to her, and sing to her (music is very important).  Dance with her.  Label things for her verbally.  Keep it simple.  Point to the cat and say "cat."  Don't use cutesy names for things, use the appropriate words.  Give positive attention and praise for any attempts at verbal communication, even if they are not intelligible, and always encourage her to use her words.  If she points at the milk, say "Milk.  You want milk?  Use your words.  Milk."  Don't expect her to say it right away, but with continued encouragement, she will probably eventually begin to try.

Answer 2

I used to sit for the same type of child..  She eventually came around but it took a lot of work from the parents, speech therapists, hearing specialists, etc. (You may want to suggests these professionals to the parents after a period of time.)

What you can do is a lot of repetition and encouragement.

Instead of giving into requests from the child when he/she points or cries tell him/her to tell you what they want.  It doesn't have to be a full blown sentence, but some sort of language even if it is their own.  

Ask questions about things they are interested in (toys, food, games, etc.)... READ BOOKS... tell stories... any activity that requires verbal involvement.  It may be frusterating for you and the child, but it will help even if you don't see the results immediately.  The more language a child hears and understands that it is useful the better the chances of developing.

Answer 3

Your best route is to have a good talk with the mom and get specific ideas from her as to things that work, things that the child enjoys that make him happy - as well as things not to do. Sometimes they can get frustrated easily. You need to find out his cues - how he communicates without words.

I would even suggest you going to their home while the mom is home and spending several hours with them.

I would tend to do a LOT of talking to him, some singing, read books, play with simple toys.... it just depends upon him.

Good luck.

Answer 4

You be very patince with him or her and the parents should know games to play with him or her. do what they like to do don't change the childs shedlue it will upset the child good luck.

Answer 5

You need to provide a lot of language opportunities/experience for this child. Read many books and allow the child time to look at pictures and connect with the book. If you use books with actual photos of objects the child recognizes, they will be more interested and may even identify some of the objects. It is important to remember not to hurry the speech. Be patient because if you get frustrated, the child can get anxious or frustrated as well. You can also play a lot of music, sing songs, and just TALK to the child as much as possible. As silly as it sounds, talk to the child and ask him questions, even if he does not answer. He will hear the patterns in your speech, in the books you read, in the songs you play, and even around other kids if you take him to a park. Being around other kids is also really good for vocabulary development. I hope all of this has helped.

Answer 6

As a preschool teacher, I have learned that with devlopmentally challenged students if you give them a simple task to do that will keep the busy.