Helping a child improve tolerance and communication skills

The Background

This 4-year-old child had communication challenges and a lack of tolerance to aversive or non-preferred activities. They were unable to request for things that they wanted or needed. The child was not able to answer questions, but rather was just repeating what was said to them. They were also not able to engage in social interactions with their peers.

The child could not tolerate when things did not go their way and was unable to communicate functionally when they did not like an activity. They cried or screamed when they didn’t like or want something.

The Strategy

The plan was to come up with functional communication and tolerance program. This will help the child to build adaptive skills such as answering questions, taking turns and vocalising their needs.

To optimise the child’s learning, sessions were held at home and at the child’s nursery. By being in the child’s everyday enviroment, it is easier for them to apply what they have learnt in the space directly.

The Success

Over a period of only 4 to 6 months, we saw a decrease in interfering behaviors and an increase in functional communication skills. The child was able to communicate appropriately – they were able to say phrases like “Stop please, I don’t like it”, instead of throwing a tantrum or screaming. The child also learned to answer a variety of questions, learned to take turns, play functionally, had an improvement in reading, comprehension and vocabulary as well as visual performance.

Their parents saw a tremendous improvement in their child as the child was able to apply the skills learnt at home too.