Increasing a child’s social interaction

The Background

The child was referred to us when he was just 2.5 years old. His parents were concerned as he had little interaction with others, which was affecting his imitation, communication and play skills. They found it hard to bond with their child and spend quality time together. It was difficult to get him to engage with any on-going activity and parents were concerned about his delay.

The Strategy

We used positive reinforcement to increase eye contact and to pique the child’s interest. Using strategies to capture motivation, we started to teach imitation skills and worked on functional play. By following an individualised support plan, we soon taught him effective communication. Beginning with pointing, we then started shaping vocalizations and eventually, imitating different sounds and whole words. Working together with parents, teachers and a Behavior Analyst, we were able to provide a support system which saw our client make significant progress towards his goals.

The Success

After 3 months, the child was engaging with his parents and peers, imitating others and using his words to communicate his wants and needs. He had acquired functional play skills and was able to take part in on-going activities, opening up more opportunities for social interaction. He had more opportunities to practice his communication skills with others and so was able to generalise the skills he had learned with his Registered Behavior Technician. Now he requires less support and is maintaining his new skills at home and in the nursery.