Everything Grows Out of Productive Roles
Everything a toddler needs to learn can grow out of productive roles. Discovering what they can do with objects leads to learning to talk and pretend — and that launches imagination. This can be done simply by parents asking, “What are my hands doing right now that I can teach my child to do?” This can be as easy as helping a child stir cookie batter, scoop dog food into a bowl, turn pages in a book, or raise their arms to get their shirt on.
A toddler’s drive for learning comes from their interest in everything that captures their attention. They explore what they can do with objects and experiment to figure out how things work. A productive role for a child begins with using an action with an object in an activity done together.
For toddlers with communication delays or autism, productive roles are even more important because learning in everyday activities where they use what they learn makes it immediately meaningful. And, what they learn is more likely to generalize to new situations. By expanding the different productive roles in each activity, more and more learning opportunities are created that improve children’s outcomes.
For professionals working with families, learn how to coach parents with our evidence-based Early Social Interaction (ESI) model. Join our 6-week spring webinar series — Coaching Families of Young Children with ASD Using the ESI Model — that starts on Wednesday, March 22nd from 12 noon to 1:30pm ET. The Autism Navigator team will share how to coach parents using the ESI model, with video illustrations on how families can support their child’s learning by building productive roles in everyday activities and much more. Learn more and register.
For families, join our How-To Guide for Families webinar on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month at 1:00 pm ET to get started right away if you suspect your child has a communication delay or autism. The next webinar is on March 28th. Learn evidence-based strategies to engage your child in productive roles during activities you do every day and help develop your child’s social communication skills. By attending the webinar, families can get a free enrollment code for our How-To Guide for Families course. Learn more and register.
Productive roles in everyday activities can make a big difference in a young child’s learning and development and open the door to so much more.
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