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Juliana Li

Parents of teenagers aged 16-18 years: 11 ideas to increase participation and communication skills

Juliana Li · 15 November 2020 ·

This week, our speech pathologist, Juliana Li, gives us 11 ideas to increase the participation and communication skills of teenagers aged 16-18 years.

  1. More independence, choice, voice, and control. Health, relationships, recreation, economics, employment, volunteering, goal-setting.
  2. Future map. Discuss pathways to increased independence, e.g. education, jobs and career, adult relationships, moving out. 
  3. Maintain high expectations. Encourage leadership and increased accountability to others, e.g. within the family, in community services, creative collaborations, social groups.
  4. Promote healthy relationships. Continue educating about intimate relationships. Be there to help when needed, recognising teens will also look to peers and social networks for practical and emotional support.
  5. Up-skill. Encourage more education, training, work, and/or participation in activities (e.g. apprenticeships, internships, sports clubs).
  6. Connect. Investigate fields your teen is curious about and respects. Link up with potential employers and interest groups; encourage mentoring relationships.
  7. Support physical and mental health. Keep educating so teens can make informed decisions about their own health and wellbeing. Connect with community groups and health resources (including online).
  8. Learn through experience. e.g. how to drive, work part time, participate in coding challenges, join a band, camp with friends, cook for others, volunteer, shop, and complete chores.
  9. Seek professional support (if needed). Access services to support your teen’s participation in life and to help them overcome barriers.
  10. Self-advocacy. Continue to instil values, e.g. about justice, human dignity, autonomy, reciprocity, and kindness. Build your teen’s capacity to advocate for themselves and others.
  11. Look after yourself. Prepare for your teen’s adulthood and independence. Continue to invest in your own projects, skills, interests and health. Engage in your own community activities, too!

Key Source: National Disability Insurance Scheme (2014). Report of the Independent Advisory Council to the National Disability Insurance Scheme: Reasonable and Necessary Support across the Lifespan: An Ordinary Life for People with Disability. Examples our own.

Related infographics:

  • Focusing speech therapy on functional outcomes: a refresher
  • Not about ‘fixing’: using the ‘F-word Framework’ to support children with communication disorders and their families
  • Parents of children aged 0-5 years: 10 practical ideas to increase you child’s participation and communication skills
  • Parents of children aged 6-12 years: 10 practical ideas to increase you child’s participation and communication skills
  • Parents of children aged 13-15 years: 10 practical ideas to increase you child’s participation and communication skills

Hi there, I’m David Kinnane.

Principal Speech Pathologist, Banter Speech & Language

Our talented team of certified practising speech pathologists provide unhurried, personalised and evidence-based speech pathology care to children and adults in the Inner West of Sydney and beyond, both in our clinic and via telehealth.

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Project-based Pragmatic Language Interventions: The SENSE Theatre

Juliana Li · 27 September 2020 ·

  • Play is not the only way: Play is one way to combine peer mediation and video-modelling to increase children’s pragmatic language skills.  Another idea is for students with pragmatic language challenges to work with peers on a project.
  • SENSE Theatre Intervention: Developed at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, the therapy uses theatre games, improvisation, character development, singing, and performance with peer actors to improve pragmatic language of children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
  • Real world goal: At the end of the intervention, participants perform a play with their peers about belonging, acceptance, and making friends for the public. 
  • Who? Students with high-functioning ASD are paired with typically-developing peer actors of similar ages.
  • Peer training: Peers and staff are first trained to work with people with ASD. 
  • Intervention: Participants engage in theatrical games, role-plays, singing, and exercises, and then rehearse their roles in the play with their peers.  
  • Home practice: For 15 minutes a day, participants with ASD watch and rehearse lines and exercises using video models made by typically-developing peers.
  • How long? Designed as a summer camp program, the manualised intervention involves 10, four-hour sessions across two weeks. 
  • Key Results: Participants showed improved social awareness, social cognition, adaptive skills, social perception (e.g. facial recognition), and theory of mind. Parents reported improved social communication at home and in the community. Some treatment effects were maintained two months post-intervention.
  • Why does it work? (a) Peer-mediation and modelling (live and video). (b) Peers were both the main teachers and social partners of participants, with frequent, direct interactions. (c) Fun activities, encouraging participants to join in and have opportunities to learn from social experiences. (d) Acting provides opportunities for children to engage in reciprocal social communication.

Key sources:

  • Corbett, B. A., Swain, D. M., Coke, C., Simon, D., Newsom, C., Houchins-Juarez, N., Jenson, A., Wang, L., & Song, Y. (2014). Improvement in social deficits in autism spectrum disorders using a theatre-based, peer-mediated intervention. Autism research: Official Journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 7(1), 4–16. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.1341
  • Corbett, B. A., Key, A. P., Qualls, L., Fecteau, S., Newsom, C., Coke, C., & Yoder, P. (2016). Improvement in Social Competence Using a Randomized Trial of a Theatre Intervention for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 46(2), 658–672. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2600-9

Related infographics:

  • What is ‘pragmatic language’? The social use of language
  • Pragmatic language for 5-11 year-olds includes (at least) 27 observable behaviours
  • Key behaviours to look for in the pragmatic (social) language development of children aged 0-5 years
  • Helping Children with Pragmatic (Social) Language Challenges. Some Evidence-based Themes
  • 5 tips for using video self-modelling to improve pragmatic language skills
  • Play-based, peer-mediated pragmatic language intervention for school-aged children
  • Planning a play date for your child during the school holidays?

Hi there, I’m David Kinnane.

Principal Speech Pathologist, Banter Speech & Language

Our talented team of certified practising speech pathologists provide unhurried, personalised and evidence-based speech pathology care to children and adults in the Inner West of Sydney and beyond, both in our clinic and via telehealth.

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Helping Children with Pragmatic (Social) Language Challenges. Some Evidence-based Themes

Juliana Li · 23 August 2020 ·

This week, in our fourth infographic, our Speech Pathologist, Juliana Li, summarises some key themes from our reading of the research about helping children with pragmatic (social) language challenges.

Related infographics:

  • What is ‘pragmatic language’? The social use of language
  • Pragmatic language for 5-11 year-olds includes (at least) 27 observable behaviours
  • Key behaviours to look for in the pragmatic (social) language development of children aged 0-5 years
  • 5 tips for using video self-modelling to improve pragmatic language skills
  • Play-based, peer-mediated pragmatic language intervention for school-aged children
  • Planning a play date for your child during the school holidays?
  • Project-based Pragmatic Language Interventions: The SENSE Theatre

Hi there, I’m David Kinnane.

Principal Speech Pathologist, Banter Speech & Language

Our talented team of certified practising speech pathologists provide unhurried, personalised and evidence-based speech pathology care to children and adults in the Inner West of Sydney and beyond, both in our clinic and via telehealth.

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

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