More Than Words: a course for parents of nonspeaking children

About this group

More Than Words is a 6-week course and discussion group for parents/carers of nonspeaking children who are struggling to communicate / interact with others. No diagnosis is required to join this group.

Each week will begin with a presentation from facilitators (15- 20 minutes) on key topics. The rest of the session is an opportunity to get to know each other, ask questions and share our experiences. The group will help members to learn ways to communicate and interact with their nonspeaking child while supporting their communication development.

When

The group will meet via Zoom on Tuesday mornings starting 8th June 2021 from 10 - 11am.

Facilitators

Jade Page

Jade runs The Autism Page blog and is on the Management Team of Bristol Autism Support. Jade has a wealth of experience supporting her own two young sons who have speech delay.

Kate Laine Toner

Kate is the Founding Director of Bristol Autism Support. Kate's daughter did not speak until the age of 4-1/2 and at 11 still has quite limited communication.

Content

8th June – Communication Basics: This session will look at communication and autism. How to support early communication and strategies to encourage comprehension and communication.

15th June – Attention: Children need to learn to develop attention before they can learn to communicate. This session will look at strategies for improving attention including attention autism and special interests.

22nd June – Using Visual Aids: Visual information is much easier for people to understand and using visual aids to support understanding is very important. This session will cover different types of visual aids and how to use them.

29th June – Alternative Communication: Speech is not a requirement for communication. In this session we will look at different communication methods such as Makaton and The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS).

6th July – Interaction: Some children need to learn how to play and or interact with others. In this session we will cover some ideas to support interaction including intensive interaction and how to play with a child that finds interacting difficult.

13th July – Visual Learning: When a child communicates differently they will also learn differently. We will look at how to use visual learning strategies to help your child learn, including the TEACCH method and visual instructions.

What people have said about this course:

"All the information shared was very relevant to me and I have been able to use this immediately, the presenters had real knowledge, some of the courses I have attended have been too theoretical and just don't work - you both get it!"

"It's so nice to connect with parents dealing with similar issues with their kids."

This group is funded by a grant from The National Lottery Community Fund.