Communication With Children

Case Study

Emily is a 7-year-old daughter suffering from diagnosed Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Her struggles do not make her articulate verbally at all times. Study activities include conventional learning with the unique learning teacher at the mainstream school and other pastime activities such as drawing and playing with sensory toys while watching cartoons. Her parents make the arrangements they feel are best for her.

Introduction

This essay outlines the communication barriers, skills, important resources, and strategies necessary for effective communication with minors, more so those with special needs, through the case of Emily, a seven-year-old girl diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Emily’s case quickly illustrates the challenges children face with communication difficulties and hence calls for the use of specified techniques in facilitating communication. This understanding and efficient addressing of barriers by the due skills and necessary resources on the part of care providers and educators would support the overall development of children and the effectiveness of communication and relationships.

Communication Barriers 

The communication barriers can be highly significant when it deals with the entire interactions of a child and much more with a particular child, as with Emily. Some of the typical issues children have to bear involve low attention spans and trouble with understanding highly complex language due to physiological differences (De Janasz et al., 2014). All these fuels her ASD in return, affecting her capacity to process and react to information. In addition, emotional interference further muddles communication. This, among other issues, makes kids like Emily not express themselves adequately when excited or stressed (De Janasz et al., 2014).

If anxious and overexcited like Emily, most children would not be able to describe detailed proceedings. In that case, therefore, in Emily’s follow-up case, emotional problems could pile up and make them lead to frustrations or misinterpretations since all will be hard to express due to the problems. There is also a high chance of selective perception in kids like Emily because, at times, they may look into some selective classifications, willfully ignoring others due to their experience and policies. (Reinvent, 2020) This can be heard selectively or remembered as children only look at many that interest them the most, to the dismay of essential responses. Considering that children like Emily become specific in communication and need more help expressing themselves and understanding the information, caregivers and educators should be accommodative and more tolerant.

Skills for Effective Communication 

Various skills are paramount when communicating effectively with children such as Emily. First, the language must be kept as simple as possible and put at the most appropriate level. According to Emily, she will need help finding her way around the complex language and abstract information. Simple language will be employed as we become effective communicators, especially caregivers, and educators, since all the listeners or recipients of a message understand accessible, effective communication.

Last but not least, an essential skill needed by every communicator is active listening. Active listening means the adult is not just hearing the child’s words but actively listening to non-verbal communication, like gestures and facial expressions. This non-verbal language is helpful and will enable Emily to express herself as she uses verbal communication. The active listening of the verbal and non-verbal cues in responding to the attempts of communication that Emily makes will help caregivers and educators support Emily in gaining a more accurate picture. (Kristoffersson et al., 2020)

Empathizing with the feelings and feelings encouraged within the child will help build effective relationships because they portray a kind of similarity or relation that can build trust. This is because a child, especially with special needs, may experience many unusual emotions. With all these emotions, a caregiver should be patient and understanding when setting a proper supporting atmosphere where the child feels free to express herself. Achieving this is important, especially to Emily, for the disease keeps moving on as the challenge is solved. Caregivers who empathize with Emily’s experience can develop a positive relationship with her, improving communication and well-being (De Janasz et al., 2014).

Resources for Communication 

The most crucial aspect concerning the development process of interaction and understanding for children and parents revolves around communication resources to communicate messages from the outside world effectively. Storybooks go a long way since they prove to be a helpful tool, for they involve the children’s imagination and mind and give them a chance to teach different situations and emotions.

Storybooks can be a healthy manner through which children like Emily can express themselves in appropriate, imeasurestained, and secure situations where one’s faculty of orating may be defective. From sorrowful situations to fabulous ones, Emily can interrelate every story with the characters participating in them when they understand how different emotional and social behavior activities have a natural course.

Some things, such as drawings and pictures, are essential when communicating with children. Such support dramatically helps children appreciate information, especially those with special needs like Emily. Just as in the case of Emily, a visual schedule can be used for her to anticipate and prepare for events in a day that might cause anxiety. The visual aids help kids understand and grow more involved in the content since it is now presented in a fun and interactive way. With this integration, young minds like Emily learned more effectively from practice by building more effective communication skills with their caretakers and teachers.

Instructing the child to join in calisthenics and aerobics play therapy engages the children in playful activities through their implementations by professionals to acquire communication and presence in social skills (Kristoffersson et al., 2020). Play therapy offers a highly safe, secure, and supportive environment where children can express themselves, explore feelings, and develop positive strategies. Play therapy will help Emily voice her feelings and needs through play, which will be less intimidating when one verbalizes feelings.

Conclusion 

In summary, good communication with children would be well-versed with comprehensive knowledge of the communicative barriers kids are affected by, skills, resources, and strategies that act as surmounting steps. From this report, it is evident, therefore, that by using simple applications, active listening, showing empathy, and using available aids such as storybooks and other visuals, improvements in communication skills in a kid with different needs can be possible.

References

De Janasz, S. C., Crossman, J., Campbell, N., & Power, M. (2014). Interpersonal skills in organisations.

Kristoffersson, E., Dahlgren Sandberg, A., & Holck, P. (2020). Communication ability and communication methods in children with cerebral palsy. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 62(8), 933-938.

Vitalaki, E., & Katsarou, E. (2021). Active listening: A model for Teachers and Parents to Actively Listen and Act Upon Children’s Concerns in Terms of their Perceptions of Quality of Life. Curriculum, 73.