Does your child or client have some words but talk so quietly that you have a hard time hearing them or understanding what they are saying? Today, I’m sharing a clip from our high-touch coaching call with a family whose 2-year-old went from not talking to making great progress and saying many more words in just one month with our program.
When Rachel and I reviewed the videos his parents sent in, one thing jumped out at me: his voice volume was so low that only the parent could hear him. I also identified some key mistakes they were making when trying to help the child talk more and speak at a better volume.
To protect this child and family’s identity and confidentiality, the video you’re going to see just features my feedback about getting the child talking more and using a higher volume. During the actual coaching call, there was a ton of back and forth with both parents. The child also visited a few times, and I blew some bubbles and got some interaction.
So, you get to peek into one vantage point from a high-touch coaching call that I think will really help you, especially if your child is pretty quiet in general and/or you need to work specifically on voice volume for the words you do hear. I’ll explain what low volume often means and how it’s connected to confidence, and I’ll share practical strategies you can begin using right away. So, let’s get into this short episode on increasing talking and increasing voice volume now.
Okay, so your baseline videos—the alone condition and the video with Dad on the floor—I mean, he was quiet and calm, which is good. That’s your baseline.
Then there was the Potato Head video. One thing about the videos—and you guys raced through the course; you’re doing great—is that his volume is really low. One of the things I heard him say pretty loudly was “handsome man.” That’s like a little pat phrase that you must say, something like, “You are a handsome man.”
I explain it like this: If you’re really confident with something and I say, “What’s two plus two?” everybody here would yell out “four,” especially if there were a prize or something. But if things get harder—“What’s nine times five?”—you’re less confident in the answer.
Or if somebody asks you, “What does a mand mean?” you could say, “Well, that’s like a request,” or, “That’s a tact; that’s a label.” You might be more confident with that. But if I said, “Well, can you explain multiple control?” you’re not an expert in that. Or if somebody asked me, “What’s a reflexive conditional discrimination?” I’d be a little fuzzy. [laughter]
So, your volume is going to be quieter when you’re not confident.
I think if I were you, I would do a lot more giving him the answer rather than holding up the arm and waiting for him. Every second that goes by is not good practice. Technically, it’s an error if two seconds go by, or if you’re giving him only a partial prompt of a “p.”
For now, I would just be very focused on giving him the word so that he hears the volume.
One of the things I don’t talk about in the course very much is a 3D shoebox program. Have you heard of that? It’s basically a shoebox with a hole in it, and then you can get little 3D items—a sheep, a star from a shape sorter, a ball, a fork. It’s great especially for young kids, but it’s really great for any kid who isn’t talking much.
Instead of holding up the sheep and thinking, “He said sheep yesterday. I know he knows sheep. He said sheep five minutes ago,” just say, “Sheep.” If he echoes it right away, you give it to him.
So now, if I pull up a ball and he says “ball” before I even get it in place, you say, “Ball,” and give it to him. He puts it in the box. “Ball.” Shove it in. Help him shove it in.
Then: “Star.” “Star.” “Twinkle, twinkle, little star. Twinkle, twinkle, little star.” Good.
Then maybe, “What is it?” We’re practicing a lot.
The other thing I would do—and maybe you are doing this—is work on receptive language and matching. If you have those materials from the checklist, like Mommy, Daddy, Goldfish crackers, iPad, whatever, get two pictures. I think for some kids, starting with matching is better.
So, if I have a picture of a ball and there’s also a ball on the table along with Mommy and Goldfish, and I hold up the picture, if he doesn’t immediately say it, I’m going to say, “Ball.” Hopefully, he will echo “ball.” If he doesn’t, you can say it another time.
The other thing is, I wouldn’t do this thing where he said it or he didn’t say it, so I say “ball,” and he doesn’t say it, and then I immediately go, “Ball, ball.” Give it a good two or three times to try to get him to echo.
It’s going to strengthen his echoics. It’s going to strengthen everything. It’s going to strengthen his mands.
For a lot of kids—and he is decent at matching, I think, from the puzzles and matching—the reinforcement is actually the match itself: him getting the item and matching it.
Then you could say, “Good. Give me the ball,” when it’s time to clean up, or “Touch the ball,” or “Where’s the ball?” We’re getting so many practice trials.
So, don’t feel like you’re taking a step backwards by giving him the answer, because we also want to work on volume.
The other thing I would get—which I actually just purchased to go to Tracy’s house—is a little karaoke machine and/or a little machine with two microphones.
So you might do: “Bottle,” or “Mama. Mama.” I would not use this for all of therapy or anything. It would just be something to play around with.
You also might want to get a mirror so that you can practice talking and looking at yourself or looking at each other in the mirror with the two microphones. That might help volume.
The other thing is doing outdoor play and saying, “Oh, let’s call for Daddy. Daddy!” Maybe try the microphone. “Let’s call for him. Let’s be loud. Daddy!”
I would not get into constant reminders during table time about volume. We’re just going to shape up the volume by giving him the answer, by being loud and animated, by slowing things down, and by building in 3D activities.
That’s where the intraverbal bonus video comes in. There are two intraverbal bonus videos. Definitely watch the first one. There’s an intraverbal subtest. Do the subtest with no visuals present. It doesn’t have to be done in one sitting.
He’s probably only going to get through groups one and two with some things.
The intraverbal is the answer part of questions, but the subtest starts with fill-in-the-blanks. So, one of them is, “Twinkle, twinkle, little…”
Now, you know he just came up to me. I’m not present during the subtest. The bubbles aren’t present. You might be thinking, “He can say bubble. He says bubble. You know he said star.” But don’t over-score it, and don’t give him just one chance either, if you know what I mean.
There should be no visuals with the intraverbal subtest, and you’ll see it in the video. We take Faith from something like, “Ready, set…” and she’ll say, “Go,” all the way up to where she’s answering questions.
I think that will help with volume. The fact that he said “handsome man” loudly and he likes intraverbals and song fill-ins makes me think, let’s go in through that back door. Let’s go in through this other back door with the microphone and the mirror. Let’s work through receptive language and matching. Let’s give him the answer.
Maybe if he says “bubbles” the first time, you say, “Bubble,” and he says “bubble,” but it’s really, really quiet, you might still want to blow the bubbles. Then it’s, “Pop,” and he might say “pop.”
I couldn’t hear much of what he was saying, but again, I wasn’t there. Maybe you hold it back a little bit and shape up the volume by saying, “Pop. Pop. Pop,” and get him to increase his volume just a little bit.
I think now is a critical time for you to slowly shape up the volume through all of these things and also shape up the words.
I also looked at your number one and number two word list, which is great. I would make sure your number one words are updated weekly and maybe put them on the refrigerator. If he does go to therapy, try to get those words to the therapists as well.
Make sure you have 3D objects and pictures representing those words so that we can be practicing them. Keep them at number one priority, and also work toward those number one words being said with good volume.
I hope you enjoyed that short episode. I am so excited for this family that they are now on to this important step of getting a lot more talking and much better volume going forward. This is amazing progress in just a few weeks.
As I often say, no one has a crystal ball, and I can never promise that every child will have the same outcome. But I do know that there is hope, and children can make meaningful progress when they have the right plan and support.
That’s exactly what we provide inside our high-touch coaching program. We review your child’s assessments and the videos you send in, identify what might be keeping you stuck, and give you personalized strategies and ongoing coaching to help you move forward.
Spots are very limited because this is our most individualized level of support. To learn more, check the link below this video or visit our website at marybarbera.com/hightouchcoaching.
See you next time.
