McKay School of Education > News > Recognized Scholar Presents at BYU to Communication Disorder Specialists
Recognized Scholar Presents at BYU to Communication Disorder Specialists
Although communication disorders can affect children in many ways, we are finding new and better ways to diagnose and treat children who suffer the social consequences of these disorders, according to Dr. Geralyn R. Timler, Director of the Child Language Laboratory at the University at Buffalo. Timler recently addressed an audience of more than 250 local speech language pathologists (SLPs) and teachers, instructing and directing them how to better support the peer interaction skills of children with communication disorders. Her seminar, sponsored by the Department of Communication Disorders, was titled “Assessment and Intervention Strategies for Supporting Children’s Social Communication Skills.”
Timler discussed the differences between children who can communicate typically and those who suffer from a communication disorder. She informed the SLPs of effective ways to treat young people with communication disorders and to help them become more accepted and involved in the classroom and with their peers
Timler provided details about the social consequences of communication impairments, organizing her information in terms of specific age groups, including preschoolers and school-age children. She described signs that children exhibit that could indicate their communication impairments may be affecting their peer interactions, such as rarely entering conversations with peers, demonstrating withdrawn behaviors, etc. She cautioned that parents might see the children in a different way than teachers do.
Timler cited heavily the work of Drs. Bonnie Brinton and Martin Fujiki, both professors in the McKay School of Education Department of Communication Disorders. “[Brinton and Fujiki] have shaped a lot of my work,” she stated. “You are very fortunate to have such expertise so close.”
The lecture included descriptions of the social effects of language difficulties on children’s peer interactions. Timler described how children with speech and language impairments are often rejected by their peers because they do not respond or interact as typical children do, and as a result they have fewer opportunities to enhance their social development. Peers may alternatively neglect or reject children with communication impairments, depending on the words and actions of the children.
“Peer rejection can be caused by the child originally acting out,” Timler described. “Peer neglect results from high levels of solitary play, reticence--waiting and hovering, being non-responsive, or being irrelevant/non-contingent.
The conference was offered to provide continuing education credit for local SLPs. Lee Robinson, MSE professor and director of the BYU Speech and Language Clinic, organize the seminar. “We are hoping that speech language pathologists came away from the seminar with a better understanding of how to provide treatment for children who struggle with social communication skills,” Robinson stated.
22 June 2009