Language Tip of the Week 3: Imitate

Transcript:

Hi, this is Cherie, the Principal Speech Pathologist at Apex Speech and Language, here to bring you another Language Tip of the Week.

This week's Language Tip is imitation or copying.

It's great when we're interacting with a child if we can do what they do and say what they say. For example, if the child picks up the phone and puts it to their ear, then we're going to pick up the phone and put it to our ear. If the child says, "Ring, ring, ring, ring," we're going to copy them and say, "Ring, ring, ring, ring."

If the child picks up an egg and says, "Egg," then we're going to pick up an egg too and say, "Egg." If the child cracks their egg open, then we're going to get our own egg and crack it open too.

Many children wait for others to start the interaction. By imitating and copying what they do, we encourage them to take the first turn. This helps with later turn-taking.

And that's your Language Tip of the Week! We'll see you next week.