To celebrate May Speech & Hearing month, #CommunicateAwareness, the Communication Science and Disorders Department’s Dr. Esther Kim, Dr. Bill Hodgetts and I participated in today’s @UofARehabMed’ RehabMed Live. It was exciting to pull together our perspectives on connecting with loved ones and overcoming challenges.
From our lab’s work, I shared about our Survey findings and some new findings from our communicating with children survey.
We have found that most children have lost regular connections with their friends, in particular toddlers and younger school-aged children. Their connections are more limited during the week, and with fewer children
How to help? Try coordinating video play dates…
- Kids can plan a favourite game and take turns taking the lead
- “Share” a snack
- Choose a good time of the day, snack time, quiet time, …
- Brainstorm a few activities, start simple: Eye-spy, Simon says, show and tell, green-light-red-light.
- Ready to level-up? Read a book together, sing a song, learn a new dance, play dress-up, yoga, or even a craft project
Remember that these need not be long – and it might take a few play dates for everyone to get comfortable
Some great resources for parenting during the pandemic from WHO and for talking to children about COVID-19.
AM
Multilingual Families Lab Familles Multilingues 