Relating Language to Print

In learning that printed words have meaning, you need to really demonstrate what that meaning is through print connected to a visual, connected to an experience, or connected to a picture.  The following list helps you to relate print to language:

 

·         Relate objects to their labels

·         Point out words in storybooks and their corresponding pictures

·         Try a game of hiding a few objects, showing your child a printed words, and then helping your child find it.

·         Focus on words/signs the child already knows and help the child relate those to print.

 

I work on these reading skills and language skills with all of my children.  This format was very similar to the visual way I taught my son with autism how to understand words.  I use it with Marianne who is deaf, with Rhetten who is 3 and who is hearing, and I use it with April Rose who is 15 months old and who is deaf.  Marianne is showing great progress in her word recognition and her ability to connect meaning with the printed word.  

 

AHHH!  It is great to see these efforts paying off!