First, I want to tell you some things I learned that have help me with my son, Mark. He has Down sydnrome and has spent a long time communicating without clear words. Avoid the rush to words. We can be so eager for children to talk, daily activities and playtimes can be frustrating battles for both adults and children. For preverbal children, success is having effects on others, not talking in ways adults want.
Any behavior can communicate.
Children communicate without words long before they regularly talk, but adults often ignore these little attempts to make contact. They miss many opportunities to let a child's actions and sounds affect them in ways that would make these behaviors into communications. Adults must respond to these early behaviors and begin to see their child as a communicator whether or not he talks. Expect your child to communicate. This can be because children don't communicate in the ways and at the times adults first expect.