Calendar Boxes, suggested by VanDijk, may need to be adapted into wall posters, wallets, books, or a single vertical strip of objects or pictures velcroed onto cardboard, depending on the child's abilities. For deaf children, the Communication Triangle is an important breakthrough in the development of communication. The child signals that he wants something by looking at an item, then looking to the parent, then back to the item, forming a triangle. The parent recognizes the communication attempt and points to the item, then looks at the child and back to the item. The parent signs the word and gives the item to the child.
Some children have difficulty processing language concepts.
Sign language and speech are fleeting and then gone. Some children love pictures and printed words because they are something tangible that they can study, manipulate, and make some sense of. Even though they may not understand the meaning of the printed words, they enjoy seeing a line of print connected to their pictures. The third and very important phase of communication training is to build Distancing. The child is encouraged to tell about something he has just done, or to report to his parents about a school activity, using an Experience Book or Journal that goes back and forth between home and school.