Building Verbal Imitation in Toddlers
Do you have a child who doesn’t know how to repeat what you say?
Do you get blank stares when you tell a child, “Say ____,” ?
Imitation is the core skill that many late talkers, regardless of their official diagnosis, haven’t yet mastered.
Many toddlers with developmental delays lack the fundamental skills necessary to begin to imitate single words, yet that’s just what we expect them to do when we write IFSP or IEP outcomes such as,
“Logan will use variety of words to communicate his wants and needs to his parents and caregivers.”
As SLPs who work in early intervention and preschool programs, teaching verbal imitation is where our treatment plans usually begin. We jump right into treatment by ‘following a child’s lead’ during sessions and narrating play with single words in hopes of jumpstarting expressive language. We advise parents to model functional vocabulary words during daily routines so that the child will begin to repeat those words. If it were really that easy, would that kid be on your caseload in the first place?
As a parent, you may be surprised or confused when your toddler doesn’t respond as you coax them to try to say words.
Helping very young children with developmental delays learn to talk, and specifically learn to imitate words, requires that we revisit how imitation develops. Excerpt from the book:
Imitation emerges very, very early in typical development and often occurs without direct teaching. Many times parents are teaching a baby through imitation without being consciously aware of the process. An infant’s earliest social and communicative interactions consist of looking at his mother and instinctively copying her facial expressions and vocalizations. The mother hears her sweet baby’s coos and repeats those sounds. The child responds by moving his arms and legs and vocalizing even more. During these back and forth gazes and early ‘conversations,’ an infant, only a few months old, begins a life-long process of imitating another person.
In the second six months of life, this process evolves as a baby begins to imitate her parent’s actions with objects. A parent shows a child how to stack blocks or operate the new Busy Box. Actions begin to look more like communication when a child copies a parent’s movements in early social games like Patty Cake and Peek-a-boo.
Contrary to what we may have been taught, teaching imitation first begins with teaching a child to imitate actions, not words, during play. For many of the children we see, this serves a dual benefit of helping them learn how to play.
Just beyond actions, we move on to helping a child learn to imitate other kinds of body movements and gestures that become communicative.
Even then many late talking toddlers aren’t yet ready to begin to imitate single words. The child may need to learn several ‘in-between’ steps before he’s ready to begin to imitate single words. Learning how to imitate mouth movements, early vocalizations like fake coughing and sneezing, play sounds like blowing raspberries and animal sounds, and easy exclamatory words such as “Wow!” should dominate our early sessions with late talking toddlers.
Many times parents and therapists don’t see success with late talking toddlers because we’re not working on the right things. Changing our approach to target imitation in its earliest and easiest forms is the place to begin.
Read more about the book:
In this 180 page therapy manual Laura Mize, pediatric speech-language pathologist and founder of www.teachmetotalk.com, explains the hierarchy of verbal imitation skills she teaches to therapists throughout the country.
This simple, straight-forward approach is easy for both parents and therapists to understand and implement during familiar play-based activities and daily routines.
Laura’s method delivers a framework for knowing where to begin work with a late talking child, provides ideas for what to try when a young child’s progress stalls, and can serve as your new approach when your standard methods don’t seem to be adequate for a particular child’s issues.
Each of the eight levels is broken down into its own chapter and includes:
- A detailed description for each level so you’ll know exactly what to do to teach the new skill. The rationale is presented so that you’ll understand why you’re working on each skill and how the skill relates to overall speech-language development.
- This information is critical for parents to understand as they work with a child, but often SLPs and developmental interventionists aren’t exactly sure how to explain what we do so that parents are able to carry-over those successes. Laura’s practical style will fill in that gap so that you’ll know what to say and how to teach parents to follow-through at home.
- The prerequisite skills a child should have mastered before each level is realistic are listed. You’ll know exactly when a child is ready to work on the next level. This will prevent a child from going weeks or months without seeing any measurable progress. You’ll also receive suggestions for targeting the prerequisite skills so that you help a child progress when he seems to be “stuck.”
- A chart is provided for each level with many, many examples of the skills to target with a young child to move him along to words. There’s no guessing! You’ll know exactly what to work on with a child to address each new level. Each chart is a great tool for therapists to copy for parents & caregivers to reinforce what you’re working on during visits and for “homework” between sessions.
- Each chapter includes a list of time-tested and toddler approved materials to use during play and during daily routines for each level. All activities are appropriate for use during therapy sessions in a clinic setting or during home visits with parents and siblings.
- Specific ‘how to’ instructions for eliciting each skill are included for each level. This information is especially helpful for parents, for therapists who are new to early intervention and have limited treatment experience with late talking toddlers, and for experienced therapists who want to expand their repertoire of proven treatment strategies for young children with speech-language delays.
- Troubleshooting tips for additional ideas are listed at the end of each chapter. There’s no more second-guessing why a child isn’t making progress. You’ll receive specific instructions for what to try if you’re not seeing results, and the next steps are outlined so that you can move a child forward.
- A handy, one-page quick reference chart is included at the end of the manual. This is particularly suited for therapists to use as a ‘cheat sheet’ during sessions or to provide for parents as an overall guide for treatment.
Because young children learn best during play, Laura provides specific examples for using this approach with the following five common toys toddlers love bubbles, farm animals, baby dolls, Potato Heads, and cars and trucks.
Additionally, Laura lists specific recommendations for using this approach at home for several daily routines including meals/snacks, bath time, dressing/diaper changes, reading books, and playing in the kitchen.
If you’re a speech-language pathologist or developmental therapist looking for ideas to teach parents to use to incorporate language learning, then this is the resource for you! All charts and activity pages can be copied to share with parents as ‘homework’ for between sessions.
This resource is INVALUABLE for therapists who work in programs embracing a ‘no toy bag’ or consultative approach. Not only will you receive many, many practical ideas, but you’ll have plenty of written ‘how-to’ directions to share with parents in an easy-to-understand format.
Building Verbal Imitation in Toddlers – $48.00
PayPal customers can easily order with PayPal Express through our online store. Click the link above to order.
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Reviews:
“Hi Laura – I just love your new book. Thank you, thank you for this valuable resource for parents and professionals!!” Pat, Early Intervention SLP
“Laura, love the new book!! I’ve read about a fourth of it and I am already implementing some of the great ideas you provided. Thank you!” Angi, SLP, Alabama
“Thank you so much for the new therapy manual Building Verbal Imitation in Toddlers! I love the handouts and think they will be so helpful to the families of clients in our birth to 3 programs. ” Jennifer, SLP, California
“I received your book yesterday… I have been learning SOOO much! I wish I had known this coming out of grad school???” Danielle, SLP, CA
“I like the eight levels chart for parents. They can see how one level builds to another and the progress made before there are WORDS. I also like to show that you can’t SKIP levels/ skills. Lots of ideas and suggestions but clear and concise. ” Molly, SLP, comment from teachmetotalk.com’s Facebook page
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"Hello Miss Laura,
First, I would like to thank you for all you do for us moms who are lacking support in the autism community, and thank you for providing tons of information and resources to help our bright children. I myself benefited so much from watching your videos and reading your daily emails. I cannot stress enough how much all this information helped my toddler. Of course, getting an autism diagnosis for your child is extremely scary (she was diagnosed at 2 years old) and I was depressed and did not know what autism was, how it affected children, and how to teach children struggling with this condition. However, your videos helped me to find light in my child and now I am your biggest fan! I rewatch your videos over and over again to make sure I didn't miss anything that can help my daughter. I even purchase two books- Autism workbook and Teach me to Play. My toddler was completely non-verbal, she didn't know how to imitate, no eye contact, no pointing.. you name it she didn't have any skills and I didn't know how to teach her! And that is until I discover ed You- my toddlers (Fairy: smiling_face_with_3_hearts:)!
Now she is little sweet 2.5 years old and she says "mama" (I cried when she said that magic word), she waves bye bye or hi, she points, she gives "high 5", her joint attention is great and overall she is doing so much better! And that's all because I have been doing everything you described in your books and videos! I. My mind I always play "repetition, repetition and repetition", teaching her everything through play that she so much enjoys!!! I can write forever explaining how much I taught her through yr videos and books! And the most amazing thing is that her speech therapist is a big fan of yours as well so it worked out perfectly since we understand each other and work based on your teachings! The therapist even owns the same books I own ...I am so grateful that my toddler has such an amazing therapist; especially the one that understands autism and is ready for a real challenge! God bless you for all you do and I cannot wait for my toddler blossom.. you gave me hope and lit the light inside me. And I'm determined to work with my girl :)"
"Dear Laura Mize and Team,
Thank you so much for all your hard work and publishing books! Our 17-month-old toddler suddenly exploded into speaking and imitating everybody's gestures and sounds, just a week or two after we 'completed' all activities that are listed under 11 pre-linguistic skills! Your method really works!"
Grateful customer.
"Hi Laura!
I absolutely LOVE all of your workbooks, especially your Autism Workbook. Starting with Social Games has been a game changer for many of my littles with ASD and their families. It's been the best way for them to finally connect and sustain shared attention and engagement, leading to longer social interactions, through play!"
Jodie, Dev, Therapist
"Hi Ms. Laura,
Thank you so much for the videos you have posted on your youtube channel. They are so direct, informative, and helpful. Thank you for being a resource for me to become a better therapist."
Dianne
"Hi Laura - I just wanted to say I received my copies of the Apraxia workbooks yesterday and I LOVED workbook 1 (not ready for 2). I'm on chapter 8 and going through the questions carefully so I'm prepared to help my son. I knew it was a great book when you acknowledged the fact that sometimes therapists and doctors don't bring a positive and supportive vibe when diagnosing. I remember being terrified at the mention of apraxia and ASD by both because they had these very concerned looks and made it seem like it was a death sentence. I know now (in LARGE PART, THANKS TO YOU AND YOUR VIDEOS) that it doesn't have to be!! I see a future for him now. You SINGLE-HANDEDLY, through your books and videos have empowered me to help my son after the doctors and therapists have gone home. You've given me strategies, play ideas, plans on how to keep moving forward. I don't always do things right, but I know I'm on the right track and I love that I can reference, and re-reference your books to help me keep going. As I was reading the book, I was so proud of myself because I've used strategies from your previous books and it felt good because I could check off a lot of the skills that you discuss. So, thank you for all your previous books as well!!"
"Gosh, I love all of your emails/podcast/website, just everything!! I work in early intervention as a behavior analyst and am learning so much from you!"
Thank you!
Hailey
"Laura,
I love your work! I am a professor of early childhood special education and a speech language pathologist! I have worked to help children learn to communicate and I know how valuable the information you share is for both early interventionists and pediatric speech language pathologists!
Thank you for systematically organizing and explaining essential steps for young children to learn and develop. You are having a great impact on our profession, the ECE profession and families!"
Sincerely,
David
"Thank you.
If this is Laura herself reading this email let me take this opportunity to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you have put forth for us professionals. I own every manual (except the autism manual) and have watched every course on DVD. I have listened to countless podcasts. All of what I’ve come to be as an Early Intervention speech therapist was absolutely to your credit. With your resources at my side I have never needed to scramble for answers and strategies and above all the clear language I use when communicating with parents. My fun, animated affect and key phrases I use have been learned through watching your example. So….thank you! May you be blessed."
Chaya
"I just wanted to thank you so much for your incredible help! You are so kind and lovely and every time I implement something you've taught in your manuals or videos it is always a success, I cannot thank you enough. I really appreciate how specific you are in giving us examples of wording to use and how to use a toy in therapy with your videos, it is exactly what I need to properly help my little students. I also really appreciate your list of books of list of toys. I have seen my little students make significant progress thanks to you. I'm looking forward to watching more of your videos, taking more of your CEU's, and reading more of your materials. From the bottom of my heart: thank you so much again!!"
Lauren
"Dear Laura,
What an inspiration!
Thank you for helping me be a better Developmental Therapist. I often listen to your podcasts which help me help families.
Your enthusiasm, professionalism and
the sheer volume of information is so great.
You are part of my team.
I just wanted you to know I appreciate you."
Margaret
"Dear Laura,
Thank you for your generosity in sharing so much knowledge in such a clear and enthusiastic way.
As a retired audiologist with a fabulous and language delayed grandson, I used your podcasts and outstanding publication, The Autism Workbook, to inspire and guide me over the past year.
It works!! He went from barely verbal, no gestures, didn't respond to his name etc etc to a verbal, social, curious, ready to imitate anything, fill in the blanks on familiar "set" speech, generate his own totally appropriate and mostly understandable sentences...not just short phrases anymore... full little paragraphs...about imaginary things, what he did during the day, what he wants. True communication!
You make a powerful difference in this world! ❤"
"Laura Mize, you are a Godsend. I don’t know how one human can have so many helpful things to say in a beautifully organized way, so often. Always amazes me when another super helpful email comes from you, and for free. With free YouTube videos and cheap CEUs. THANK YOU!!!"
Sheila, Canada
"I purchased the book on autism and have watched the #400s series podcasts. Laura Mize has been more effective in teaching autistic tendencies, than many professors, shadowing professions, and the 100s of books, articles and classes or videos, or live workshop speakers, have been at teaching effective practices for a child with ASD. Some of the many lessons she has taught, which I will now use, to be a more effective Interventionist, include but are not limited to: red flags, typical behaviors, self-stimulating behaviors, not taking away toys, rather showing child to play with toy appropriately. She gives examples of child's actions, "inappropriate," explains the reason for: why the child is engaging in these behaviors and how they can be replaced with more appropriate, effective fuctional and age-appropriate skills."
"I’m sure Laura gets these messages all the time, but I thought I’d share. I stumbled across Laura‘s "Autism or Speech Delay?" YouTube video when I really needed it. This video finally listed and explained some of the red flags my son was showing for autism. I share the link anytime a parent is questioning in my FB autism group. This mother I don’t even know said Laura's video changed her life. I know exactly how she feels because It changed families too. Thank you to everyone at Teach Me To Talk."
LINDSAY
"Good Morning Laura,
I received your book (The Autism Workbook) yesterday and it is absolutely amazing! As I evaluate young children (0-3) for developmental delays and write plans for them with their parents, there are a ton of ideas that are ready to use. Others that reinforce what I have been doing, and saying, all along. Thank you so, so much for writing this incredible book and pulling everything together in one place!"
FRANCINE IN MICHIGAN
"Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge, experience, and guidance.
I’m a parent who bought the autism workbook and it’s the only clear resource I found to make a change in my son. I’m really thankful to Ms. Laura for helping out people like us all over the world."
"Laura Mize, all I have to say is that ALL YOUR STRATEGIES WORK."
ANNE, YouTube viewer
"We have 7 SLPs in our preschool (public) program for special needs children (ages 3-5) and we use your courses, books, and techniques every day! :-) We have seen our preschoolers make such great gains!"
"I just received Teach Me to Play With You, and it is ALREADY WORKING! WOW!
Girl…my son is 3 years old, and he NEVER asks for something using words. We were playing “Get Your Belly” (from Teach Me to Play WITH You), and after several times, he laughed and screamed "BEWIEEE!!!" It was a hoot. And I can't believe he said it! I have played with him like this before, but this time I took your advice and acted CRAZY!! I will act like a total lunatic if it will get him to talk to me! Now I can give him "the look" from across the room, and he will say it. That manual is so amazingly practical, and it is a GODSEND right now! Thank you SO MUCH!”
"I wanted to send you a quick email to say thank you. I started watching your videos/podcasts about 4 months ago. My son has gone from losing words he previously used, only having about 7 words at his 2 year check up in August (assessed at a blended 10 month language level) -- to now having so many words, increased social engagement, following commands, spontaneously requesting things, and naming letters & numbers (not in order) as well as colors. We had our monthly meeting with our SLP through the state infants & toddlers program and it felt like we were just bragging the whole time, but I knew in the back of my head it was because I have been using strategies you taught me.
We still have so much work to do with our sweet boy, but I know in my heart he would not have succeeded without the education you provided. I will continue to read your emails & watch videos as we go along this journey and face challenges, but credit is due to you, Laura.
Thank you so much, endlessly."
KATIE
"I just want to tell how fortunate I feel to have found your website and you!! I became a special instructor in EI almost a year ago and I started with hardly any applicable training. I felt so lost and confused as how to help the kids I work with learn how to use words and play. Honestly, I didn't even understand the importance of play, although I always played with my kids. But, once I started to watch your podcasts and get some of your manuals I felt a weight had been lifted off my shoulders and that I could finally teach these kids and their families something of value from a real therapist and based on research!. Thank you so much for seeing the need to help other EI service providers and providing a forum to share your knowledge and years of valuable experience. I'm sure you get a lot of these emails every week if not every day, but I wanted to make I could add to those notes of gratitude!! THANK YOU again!!"
SS
"Just wanted to say a HUGE thank you for these emails and your books, I have them all and they have seriously saved and improved my sessions with my kiddos. Huge thank you."
REBECCA
"I was very frustrated with how speech therapy was going for my child. I would take him and drop him off and not hear much of anything from his therapist and teachers other than, "He had a good (or a bad!) day." Your materials were invaluable for us because I learned how to work with him on his speech. I learned how to teach him to talk and play. I learned how to pay attention to his cues and work with him to teach him to communicate. Without it, I have no doubt he still wouldn’t talk."
BRITNEY
"Hi! I just wanted to say (from an SLT perspective) how incredibly useful I am finding absolutely all of your articles, blogs and resources - I only discovered your site last month and have just received all your books which I feel I am learning more than on my entire university training course!! But also the way in which you give specific, realistic, fun, encouraging ideas for working with parents is really just fantastic, I only wish I have your site sooner! Thanks so much from the UK! Kind regards."
HANNAH
"I just wanted to reach out to say thank you for making things a little easier to manage for me this year. I made the transition from school SLP to private therapist about a year ago. While the change was welcome, it was a lot, and I was just getting my footing in the clinic when I began teletherapy full time. Your website has been a huge lifeline in helping me work with late talkers and coach their parents in an accessible but effective way, even remotely. I look forward to getting your emails each week. I am floored by the amount of valuable, free information that your website provides, and I’m looking forward to investing in your workbooks soon. A sincere thank you for all you do!"
ALLISON
"You are an inspiration! I am truly grateful for the way you put into words and writing how to do what we do as SLPs. At this time in my 13 years of practicing, I find your encouragement keeps me going. As a single mom, I find it a stretch to buy materials these days and I am so thankful for the freebies you so generously share that help me teach my families. I don’t have much time to put together lists or quick references for parents!! Much gratitude!!"
ANDREA
Laura thank you so much. Btw, you have transformed my therapy- I have become such a competent and strong therapist after watching probably like 350 of your videos and podcasts over the past few years. And I am a seasoned therapist with almost 25 years experience. (Yes prob 350 episodes ha!) But there was still a lot I learned from you. I have such a thorough understanding of birth to 3 development and how to properly incorporate appropriate therapeutic goals, techniques and strategies now, thanks to you. Kelly
Hi Laura,I want to thank you so much for the resources you provide, my daughter has delayed speech and though she qualifies for CDS. Honestly the most progress she has made in her speech/language development has been after I implemented your 5 top strategies for delayed talkers! She is now almost 2.5 and her vocabulary is well over 75 (I haven’t counted recently, could be over 100) words when at 2 she barely had four words. Honestly the last few months have been a transformation for her.
Ann
