ASHA CEU COURSE #0020 Convey: The 7 C’s of Communication

What if one of the biggest early signs that a child is learning to communicate has nothing to do with words at all? In this episode, join pediatric speech-language pathologists Laura Mize, M.S., CCC-SLP and Macy Mize Usher, M.S., CCC-SLP discuss the 3rd C in my 7 C’s of Communication framework… Convey.

Conveying is anything a child does intentionally to send a message — gestures, facial expressions, body language, sounds, vocalizations, or words. Before children can truly communicate with us, they first have to understand that they can affect another person by sharing an idea, need, want, or feeling. Therapists may refer to this as communicative intent. We also talk about why gestures are such a critical bridge to spoken language, why some autistic children use atypical gestures like leading an adult or using your hand as a tool, and practical ways parents and therapists can strengthen communicative intent through imitation, turn-taking, reciprocity, AAC, and everyday interactions. If you’ve ever wondered how to help a minimally verbal child become a more intentional communicator, this episode will give you a clear place to start.

These 7 key areas are the building blocks of a child’s early communication skills and consequently, these are the areas we should first assess and then address when a child is not talking yet.

Whether you’re a parent of a late talker or a professional working in early intervention, this episode will help you:

• understand what really drives language development
• identify which foundational skills may be missing so that you can develop a comprehensive treatment plan
• learn how to support communication development using these 7 areas

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• Why Conveying is important for language development
• What does it look like when a child is beginning to convey?
• What could it mean diagnostically when a child struggles to convey with other people?
• Strategies to strengthen communicative intent with a toddler or preschooler with language delays

Who This Is For:

Course appropriate for SLPs and other therapists (OT, PT, and EI Developmental Specialists/Therapists) who work with pediatrics in various settings including state or county-based early intervention providers, outpatient pediatric therapy clinics, infant/toddler and preschool programs, and other childcare settings and parents of autistic children

Ready to Go Deeper?

This is the 5th episode in our 8 part series: The 7 C’s of Communication: Developing Treatment Plans that WORK for Toddlers & Preschoolers with Language Delays.

Check out the other episodes in this series:

0016 The 7 C’s of Communication

0017 CoRegulation: The 7 C’s of Communication

0018 Identifying Strengths in Autistic Toddlers & Preschoolers with the Autistic Strengths Survey

0019 Connect: The 7 C’s of Communication