More Than Words -The Hanen Program for Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or Social Communication Difficulties
Now Available At Optimum Health Solutions
- More Than Words gives parents of Children with ASD and other social communication disorders practical tools to help their children communicate.
- It is designed to help parents of children under age six. More Than Words emphasizes the child’s everyday activities as the context for learning to communicate.
- Incorporates current best practice guidelines, highlighting the importance of effect, predictability, structure, and the use of visual supports to enhance learning in children with ASD.
- Helps parents understand their child’s sensory preferences and sensitivities so these can be accommodated during everyday interactions.
- **Helps build positive interactions between parent and child, reducing frustration for both and increasing the child’s opportunities to learn to communicate in real-life situations.
What Parents Learn:
- How their child communicates right now and the next steps to take
- How their child learns best and how to take advantage of these preferences
- What motivates their child to communicate
- How to turn everyday activities into opportunities for learning to communicate
- How to help their child understand what they say
- How to develop their child’s play skills
- How to help their child make friends
What Hanen More Than Words Offers:
- A consultation with a Hanen Certified Speech Language Pathologist (SLP)/Therapist before the program begins
- 8 group sessions of informative and personal classes
- 3 individual consultations of parents and their child with the SLP where they:
- Discuss communication goals and specific strategies for their child
- They are video-recorded interacting with the child during everyday activities. The video is then reviewed and discussed with parents so they can “see” what is helping and what else they can do to help their child learn.
- The More Than Words Program Guidebook
What Parents Get Out Of It
- Education: important information on how children develop language and their role in its development. In addition, they learn why specific strategies are important for their child that can be applied to everyday interactions
- Early Language Intervention: learn which interaction strategies are most relevant to their child’s style and stage of language development and how to apply these strategies
- Support: from speech-language pathologist as well as invaluable support from other parents, who are experiencing similar challenges. This can have a positive impact on both the child and the family
**Currently 2 Speech Therapists on staff who are Hanen trained and certified
**Offering a telehealth Hanen More Than Words Program for parents in the coming weeks
**Looking for more participants if you know of anyone, they can send an inquiry to hanen@opt.net.au or if any questions regarding potential clients, can reach out to Saajida Bhorat (saajida1@opt.net.au) or Brittany Fritz (brittany.f@opt.net.au).
