Nonverbal Communication In Children

Communication is critical to continued human development throughout our life span. It is what allows us to share thoughts, feelings, wonderings, and knowledge with others. Whether you are a verbal or nonverbal communicator, the vast majority of communication we do is through nonverbal channels.
So if nonverbal communication makes up a substantial portion of our communicative experience, what does it involve? Many of us associate facial expression and gestures with nonverbal communication, but these are not the only two types involved. There are, in fact, eight different types of nonverbal communication:
• Facial Expression This makes up the largest proportion of nonverbal communication. Large amounts of information can be conveyed through

In most cases, working to improve nonverbal communication is the best place to begin improving communication abilities. Expanding the ability to use and understand nonverbal communication provides the necessary foundation for building meaningful dynamic communication. Just as a neuro-typical infant begins by communicating nonverbally, going back and teaching this mode of communication for children who may have missed this step is the foundation for productive communication throughout

Telling a child, "look at my face," or showing a child several pictures of people 's faces and having him/her identify the emotions he sees is not a natural way to work on nonverbal communication. Spending time doing activities with the child where the adult uses very little verbal communication but is communicating through nonverbal channels, is an effective way to begin introducing nonverbal communication. Playing games where you have changed the rules slightly so as to use only nonverbal communication can also be a fun and more natural way of working on nonverbal communication. For example, you might play Simon Says, using a made up signal for when Simon says to do something. Playing charades can also be a fun way to work on nonverbal communication in a natural context. Take a walk with your child; but instead of saying, "hey look at that dog," you might pause, point and vocalise, "oh" with a rising inflexion to draw attention. There are many ways to work on nonverbal communication that can be explored and used to build this critical foundational piece of