January 30, 2023 · 1:27 · Feedback
Tell Them to "Fix It"
When a child who mostly has a target misses it, Nicole borrows a phrase from Dr. Edythe Strand, "fix it," which tells them to try again while showing that she believes they can.
Full transcript
Nicole here, coming in from the NYU Motor Speech Lab with your Monday tidbit. Today I just wanted to share a really fun, easy way to give feedback to your kid who is really on the way to getting a target word.
This is a kid you've been working with already, and they have it, and then sometimes they don't have it. So maybe you're doing direct imitation, and they have it, they have it, they have it, and then they don't have it.
Dr. Strand taught me this: you tell them to fix it. In that moment, they say the target wrong, you say "fix it," and then they know to try again. And they know what tools they need to use to attain this target, because you have been working on them for a very long time at this point.
"Fix it" is a really wonderful thing to say, because it implies that you believe in them. It's a sneaky way of telling them that they didn't get it, which they know, and you know. But it's also a way of saying, "You didn't get it that time, but I believe that you can do it, so I need you to just fix it."
I have used this with so much success. Dr. Strand said it one day in a meeting we had, and I thought, "That's genius," and I use it every time. Try it.
