Developing your child’s joint attention skills

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Developing your child's joint attention skills.

What is Joint Attention?

Joint attention involves sharing a focus with another person by looking at and sending a message about the same object or something that is happening.

Why is developing joint attention important?

Joint attention is a really important foundation skill to develop communication and interaction skills further. 

At the moment your child may be:

• Finding attention and listening tricky
• Sharing brief interactions with you
• Following their own agenda
• Not consistently responding to their name
• Preferring to play alone
• Not using any words yet
• Reaching for an item or look at it or to request it

Working on your child’s joint attention skills will be the next step.

How do we work on these skills?

Working together with you as a family is the most effective way to develop these skills; you know your child best.

Whats next?

A 2-hour Parent/carer workshop followed by 3-4 sessions at home with a Speech and Language Therapy Assistant. Your child will then be reviewed by a Speech and Language Therapist to determine the next steps.

Step 1: You will be sent a choose and book letter with workshop dates; please call the number on the letter to book a place on the workshop.

You need to be able to commit to all 3 parts of the pathway (the workshop, the sessions at home & the follow up appointment)

If this is not the right time for you, please contact your Speech and Language Therapist to discuss further.

Parent/carer Workshop

The workshop is for parents/carers only. It will last 2 hours (please arrive 10 minutes before the start time). Please do not bring your child to the session.
You will have an opportunity to meet other parents/carers whose children are at the same stage with their communication development.
During the workshop, we will share key strategies to try at home. You will have opportunity to make a written plan with a Speech and Language Therapist to take away with you.

Sessions at Home

A Speech and Language Therapy Assistant will arrange 3-4 sessions at home. They will go over the strategies covered and personalise them further to your child. Please have your written plan from the workshop and some of your child’s interests and favourite toys/items out ready for these sessions.
Once you have had some practice using these strategies throughout your daily life, we will arrange a follow up appointment.

Follow up Appointment

This will be a play-based session and an opportunity for you to share how you and your child have been getting on with the strategies.
The next steps will then be planned. We may suggest continuing with the current programme and your child may be discharged or you may need further sessions to extend your child’s skills further if they are ready for this.

What if you can’t attend this workshop?

Please ring to let us know so that we can discuss your particular needs. It may be that you will have to wait for the next workshop.

What if you book on a workshop but then can’t attend?

Let us know in advance of the workshop and your child will remain on our follow-up waiting list until we run the next workshop.
If you do not let us know that you cannot attend, your child will be discharged from our service.

This leaflet only gives general information. You must always discuss the individual treatment of your child with the appropriate member of staff. Do not rely on this leaflet alone for information about your child’s treatment.

This information can be made available in other languages and formats if requested.

Please have a look at our virtual map prior to your visit.  Here you will find:

• 360° walk-through of over 188,000 square feet of Alder Hey captured in 4K.
• 156 interactive ‘hotspots’.
• 74 videos explaining what happens when you have a procedure or arrive for an appointment.
• Virtual signage to help you find your way around.

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