Functional Communication Curriculums for Speech Therapy

Comprehensive Plans for Helping Children Communicate their Basic Wants and Needs

Our comprehensive curriculums for functional communication make it easy to help children learn to communicate their basic wants and needs to others.  This page will show you what’s included and who would benefit from this program.

Functional Communication Curriculums for Speech Therapy

Who’s it For?

  • Children and teens who struggle to take turns or share activities with others

  • Those who struggle to express basic wants and needs

  • Those who repeat things they’ve heard others say or quote shows/videos

  • Those who have trouble following directions and routines

  • Those who use alternative means to communicate with others (behaviors, sign language, pictures, communication devices, etc.)

Who Can Use It?

  • Speech-Language Pathologists and Professionals

  • Speech Language Therapy Assistants and SLPAs

  • Parents and Caregivers

  • Teachers and Educators

Choose your Curriculum:

Early Interactions

First Words

Shaping Echolalia
(For Gestalt Language Processors)

Augmentative/Alternative Communication (AAC)

Early Interactions Curriculum:

Signs:

  • Does not allow others to take turns with them in play
  • Does not pay attention to others who try to interact with them
  • Does not respond to others or turn when their name is called
  • Struggles to follow one-step directions
  • Struggles to follow multi-step directions
  • Struggles to follow and participate in familiar routines
  • Struggles to handle new routines or changes in routine
  • Does not answer simple questions, such as “yes/no” questions or “do you want ____ or ____?”
  • Does not engage in early social routines, such as peek-a-boo, high fives, or greetings

Levels:

This Curriculum is broken down into three levels:

Early Interactions Curriculum for Functional Communication

Beginner Level:

Building Awareness and Engagement
(Ages 9-15 mos and beyond)

  • Responding to Name
  • Joint Attention
  • Basic Turn Taking

Intermediate Level:

Understanding and Responding to Communication
(Ages 1-2 yrs and beyond)

  • Following Basic Directions
  • Answering Yes/No Questions
  • Making a Choice Between two Options

Advanced Level:

Expanding Social Participation and Interaction
(Ages 1-3 yrs and beyond)

  • Participating in Early Social Routines
  • Increasing Interaction Length
  • Answering Wh- Questions

* Age ranges represent when children typically master these skills. However, older children/teens who are missing these skills may still need to work on them as well.

First Words Curriculum (For Analytic Language Processors):

Signs:

  • Uses single words to communicate (e.g., “milk,” “ball,” “go”) rather than long, memorized phrases.
  • Shows a gradual buildup of vocabulary, learning one word at a time instead of repeating whole scripts.
  • May attempt to combine words into short phrases as their vocabulary grows (e.g., “want cookie,” “big truck”).
  • Does not rely on echolalia or repeating scripts to communicate.

Levels:

This Curriculum is broken down into three levels:

First Words Curriculum for Speech/Language Therapy

Beginner Level:

Encouraging First Words
(Any Age)

  • Modeling language in a way that supports language development
  • Vocabulary-building activities

Intermediate Level:

Producing Early Word Shapes
(Ages 1-3 yrs and beyond)

  • Imitating Actions and Sound Effects
  • Imitating and Producing CV, VC, and CVC Words (like “no”, “up”, and “dog”)

Advanced Level:

Expanding Vocabulary and Combining Words
(Ages 1.5-3 yrs and beyond)

  • Building an Expressive Vocabulary of First 50 Words
  • Producing 2-Word Utterances

* Age ranges represent when children typically master these skills. However, older children/teens who are missing these skills may still need to work on them as well.

Shaping Echolalia Curriculum (For Gestalt Language Processors):

Signs:

  • Speaks in full phrases or scripts they’ve heard before (e.g., from a show or caregiver).
  • Uses melodic speech with varying intonation but may have unclear articulation.
  • May sound like they’re “speaking gibberish” with lots of emotion or intonation variability.
  • Repeats phrases the same way every time they say it (e.g., says “Do you want it?” to request something because they’ve heard others say it to them).
  • Loves songs, quotes, and categories like numbers, letters, or shapes.
  • Likes to play the same way every time or seems to re-enact the same scenes over again.
  • May get upset when others try to change the play or the routine.

Levels:

This Curriculum is broken down into three levels:

Shaping Echolalia Curriculum for Gestalt Language Processors

Beginner Level:

Using Early Gestalts
(Ages 1.5-3.5 yrs and beyond)

  • Finding meaning in echolalia
  • Modeling gestalts

Intermediate Level:

Mitigated Gestalts
(Ages 2.5-5 yrs and beyond)

  • Breaking Down Gestalts
  • Recombining Pieces of Different Gestalts

Advanced Level:

Developing Self-Generated Language
(Ages 3-7 yrs and beyond)

  • Using Single Words
  • Combining Words Together to Build Longer Utterances

* Age ranges represent when children typically master these skills. However, older children/teens who are missing these skills may still need to work on them as well.

Augmentative/Alternative Communication (AAC) Curriculum:

Signs:

  • Uses gestures/behaviors to express what they want/need
  • Uses sign language to express what they want/need
  • Will point to pictures to show what they want/need
  • Can use a communication device or other type of Alternative/Augmentative Communication (AAC) system to express what they want/need
  • Speech is very hard to understand and/or they are making slow progress toward intelligible speech
  • Gets frustrated because speech is not easily understood or seems upset that they aren’t speaking like others

Levels:

This Curriculum is broken down into three levels:

AAC Curriculum for Speech/Language Therapy

Beginner Level:

Using AAC for Basic Communication
(Ages 2-4 yrs and beyond)

  • Modeling Core Vocabulary Words on an AAC Device/System
  • Using Core Words on an AAC Device/System to Communicate Basic Wants and Needs

Intermediate Level:

Expanding AAC Use to Different Communicative Functions
(Ages 3-5 yrs and beyond)

  • Using AAC to communicate: rejection, recurrence, actions, descriptors, possession, locatives, self-advocacy

Advanced Level:

Using AAC for Independent Functional Communication
(Ages 4-6 yrs and beyond)

  • Using AAC Throughout the Day and Expanding Language Skills with the AAC Device/System

* Age ranges represent when children typically master these skills. However, older children/teens who are missing these skills may still need to work on them as well.