The University of
Texas Dallas Callier Center for Communication Disorders recently
ran Camp Interact, an opportunity for children with communication deficits to
learn how to handle situations they will be presented with in the upcoming
school year.
“They're not great at
reading other people's body language or facial expressions, so they might take
a message literally when it's not meant to be,” Callier Center
Speech-Language Pathologist Rachel Wehner, the camp’s director, said. “A lot of times
they might also have trouble when they don't get their way – more so than other
kids their age might have…We work on peer interaction, conversation skills,
working together in a group, problem-solving and emotional regulation
skills, And we do it in a kind of camp environment so they have
more time to practice.”
The camp is
structured, in terms of length and patterns, like a typical elementary school
day, allowing students to practice the skills they are using while learning and
taking part in activities like visits from the fire department and a
robotics expert from UT Dallas. On the last day of the camp, parents visited
and met with counselors to learn about the strategies their children had
learned.
“If the parent or
teacher encounters a similar difficulty, she can say, ‘What size is this
problem? What strategy can you use? Or are you being a thinking-of-others
person? Are you a flexible thinker?’” Wehner said. “Hopefully the children will
automatically think back to what they did at camp and be able to calm or
regulate whatever it is that they're struggling with.”
More Stories
- Omnibus package needed to support front-line university research on COVID-19
- AACC president recognized with leadership award
- BERRY COLLEGE: Online Add/Drop for Cleared Returning Students Opens at 8am
- ANDREWS UNIVERSITY: Thoughtful Thursday to be Held January 14
- Ross, Showalter: Education and Employment promise can help future generations survive
- AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: 32nd Annual Ann Ferren Conference
- EASTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY: Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer appoints Nathan K. Ford and Dr. Jessie Kimbrough Marshall to the Eastern Michigan University Board of Regents
- EASTER MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY: Read President Smith's Dec. 18 update to campus, which includes information about advising over break and the announcement of two personal wellness days in March
- BERRY COLLEGE: Prayer & Share for Women
- ADTALEM GLOBAL EDUCATION INC.: Adtalem Global Education Named One of America's Most Responsible Companies by Newsweek