Supper Talk for Youth

What this program is for

The supper talk program is one devised to help children with poor or underdeveloped conversational skills.  It does this by creating a safe social context where in specific topics can be discussed and where the rhythms of talk listen talk listen can be practiced and mastered.

Steps:

1. Have each member of the family chose five topics for conversation.  If your son is interested in monsters, then have monsters as a topic.  The parent writes each topic on a slip of paper and place these slips in a jar.
2. At the evening meal once or twice a week and after everyone is finished eating, pull out the jar and a talking stick that you have made (could be a stick, a small stuffed toy or anything that one can hold easily and passed on easily.
3. Pull out a topic and pass the talking stick to the first person.  That person talks about the topic and then passes it on to the right.
4. Others can ask questions of the person with the stick but they cannot talk.  Only ask questions.
5. Parents can use this time to ask questions about feelings, intentions (why persons do what they do) and time (what happens next).  These dimensions are the ones that are the most important develop in language.
6. The talking can go around the table two or three times and then the jar and talking stick are put away until the next time.