As adults, we initiate and participate freely in conversations all day long, with many people, in multiple environments--AND QUICKLY! We think about others. We monitor their body language and facial expressions. We listen to what they say. We think of our own messages. We formulate speech sounds into words and words into sentences to convey our thoughts and needs or to respond to someone's thoughts and needs. We use our vocal intonation to alter our messages. We give cues to others about our interest level on topics and receive their cues about their interest levels. If the person signals that he doesn't quite understand, we give more information for clarification purposes. We manage our emotions and monitor others' emotions. We recognize when a speaking partner pauses, we can take a turn in a conversation. We know that we must allow others to have turns, as well. We sense when our talking turn is lasting too long because of the nonverbal signals we see happening with our partner. We also monitor our environment as this is all happening. Often times, we need to filter out the "not-so-important" parts of the environment, such as background noise. All of these things cycle around throughout the conversation, often several times. Then, when we are finished we can give or receive a cue that the interaction is coming to an end. We often will use our bodies and our words to do this. A simple wave or smile and it is done. Easy! Right? Not so much. We often take communication for granted. Many children struggle with these skills. These children deserve our guidance and support. Some children need to be directly taught how to do these things. Everyone deserves to be a successful communicator!
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