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Posted by holly on 4/19/2009, 11:21 pm, in reply to "Adult with Down Syndrome"
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Conversational skills can be limited, depending on the level of MR. If the client has the ability to comment on pictures in a magazine, or sitting beside you as you look at video's on youTube, or sports news if this is his interest, then I think you can improve conversation skills. Develop a 3-4 sentence conversation per topic, add new topics each session, but continue to review the old. I have used a shoebox with cut-out headlines with the 5 sentences stapled to the headline, but you can also use pictures that cue his recall and then use sentences or vocabulary words that fit that story. It is like building in litle topics. I like to use current interests as well as general common interests (movies, weather, sports, positive news items, local news). Vocabulary is tied right in to the topic. Try to use topic specific 'new' words and teach him what they mean in 2-3 contexts when possible. Have his parents plan an educational outing (museum) and for 2-3 sessions before he goes, work on the vocabulary (statue, sculpture, oil or watercolor painting, display, etc.) When he goes to the museum, have his parents prepped to cue him but to also allow him to converse with other visitors. This will take many sessions, so get organized to give the parents 4-5 times as much homework as you can accomplish in one session. Repetition is a MUST.
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