Perspectives Winter/Spring 2018

50 Nova Southeastern University Speech-Language Pathology Fort Lauderdale Progressive Program Conducts Social/Pragmatics Group for Children By Kelly Gillespie, M.S., CCC-SLP, Clinical Supervisor and Instructor, and Jennifer O’Brien, M.S., CCC-SLP, Clinical Supervisor and Instructor SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGISTS play a critical role in the screening, diagnosis, and treatment of language disorders. Language is a complex system made of five essential components: syntax, morphology, phonology, semantics, and pragmatics. Pragmatic problems can lower social acceptance, as well as children’s development of friendships with others. Peers may avoid having conversations with an individual who possesses a pragmatic disorder. Children struggling with the rules of language may benefit from direct instruction on how to engage others in a social setting or how to participate in a conversation. Because pragmatics are dependent upon the subtleties of social situations, it is often difficult to address these skills in individual therapy with a speech-language pathologist. To address this need, graduate students in the NSU Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology Program developed a Social Pragmatic Group (SPG) for children ages 5 to 7 years. The SPG is made up of 3 to 5 children, who meet once a week for 60 minutes, and is led by speech-language pathol- ogy graduate students. The students are clinically supervised by two licensed speech-language pathologists who have experience in teaching social skills and promoting pragmatic language. The group’s goal is to provide young children with opportunities to develop social and language skills in a small group setting. Each group utilizes structured and less- structured activities to foster a solid foundation in pragmatic communication. During sessions, children learn to engage in cooperative play, problem solve, follow directions, join in group activities, initi- ate conversation, take turns, ask for help, and transition from one activity to another. In addition, they learn to recognize and respond appropriately to others’ feelings, appropriately express their own feelings, and expand their verbal and nonverbal communication skills. Vital for Communication The area of pragmatics focuses on how we use language within a social context. It involves what we say and how we say it. Body language, tone and volume of voice, and facial expressions are vital for communicating our message. Each day, we use our pragmatic language abilities to navigate through many interactions. Appropriate pragmatic skills develop over time, and development is dependent on factors such as joint attention, perspective taking, comprehension, and interest in social interactions. The following are some examples of how we use our prag- matic language each day to interact appropriately with others. Example 1: Joanna stops to ask her supervisor a quick ques- tion about an upcoming deadline. When she gets to her supervisor’s office, she notices the door is open, but her