We'll begin with a description of the tool, outlining why and how we can use it at home. We'll then move on to a series of strategies to enhance the method and, consequently, our children's language development at home. Ready? Let's get to it!
First, I would like to explain to you why we find so many difficulties in the development of language in our children with difficulties: whether it is autism, developmental delays, specific language disorders, both receptive and expressive, etc. We know How difficult it is and how necessary it is to develop a linguistic immersion to acquire a language And ultimately, that's the process our children have to go through. So, imagine how difficult, and sometimes impossible, it is to stop the impact and language with just weekly therapy sessions, one or two times a week. Add to that the difficulty that comes from the disorder, the lack of development, and all the symptoms that accompany these children. That's why the issue of time is one of the greatest difficulties that prevents this language and communication from developing, which translates into intensity to be able to have a real impact on children's lives at the language level.
We must not leave aside another very important aspect, which is the motivational aspect in that development process. Many times in therapy we make progress but it may not be significant learning for the child, and therefore we lose them over time. Another issue we face is that they only occur during the session and are not generalized at home. Therefore, finding a treatment methodology that is motivating for children is an essential requirement for medium- and long-term success with these significant learning experiences.
Thus is born the VICON Method, where it is not just a tool that, if established at home and/or in the classroom, the two most important enclaves for the child, we can have an intensive and significant impact on the child, on the family and the resources available to help them, as well as the resources available to teachers who are more specialized in natural pedagogy than in therapeutics. The VICON Method is put online because it is truly motivating for children. It is a program based on music therapy, video modeling and ABA methodology as it is a step-by-step, evolutionary program that awakens the emotions of our little ones, generating learning that transcends the medium and long term.
Methodological bases on which the VICON Method is based
It is a program of structured and intensive learning for children of one visual and musical profile, to try to enhance early development through to more elaborate communication. In this way, it's a therapeutic tool in video format, which is the ideal complementary resource for all our children with special educational needs, whether at home, during class, or during class.
It is based on video modeling, that is, it makes us available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, as we said it is motivating For our little ones, it's versatile. In other words, it's simple, convenient, and provides the intensive component so necessary to truly impact language.
The music therapy It is the preferred medium for our little ones, it is where they do not find that difference that separates them from others. Well, they respond to musical stimuli before any other kind of stimulus., which facilitates all the processes of attention, imitation, memory and concentration... without leaving aside the whole issue of social relationships and learning that we can develop through music.
How does the brain work when learning?
I'm not going to go into too much detail, but it's very important that we have an idea of what brain function means when learning. That's where aspects of brain plasticity come into play, and for example, through music we reach the language area from another hemisphere that's generally not affected. Since it's a medium that children love when they're watching our videos, it directly affects what the mirror neurons. Which are what make those language automatisms move.
That's why our children open their mouths when the video image opens their mouths. That's why they say words when the video says words and do what the video represents. Exposure to videos is high because they need many opportunities to learn. Let's keep in mind that language begins as a game, an automatism, something spontaneous, and once it evolves and develops, it ends up being functional and social. This process is not instantaneous but requires time. So the medium in which the The VICON Method encourages curiosity and fun, giving us the attention we need to lay the first foundations for learning.
Who is the VICON Method intended for?
The method is directed to families, educational centers and therapeutic care centers, as a tool to provide care, prevention and treatment for these learning difficulties, and specifically in language learning.
If a child doesn't learn the way we teach, perhaps we should teach them the way they learn. How many non-verbal children have we encountered who have learned their words, even if it's just 4, from YouTube videos, in English, songs, movie dialogues...?
With the Method, we have not only found an intensive tool that provides resources for families, teachers, and everyone who cares for the child. It's also even more effective because of its digital component. We mustn't forget that for many children with communication difficulties, interaction with others is the moment when they feel most uncomfortable and exposed, and learning language that must be intentional and social seems a truly impossible task.
Strategies to enhance language development with the VICON Method at home
Below, we're going to give a series of tips we can do at home to enhance this language development, always from the perspective of motivation, without forgetting the time so that all these skills are developed in depth and step by step, so that I don't stumble.
It first What we have to do when we have to follow a strategy is start observing. Observe the child, what their abilities are, what their difficulties are, how much language they have, what they like, what they can't stand, do they have any behaviors they want to work on... We need to be very clear about this reality when we begin working. We're going to be working on a specific child, and we need to be very clear about our priorities, in terms of goals, and what we can leverage to help us achieve them.
On the other hand, we will have to observe our surroundings very well, whether in the classroom or at home, because simply by implementing strategies to change the environment we can promote better development, a more orderly, more stimulating and more effective environment for that child.
It helps a lot if you can record it. Anything measurable should be written down so you can see progress over time.
We have to keep in mind that we are a team with our child, and that we must therefore work together. Therefore, we will achieve twice the strength, twice the intensity, and walk with twice the power if we are two than if we are just one.
One of the most important and effective strategies to develop communication is to bring children home.That is, foster a social environment, as controlled as possible, where we can influence changes in that communication and put into practice everything we develop on a daily basis with real children.
Then it is also very important to start with what motivates him.If we don't start with what motivates you, it's going to be very difficult to achieve anything, and we also have to consider what motivates us and what motivates our entire team, depending on all the people involved in the intervention or activity we're proposing at that moment. Like that list of favorite things, those abilities our child has that we have to use to our advantage, those first words they already have are our key to the next.
Many times we tend to work on the appearance of new words. However, for me The great success is to continue working on what we have, strengthening. Giving him more experience and waiting because new words will come without us realizing it, and above all, without him realizing it.
This way, It is very important to go step by step, and there are some milestones that we cannot skip. Working on eye contact, the fact that when I look at him he looks at me, is the starting point of attention and you should almost dedicate 70% of your time to reinforcing this fact, because that is what will bring us the sustained tension for the first learnings.
Another very interesting aspect is that of signage., where not all children develop signaling skills, but if we do, it won't be a huge leap in communication and will save us a lot of anxiety and frustration in knowing what they want, what bothers them, what they don't want...
The third vital process in learning is object permanence, that is, the being able to hide objects and find them. Try, as always, to take everything step by step, for example, going from something partially hidden to something completely hidden because what we're trying to do is draw attention to the skill.
When you have children with learning difficulties, it's very important to measure those intermediate processes that take place as supports for developing the skill, and also to have the ability to identify them when there is a learning difficulty.
Finally, and with the concentration that we have gained, in this attention phase, we come to the most important part of learning, which is imitationFor us, imitation is essential, and in the VICON method, it takes on enormous importance in order to enable them to learn independently. If we had to teach them everything, we would be stuck forever, but if they are capable of mastering the skills to copy from their environment and learn on their own: a behavior, a skill, a word... the learning process will be real.
We promise a second post where we'll cover more important aspects of how to use the Method at home. In the meantime, we invite you to find all the information you need on our social media and in our blog.