Communicating Partners: Child Goals

Child Goals

The Social Dimension

Interactive Life: To what degree does the child socially interact with people?
- Mixes well with people.
- Seeks others' attention.
- Responds to others.
- Intiates contact with others.
- Stays voluntarily in interactions.
- Prefers interacting with people.
- Notices others' presence.
- Prefers people over things.
- Shows acute awareness of others.
Imitative Life: To what degree does the child follow others' behavior models?>
- Imitates people immediately.
- Imitates people at a later time.
- Learns from watching others.
- Imitates with meaning.
- Imitates occasionally but appropriately.
Turntaking Life: To what degree does the child give and take with others and act reciprocally, back-and-forth?
- Plays interactive role, taking turns regularly.
- Allows partner to take turns.
- Waits for others to interact.
- Stays taking turns back-and-forth.

The Sensory Motor/ Play Dimension

Play Life with Things: To what degree does child play with things and people meaningfully?
- Plays with things in meaningful ways.
- Plays with different actions, changing regularly.
- Plays with clear and different purposes.
- Plays with things in appropriate ways.
- Plays with things as well as people.
- Plays with people without toys.
- Plays in changing, creative ways.
Play Life with People: To what degree does the child play meaningfully with people?
- Plays with others as well as by himself.
- Plays pretend with people.
- Plays in changing, creative ways with people. (not only in repetitive, routine ways)
- Plays with people by themselves without things.
- Plays mainly for enjoyment. (not just to get a task done)
Sensory and Movement Life: To what degree does a child sense and move in adaptive ways?
- Responds to sounds appropriately.
- Responds to touch appropriately.
- Responds to visual stimulation appropriately.
- Adapts to changes easily.
- Shows appropriate reactions to strong stimulation.
- Moves in appropriate ways. (not in nonfunctional movements)
- Acts in socially acceptable ways.
- Repeats movements only in appropriate ways. (not highly repetitive ways)

The Communicative Dimension

Nonverbal Communicative Life: To what degree does child communicate without words?
- Regularly initiates messages nonverbally.
- Regularly responds to others' communications.
- Communicates mainly with physical contacts.
- Communicates with more than physical contacts.
- Communicates with mainly gestures or signs.
- Communicates with more than gestures.
- Communicates mainly with unintelligible sounds.
- Communicates with intelligible sounds.
- Communicates in socially appropriate ways.
Speech and Language Life: To what degree does child communicate with words?
- Uses words regularly.
- Uses new words regularly.
- Uses many words together.
- Talks only to get needs met.
- Talks for other reasons than to get needs met.
- Directs talk to others (not only to self)
- Talks about self and others. (not only about self)
- Talks in appropriate amounts. (does not talk excessively or in monologue)
- Talks easily for social reasons.
- Takes turns talking with others. (does not dominate conversation)
- Speaks in ways other understand.
- Imitates others' speech developmentally.
- Initiates occasionally but not excessively.
- Uses language appropriately.
Conversation Life
- Stays on topics in conversation.
- Shares others' topics of conversation.
- Stays in conversations for extended exchanges.
- Has conversations about appropriate topics.
- Enjoys conversations.
- Stays on a topic appropriately.
- Allows others to talk in conversations.
- Considers the partner's perspective.
Literacy Life
- Enjoys/ pursues the written word.
- Enjoys/ pursues pictures and signs.
- Enjoys/ pursues drawings and physical literacy.
- Attends to books appropriately for extended time.
- Enjoys being read to.
- Allows and enjoys reading with others.
- Reads words.
- Reads easily on his own.
- Has conversations with others using books.
- Reads print in environment.
- Tells stories.
- Interacts and pursues computers.
- Practices and enjoys writing.

The Emotional and Civil Dimension

Civil and Cooperative Life: To what degree does the child treat others with cooperation and civility?
- Complies with certain forms of discipline.
- Cooperates with others.
- Asserts self appropriately.
- Treats self with respect.
- Respects others' feelings.
- Behaves predictably and with forethought.
- Regulates own behavior well.
- Attends without obsessing.
- Regulates his compulsions.
- Treats people with respect.
- Treats others with kindness.
- Actively helps and supports others.
- Plays constructively.
- Successfully controls his behavior.
Emotional and Empathetic Life: To what degree does the child express his emotions and empathize with people?

Keeps calm and composed.
Expresses emotion appropriately.
Shows adequate range of emotions.
Shows humor, both giving and getting it.
Makes people happy and laughing.
Shows affection appropriately.
Shows appropriate fears.
Shows empathy for others' feelings.
Accepts affection appropriately.

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Communicate With Your Child

Child Goals

The Social Dimension

The Sensory Motor/ Play Dimension

The Communicative Dimension

The Emotional and Civil Dimension