over 700 square feet of our house!

- Annie
D. B/

References
MacDonald, J., & Stoika, P. (2007).
Play to Talk. Madison, WI: Kiddo Publishing
Mahoney, G., & Perales, F. (2005).
Relationship-focused early intervention with children with pervasive developmental disorders and other disabilities: a comparative study. De-

In a responsive approach,
the parent focuses on the
childs strengths and responds to any behavior the
child can do. The parent encourages the child to practice
many times and may stretch
him a little further by adding a
step. The child learns something new in every interaction, feels successful, and is
motivated to stay and learn
more. (MacDonald & Stoika, 2007)

velopmental and behavioral pediatrics, 26(2), 77-85.

Responsive Teaching International
Responsive Teaching Principles:

Developmental

Play-based

Child-centered

Meet them where theyre at

Follow childs lead

All communication attempts responded to as meaningful

Parent & child interactions

based on childs interest and
attention (FCLC orientation slides,
2014)

Outreach. (2007). The responsive

teaching curriculum for parent and
professionals Retrieved from
www.responsiveteaching.org

RESPONSIVE
TEACHING
FALL 2014
Intervention Researcher:
Shannon Lesnak

Interactive Behaviors and

Strategies
Balance Get into my childs world,
take one turn and wait, take turns
that are same length, give wait time.
Strategy: play back and forth with
sounds. Child learns to enjoy being
with people just to be with them, not
to satisfy needs.

What is Responsive
Teaching?
Responsive Teaching is an intervention curriculum
with 66 strategies that help children with delays
and disabilities learn interactive behaviors that are
the building blocks to cognitive, communication,
and social-emotional development. Parents can
easily practice responsive teaching strategies with
their child during the normal routines they already
do each day. Responsive teaching helps children
become more involved in exploring, practicing,
interacting, and communicating in their world.
(www.responsiveteaching.org)

Research Based
In a one year study, 50 children with developmental delays and disabilities achieved dramatic increases in development after responsive teaching
intervention, including:
60% Cognitive
167% Expressive
138% Receptive
Increases for the 20 children in the study that had
autism or severe behavior delays included:
21% social emotional
28% social competence
37% Atypical behavior (Mahoney & Perales, 2005)

Match Do actions your child can do,

use sounds and words your child
can say. Strategy: Imitate childs
sounds as they do them for a few
turns, then change the sound slightly
to show next developmental step.
Responsive Reply immediately to
childs movements, sounds, or words
with your own. Strategy: Respond to
unintentional sounds, facial displays,
or gestures as if they were a meaningful conversation
Shared Control Child and parent
both make choices and lead interaction about half the time. Strategy:
give child opportunity to make choices, communicate without asking
questions.
Playful & Affirming Be playful, lighthearted, relaxed, & fun. Strategies:
Be animated and more interesting
than childs distractions. (MacDonald &
Stoika, 2007)

Why Is Responsive
Teaching important?
When parents of children with developmental delays or disabilities are
worried about their child meeting his
developmental targets, they often become more directive and tell their
child what he is doing wrong. Research shows that children make
greater gains in development when
parents use a responsive vs. directive style. Responsive teaching
helps parents become more responsive and less directive when spending time with their child. Parents
must first enter their childs world and
meet them where they are in their development, then they can help them
reach the next developmental step.
(MacDonald & Stoika, 2007)
Levels of Communication
Responsive teaching strategies help
parents to start on the childs current
level and guide children as they go
through each stage.
1. Turn Taking back and-forth style
with others
2. Nonverbal - child conveys clear
messages using gestures or sounds
3. Social Language words are used
socially, not just to get needs met
4. Conversation back and forth style
with language (MacDonald & Stoika, 2007)