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Lights!
Camera! Language!
The video camera is running and Jermayne
Teran's face is all lit up as he dives toward the puppet in
his mother's hand. This is the Video Interaction Project in
action, and its goal is to find ways that Jermayne and dozens
of other infants and toddlers can achieve better language skills
and be ready to succeed when they enter school.
One
of the things that Bellevue's pediatricians know about children
who are behind in language development is that there often is
not as much stimulation at home - there aren't many toys and
other objects to play with and parents are not interacting with
their youngsters with as great frequency as children who develop
language more rapidly.
The Video Project identifies babies at birth
and provides opportunities at every well-child checkup (until
the baby is 3 years old) for mother and child to meet with
a Child Life Specialist. During the session, the youngster
receives a new toy, selected to encourage language development
for children of that age. The specialist videos the mother
and child playing with the new toy and talk about their interactions
and the possibilities for play that the new toy holds.
When Child Life Specialist Florenzia Catanzara
replays the video of Jermayne and his mother Neichma, she
points out the ways in which their interactions are strengthening
his development. Ms. Catanzara especially likes the way puppets
stimulate language development in children Jermayne's age
- 8 months. "The puppet has a face and movement,"
she says, "and the natural thing is for mommy to pretend
the puppet is talking."
Paula Tepoz, mother of 18-month-old Ivan,
looks forward to these sessions at every visit. "He has
fun and I have a memory to take home with me," she said.
Each session is recorded on the same videotape. The child's
growth and development is apparent and, often, the whole family
looks at it.
The Video Interaction Project is in a three-year
research phase - of 150 families enrolled, all will be tested
at regular intervals but only half of the mothers and children
will have video and play sessions with the Child Life Specialists.
While it is too early to know how the children's language
skills are developing, there is more reading and less television-watching
taking place in the homes of children who are being videotaped
- and their mothers are demonstrating far lower levels of
stress.
The Pediatrics and Child Life departments
hope that, when the research phase is complete, they will
have a program that and will help children who are at risk
for language delay to develop optimally and will be easy to
replicate in pediatricians' offices.
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