Introduction To Providing Help

Help is verbal, nonverbal and physical assistance given to help your child learn and to help your child develop a skill. When help is offered for these reasons, it is often called a prompt. Help makes it easier for a child to perform a skill more correctly, more completely or more independently.

It is important to remember that help is a temporary support. As your child learns a skill, you should gradually decrease the help you offer until your child doesn't need it anymore.

BEHAVIORS AND SITUATIONS THAT MIGHT CALL FOR HELP

Usually, there are four possible combinations of behaviors and situations that can let you know when your child needs help. The first combination is when your child isn't able to do something that others her age do. For example, when Abby tries again and again without success to cut with scissors but other children her age can use scissors successfully, she may need help.

The second combination is when your child can do something but does it at the wrong times or in the wrong places. For example, at the child care center, when Josh wanders outdoors while others are choosing indoor center activities, he may need help in learning to follow the teacher's instructions and to ask when he wants to do something.

The third combination is when a child can do something sometimes but doesn't do it at other times, even when other children do. For example, when other children in preschool play during free time but Dennis, who plays with his brothers at home, only watches or talks to the teacher, he may need help joining in.

The fourth combination is when a child often does something that seems bizarre or inappropriate. For example, when Diana, who doesn't speak, throws herself on the floor and screams both at home and in public places, she may need help learning to express her needs to others.

The reason we give help in these situations is so that children can learn something quicker and better than by trial and error. We give help so that children aren't frustrated when trying to learn something, so that they will learn to do things in the right times and places, thus avoiding embarrassment, and so that they don't learn patterns or habits that isolate them or prevent them from further learning. Help is a temporary measure. We give it to support children in becoming independent. They are independent when they can recognize what they want or need to do and do it on their own. We should plan to gradually decrease the help we give until children can do what they need to do without it. Forms of Help

There are four basic forms of help: