Practical Pragmatics – Feelings and Emotions

Therapists and teachers are familiar with the idea of using visual strategies to support children with learning difficulties, communication needs and/or those with Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Practical Pragmatics provides practical ideas that can be used in everyday settings in school or at home and is suitable for a wide age and ability range.

Practical Pragmatics consists of four sections, each with clear instructions and examples:

• Emotions/Feelometer – a comprehensive set of games and work sheets to develop the vocabulary and understanding of emotions.
• Behaviour Tool kit – a fun, visual kit that can be personalised for a variety of targets. Most children require frequent verbal prompts and visual clues to help them remember their individual communication or behavioural targets. The tool kit provides the opportunity to develop a personalised system which can be used by the child, their parents and teaching staff in a variety of settings.
• Conversational Planner –enables children to organise and rehearse appropriate language and behaviour to use in a wide variety of settings. This will lead to increased confidence and reduce the incidence of misinterpretation and breakdown of communication.
• Magic Circle – a useful visual strategy to help children ‘break out’ of repetitive behaviours that cause conflict or distress.
• Games and practical visual strategies for teachers and therapists to use with children who have behavioural and/or communication difficulties. Instructions and examples are provided. (Jed is obsessively interested in moths and constantly talks about them in class. He therefore, is always ‘off topic’, doesn’t listen to the teacher and rarely finishes his tasks).

Aims: To help children recognise and manage their emotions; to rehearse and prepare for conversation; to break the cycle of repetitive challenging behaviour.

Age Range: 6yrs. – 11yrs.+. KS1 – KS2+.

Format: PDF file, 5 pages of instructions, 33 pages of exercises.