

It Takes Two to Talk® — The Hanen Program® for Parents of Children with Language Delays
The It Takes Two to Talk Program is designed specifically for parents of young children (birth to 5 years of age) who have been identified as having a language delay. In a small, personalized group setting, parents learn practical strategies to help their children learn language naturally throughout their day together.
The It Takes Two to Talk Program teaches you, step-by-step, how to become your child’s most important language teacher. The program shows you how to:
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Recognize your child’s stage and style of communication so that you know which steps to take next
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Identify what motivates your child to interact with you so you’ll know how to get conversations started
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Adjust everyday routines to help your child take turns and keep interactions going
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Follow your child’s lead to build his confidence and encourage him to communicate
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Add language to interactions with your child to help him understand language and then use it when he is ready
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Tweak the way you play and read books with your child to help him learn language
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Change the way you speak to your child so that he’ll understand and learn new words
Program components
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6-8 training sessions for parents in small, personalized groups
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A Hanen Certified speech-language pathologist leading the program
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A pre-program consultation for you and your child with the speech-language pathologist
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Three individual visits for you and your child with the speech-language pathologist in which you are videotaped while practicing strategies to help your child achieve specific communication goals. You and the speech-language pathologist then watch the videotaped interaction to “see” what’s helping your child and what you can modify to help even more.
Heather Simpson, M.S. CCC-SLP is a Hanen® Certified speech-language pathologist.