Pacing refers to anything the partner does to alter the timing of the interaction to allow the student with complex communication needs (CCN) to participate, practice a target skill or access the materials. This can be something as simple as providing enough response time for a student to compose their message during an interaction. Students who use AAC tools and techniques may need increased response time to express their desired intent, especially when learning a new mode of expression, learning a new communicative function or learning a new operational skill.
Partners who are unaccustomed to interacting with someone who uses AAC may need to be taught to adjust their conversational pace and observe the student to know when they are trying to enter into the conversation (Blackstone 2008). Allowing 5 seconds of silence after speaking can signal to the student an opportunity to respond. Appropriate pacing is particularly important for beginning communicators who are just learning how their actions are interpreted by others.
At The Bridge School, partners (professionals, instructional assistants, parents, peers, etc.) learn to wait and watch during play or conversation with emergent communicators, to observe and reinforce intentional and communicative behaviors.
Aidan participates in a class reading of “Too Much Noise” by Ann McGovern. His SLP uses the strategies of waiting and pausing to provide enough time for Aidan to participate. He is practicing auditory scanning and his SGD is intentionally positioned on his left to break up a strong motor pattern.
Time delay
Time delay is a specific pacing procedure where the adult intentionally waits expectantly when the student shows an interest in something, rather than using a specific prompt or model. In this instance, the natural context serves as the cue for the child to communicate. A time delay sequence has several steps: 1) face the child with an expectant facial expression while showing something of interest to the student or something that gains the child access to a desired activity, 2) establish and maintain eye contact and wait a specified time period for the child to initiate a communicative bid, 3) if the child does not initiate within the time frame, model the desired communication behavior and then wait, 4) if the child responds appropriately, provide the desired item while praising the child and providing a label and an expansion of his or her production 5) if the response is incorrect, provide a corrective model (e.g., say “more”) and then give the child the item or access to an activity.
Waiting
Waiting is a simple and effective strategy where the adult uses a slower pace during conversation, actively listens to the child and does not dominate the interaction. The adult waits to see what behaviors the child produces and then responds.
Pausing
Pausing is another technique where the adult changes the rate of spoken input to the child. The adult can pause expectantly during interactions, either before, during or after providing language input. Adding pauses in the adult’s speech while looking at the child (and or the object of interest) with raised eyebrows and a smile encourages the child to take communicative turns and actively participate in interactions of increasing length. This is also known as expectant delay.
