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The Empowered Parent with Dana Baltutis
Welcome to The Empowered Parent Podcast.
This podcast is a space for parents to learn, reflect, and grow.
Each week, we explore topics that help parents understand themselves and their children more deeply - from communication and connection, to supporting neurodivergent development at home and in the community.
We’ve had wonderful conversations with experts, parents, and professionals - including speakers from the Neurodivergence Wellbeing Conference, and a special series following one mum’s journey in unschooling her child.
Every episode is here to inspire curiosity, compassion, and confidence in your parenting journey.
Don’t forget to follow along, share your reflections, and join the conversation.
You can connect with me at danabaltutis.com or mytherapyhouse.com.au.
Let’s celebrate neurodivergence.
Let’s celebrate belonging.
The Empowered Parent with Dana Baltutis
Episode 63: (Nikita Pinto Speech Pathologist) : The Pre-Linguistic Journey: How Children Master Communication Before First Words
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Speech Pathologist Nikita Pinto reveals the critical pre-linguistic skills children need to develop before they can speak their first words. These foundation skills are essential building blocks that support all future communication development.
• Reacting to sounds and people in the environment forms the basis of listening and understanding
• Responding to people and turn-taking establishes the back-and-forth pattern essential for conversation
• Attention span is crucial as children need to stay focused to absorb language information
• Joint attention allows children to share experiences with caregivers about objects or events
• Playing with toys provides exploration opportunities and contexts for language learning
• Understanding familiar words precedes the ability to speak them
• Vocalizing and making different sounds develops into first words
Parents often focus exclusively on getting their child to say words, missing the importance of building connection first. Children need to hear words repeatedly in different contexts for approximately six months before they can use them meaningfully. Using facial expressions, animated voices, and body language ("affect") helps captivate children's attention and makes words "stick."
Instead of asking lots of questions, provide information by commenting and naming things in your child's environment. Use the "four-to-one rule" - offer four pieces of information before asking one question.
danabaltutis.com, mytherapyhouse.com.au, https://mytherapyhouse.com.au/your-childs-therapy-journey/ https://www.danabaltutis.com/services
Meet Speech Pathologist Nikita Pinto
Speaker 1Today I'm excited because I have our wonderful Nikita Pinto here, who is a speech language pathologist at my therapy house. Welcome to the Empowered Parent Podcast, nikita.
Speaker 2Hi Dana, Thank you so much for having me here.
Speaker 1I'm excited about it Great and I'm so happy that you're here because you love working with the little ones, and parents often bring their children to speech pathologists hoping to help them talk, but before words emerge, there's a whole world of communication happening beneath the surface, right, that's right? And you're always talking to parents about all the foundation skills, and I thought it would be great to get you on the podcast so we could reach out to more parents about what's needed. So today, nikita, I'd love to dive into what we in speech pathology world call pre-linguistic skills, so the skills that come before words develop, and what what parents can actually do to support their children's foundation pre-linguistic skills. And then communication. But before we go into techie stuff, nikita, how did you come to be a speech pathologist and, more importantly, how did you end up in Australia, so that is interesting because in year 10 I did not know what to do because I'm from India and have been there till I moved to Australia.
Speaker 2So in India you need to decide what you want to do in year 10, because that's what you're going to do in year 11 and 12. That's the path you take and it's mostly science, arts or commerce. So you kind of need to have an idea of what you want to do then and I had no clue. So I spoke to a teacher in year 10. I was like you know me for all these years, can you me out with this? And she told me that I would be good with architecture or something with environment or probably human resource. And then she also suggested speech pathology.
Speaker 2At that point I didn't know what speech pathology was, and then she just told me briefly about it because some of my seniors had done that and I I thought, okay, that's interesting. And then that was in the back of my mind. And then in year 11, when I was studying there, there was there still is a special school opposite the university that I went to for 11th and 12th and at special school they have ot's, pts, physiotherapists, occupation therapists and speech therapists and other special needs therapists coming in to help, and I knew about that and just asked for permission to just go and have a look of how it is, just to get an idea if that's really what I want to do.
Speaker 2And I was just standing back and observing a speech pathologist interact with a child and how they were supporting the child, and that's when I knew that, yes, that's what I want to do.
Speaker 2Oh, I love that. So I did my undergrad in audiology and speech pathology back in India and worked at a kindy as a special educator for a year and a half and all that time I knew that I want to develop more skills, I want to grow in my career pardon me get to know more about the different approaches and I always wanted to work with autistic children. So that's been my passion and something I realized back then from uni and from working with special needs children and yeah. So then I was looking at different options and I knew I wanted more practical. So I'm more hands-on person and I need that practical aspect to learn more about it and was looking at options and came across a lovely course here and was just thinking about, okay, what my future would look like and I really loved it. So I made the big move in 2019 to do my master's.
Speaker 1Oh, just before the COVID. Yes, just in time. Inside. Oh my goodness, nikita, I've known you for how long, over two years uh, yeah, yeah, a little over two and a half years and I did not know that story and this is why I love having people on the podcast.
Pre-Linguistic Skills: Foundation for Communication
Speaker 1And the other thing is the people that you support, the children that you support the families that you support the children, that you support the families that you support. It's such a great way for you to share your story with them as well. So you've said that from you know way back, you were interested in kindy. You know young children and I just thought we'd start with the basics then. So, before children begin talking, nikita, what are some of those key pre-linguistic or pre-verbal skills they need to?
Speaker 2develop. Yes, dana, as you said, pre-linguistic skills, which is self-explanatory as well. So pre is before and language. So before language develops, before words develop, there are a few skills that are important and these really help. They work as a foundation for communication, social and cognitive development, and there are a few skills that I'm going to talk about today and highlight the ones in particular that me as a speechy, as a speech pathologist, I use that with children.
Speaker 2So first one is reacting to things in the environment, different sounds, and, as a speech pathologist, it's important for me to know that a child is actually listening, because otherwise, if I'm talking and the child cannot hear or is not responding, that's going to be a barrier as well. So just supporting the child to acknowledge sounds in the environment, people in the environment, lots of things. So more about visual and auditory support. Then next one is responding to people, which is one of the, I would say, closely linked to communication. So that's when the child realizes that someone is talking to them and they need to respond, which is the foundation again, foundation for communication, because communication, as we know, is a two-way process. So you say something and I need to respond to that. So that's when the child starts responding and this leads into the next one, which is turn-taking.
Speaker 2So, yes, when the child starts responding and this leads into the next one, which is turn taking, so yes, the child responds. And then to have an interaction it needs to go back and forth. So mom may say something, the child will respond. The mom says something, again the child responds. So just setting the foundation for interaction and this is very important throughout life because that's how a conversation works, or interaction works. The next one is attention span. So in terms of this, I'm mostly thinking about, as a speech pathologist, why I need attention span, and I'm thinking more about the listening and understanding aspect. So if the child is paying attention to what I'm saying what anyone's saying, for that matter they're picking up language, so they're understanding.
Speaker 1And do you think, nikita, with attention span, like, let's say, you and I are playing with a toy, or mum and the child are playing with a toy better than you and I?
Speaker 2play with a toy right.
Speaker 1For sure, and the child is flitting in and out of the attention. So sometimes they're with the toy, sometimes they're walking off looking at something else. Something else distracts them, a noise distracts them. Is that going to affect their understanding as well, and how to be able to stay in the interaction?
Speaker 2yeah, definitely because if the child is leaving the interaction and they're focused on something, anything I say about the toy or mom is talking about the toy and the child has gone. Child is looking at something else yeah, and mom is still talking about the toy. Yeah, the child is not going to pay attention to that yeah the child is looking at something else, so the child is not taking in that information.
Speaker 1At that point I always think about like a shattered mirror or a broken mirror. And you know how, when you look into a mirror, you see yourself, but if it's broken, you only see pieces. Yeah, and I think maybe that's the same for auditory right. It's like it's broken.
Speaker 2Yeah, so, and then, if mum wants, most of the times the parents, or even us, for that matter we want the child to come back into the interaction, but then there is a certain chunk that the child has missed. So when they come back, they are a little clueless as well, like oh.
Speaker 1What's going on? What's going on.
Speaker 2And then mum's like oh, I was talking about all of this, but the child has missed that information because of reduced attention span.
Speaker 1So attention is a really big one right. I would say and the other thing I think, with attention. Do you think adults' attention span is lessening as well?
Speaker 2I would think so.
Speaker 1Again there are so many things that influence, uh yeah and and so parents are constantly on their phone or talking on their phone or scrolling their phone or going from one thing to another, having other ideas in their mind while playing with the child, so thinking about washing dishes or picking up laundry or doing laundry or whatever while they're playing with the child. That would be difficult then for the child.
Speaker 2We're not really modeling right yeah, yeah, and I really believe that children are very perceptive about what's happening, like they pick up on. Children are really good with picking up on signals, when they want to, especially so, and then they know that parent is or caregiver is not fully present.
Speaker 1So I think that impacts how they learn and the kind of relationship they have with so probably really important for us adults to learn mindfulness and to be able to be in the moment and release everything else right and just be present with the child in that moment, so when?
Attention and Joint Focus in Development
Speaker 2you're with a child, just be present with a child because you really want to have a good connection and interaction with a child and help your child develop skills. Yeah, so this attention leads to the next one, which I really think is joint attention. So that is where you shift attention between an object or item of your interest and a person that you want to share the experience with. So this generally involves three parties, I would say so the object, the child and the parent or caregiver or anyone interacting with the child. And this is just, for example. It can be, I would say, two different ways. It can be done where it's child initiated, where joint attention for example, a young child may drop the bottle, uh, and look at the bottle and look at mom to communicate oh, mom, I dropped my bottle, can you please help me, can you give that to me? And on the other side, it is where the child responds to the joint attention. So that's where mum's like, oh, look at that bird. So points to the bird and looks at the bird, and then the child is like, oh, mum's showing me something, let me have a look.
Speaker 2So different ways of joint attention there. Next one is playing with a variety of toys so the child gets to explore and here, as you know, we're play-based. Uh, therapy is play-based and I really love this because the child gets to explore different toys, feel it, see it. Maybe the toy may make some sound, so just explore it in different ways and this also helps us model language. They they learn through play, they're able to link information and they're just exploring on their own because, it's easier to learn something.
Speaker 2Well, most of us and even me for that matter I prefer hands-on experience. So when I do it, when I've got something I fiddle out with, it and just see how it works, and then I get a better understanding of it and you need time.
Speaker 1right, children need time. I think often, when we see them in that exploratory stage, we impose our own ideas on children. So if, for example, a child picks up a train and starts spinning the wheels, we straightaway go oh, we know what a train is, so we put it on the floor and we start pushing it around, whereas the child's just looking at the wheel spinning right, yeah, because that could be the first time the child is seeing that toy and the child has no clue.
Speaker 2Oh, what is this toy? How does it work? Okay, I need to explore it. So, spinning the wheels, making it go on the ground, or looking at it, looking at the color, taking in all the visual information and, if there's some noise associated with it, taking that information in. But, as you said, we we've had that experience and we know how a toy needs to be played with. So very often we're like, okay, let me show you how, and you are taking away the opportunity from the child to explore.
Speaker 1Oh, I love that, Nikita.
Speaker 2Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 2Next one, which is related to speech pathology. Closely to speech pathology, is understanding familiar words and simple directions. So this is helping them understand a variety of words and put the words together and how they make sense. And, as we know, before a child starts talking, they need to listen to the word many times, even the first word. Take the first word, for example and this is a classic example I give to my families that I'm working with. When they're like, oh, my child is not talking and I say you need to give the child time.
Speaker 2You have been modeling since the child is born you're like, oh, I'm mommy, or I'm daddy, or this is uncle or grandma, grandpa, whoever, but the child generally first says the true word only at about the first year only. Yes, so they need so much of time. Yes, they need to understand what that means before they can actually say it so really, um, children need quite a bit of time to process.
Speaker 1Like you say, from birth we are modeling words to children, but really, from you know, in their first year, not even second year of life, we're starting to see those words right, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2And I heard this when I was doing different placements. Well, this is what I've heard and, yeah, I do believe it is about that mark, or even longer. So what I've heard is that, from the time the child hears a word to the child actually using it in context could be about at least six months, and that makes a lot of sense, wow, because the child needs to listen to the word many times before the child can actually use it in context.
Speaker 1And that's not just hearing it once. Like you said, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 2You need to hear it in different contexts, like light, light, light light, or bull bull, bull bull. Yes, light light, or ball, ball, ball, ball, yes, yeah. So listening to the word and exploring it with your hands helps just link pieces together and you're like, oh, okay. So I've heard mom or caregiver say this is a ball and I've felt it okay, I've played with mom, I've rolled, the ball, caught the ball, and then the word will come out of them and sometimes the whole word doesn't come out right.
Speaker 1It could be ball, ball, ball, so, like we call it, a similar word or some sounds that may make that word right, yeah, absolutely Right, yes.
Speaker 2So this leads very well into the next one, which is vocalizing and making different sounds. As you said with the ball example, where they start with making the sounds, ball, ball, ball. And this is where the child also gets really intentional about their communication. Because, as we know, young children start making sounds and they realize, oh, someone is responding to me, or when I make the sound my, my caregiver knows that I'm hungry or that I need something and comes to me. So it is a way to get attention to start with, but then it is so just crying to get attention and then the sounds are modified which indicates pleasure and displeasure and some parents like when they have that experience, they, oh, my child is making this sound, it means they're happy. When the child is making the other sound, oh, it means they're grumpy and what that could mean, yes. So it starts with that and then moves into cooing or the squealing or babbling, which then leads into the first word and words after that.
Speaker 1Wow, it's a long journey.
Speaker 2It is. There are a lot of skills that the child needs to learn and develop before they can actually talk.
Building Connection Before Words Emerge
Speaker 1Yeah, right, so, nikita, that leads me to the next question. So this is you've just outlined normal development and if there are children that are coming to see you that are like four, five, six years of age, and you know, when we look at a four, five, six years of age child, a child that is on the normal, quote, unquote trajectory of development, they're already speaking, they're having conversations, they've got different language functions. But what if the child is not speaking? What do you focus on? How do you start with the parents? So the parent obviously comes to you and wants their child to speak. Only what are you looking at?
Speaker 2So what I focus on? Yes, I know parents would like to focus on words and would like their child to communicate using words, but what I focus on is building a connection, a really strong connection with the child, as I really believe that connection is important. The child needs to be able to connect with me. We can build a good rapport and a trusting relationship because without a trusting relationship, the child will not want to connect with me. We can build a good rapport and a trusting relationship because without a trusting relationship, the child will not want to engage with me, will not want to participate in what I've got to show, and I really need the child to do that because I'm modeling different skills, I'm modeling vocabulary and I need the child to be a part of that.
Speaker 2So I definitely focus on strong connection with my clients and going with their interest. So keeping my ideas aside, having a look at what they're interested in, how they're playing with, and then I join in without taking over and just following their lead and seeing how they're playing and imitating. I am going to imitate them, use different gestures, and that generally helps keep the interaction going and engagement and back and forth, because the child does something. I may copy the child. The child sees oh, you're copying me. That's fun, let me do more of it?
Speaker 1Is that also helping their listening skills? Are they developing listening if they hear you imitating them, whatever it is, a sound, or not only doing, but say a sound or a word, or or like what we call word approximation, so a similar word and if they hear it is that and then that also, like you talked about that, uh, joint attention, and they're starting to notice that you are in their world.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah, they're like oh okay, you're a part of my world now, so that's exciting. Yeah, so we can share something together.
Speaker 1Oh yeah.
Speaker 2So that's how I see it. Yes. So that gets them excited and then that makes them want to interact more with me, because they're like okay, you are letting me go with my idea. Um, you are interacting with me, you're playing with me, you're using different facial expressions body language and everything you know exactly what I want to do. Yeah, so I would say that is what I focus on. And also, this is a good opportunity to help me just model vocabulary, help them understand the language better.
Speaker 1So what about when parents come and they think about well, but you're not teaching them language, you're not holding the cards out, or something like that? What are you doing? You're just playing on the floor. What do you say? How do you explain that to parents?
Speaker 2So I've had a few parents who the idea of speech pathology was very different from what we were doing. So last year I have this client that we finished the assessment we started and they knew it was a play based assessment. So they thought, okay, the speech pathologist is just getting an idea and then they'll start the traditional approach. Which is what Nikita, which is more flashcards sitting at the table.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 2Yeah, yes, so. But then when the parent realized, oh okay, that is not what you're doing, so how are you going to help my child? Yeah, and then we spoke about the different foundation skills and how that is important. The child needs to develop all of that before they can actually be able to sit at the table. They need to have attention, they need to be interested in something to be able to attend to that. Yeah, so sitting at the table comes much later. So that's what we explain.
Speaker 2I explain to parents about how I'm helping them, what skills I'm helping them develop and how that's going to help with the other skills that they are thinking about, and does that shift their mindset? That has, yes, and especially when they see the child making progress. It is definitely. You don't see progress overnight. It takes some time because the child is really understanding things, getting to know me as their therapist, exploring different toys that we have in sessions and then making connections and developing their skills. But then after some time the parents generally see and then they're like, oh, we've had a few parents. You're like, oh, when you started we had no clue what was happening and how you're going to help my child. But yeah, now I see what now?
Speaker 1they're talking. Yeah, now they won't stop talking yes.
Speaker 2Oh, now we see what you were trying to. Now they're talking yeah.
Speaker 1Now they won't stop talking.
Speaker 2Yes, oh, now we see what you were trying to do all this time. Yeah, and that makes sense. Okay, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1So what about children, nikita, who are speakers but who struggle with connection or, you know, having that what we call affect or emotional expression in their voice? So they're just very monotone or they lead the person to what they want. They're sort of more seeing um a connection as a tool to get what they need, but there's none of that real personal connection. What do you do with?
Speaker 2those guys. So, as I said, like, I really focus on connecting with the child and I use a lot of affect, especially with young children, because that captivates them. What's affect? So affect is when we use emotions while we are communicating. So this can be through my body, different parts of my body, face. I use different facial expressions. I may make some exaggerated eye movements or mouth movements, open my mouth wide, yeah, use gestures, use my body to communicate how I position, how I move my body. So all of this is what we call as affect. And what about vocal tone? Oh, yes, that as well. That reminds me, yeah, yeah. So, yes, lots of voice modulation and this really helps. So using affect really helps them with um, building rapport and trust. Again, because they're like oh, okay, what you're saying really gets to me. Okay, that is exciting, what you're doing, what you're saying is really exciting and I want to be a part of it. It also helps with engagement, uh, because they're like oh, that's fun, okay, so you're doing more of it.
Speaker 2Oh, I'm having fun we're sharing that moment together, and also when we, as you said, vocal tone and when we use vocal affect, I use it to emphasize words and keywords in the session, explain concepts. So I was like that is a big ball, ah, yeah, yeah. So emphasizing keywords, and I'll do that throughout the session or every time I say the word and then that also helps with the understanding piece that we spoke about before. Yeah, why I'm modelling language, modelling words, and especially with affect. It's easier to understand because you're emphasising the key word.
Using Affect to Enhance Communication
Speaker 1Yeah, and I've actually seen Nikita in your session, because I have been privileged to watch one of your sessions or a few of your sessions, and I've actually seen, after you've modelled a word, the child actually starts saying it because it's like the glue right the affect, it's like it just sticks in their head.
Speaker 2Yes, so they're like oh, that's what you mean, and they're going big or fast, or oh right, yeah, yeah. So yes, that's how I use a lot of affect especially with really young children? Yeah, because that's what gets them in captivates.
Speaker 1Yeah, and also for children who might be speaking right but they might not have the affect. Yeah, yeah, and then it's almost like they need it because maybe a parent didn't have the affect, or you know, because affect is, it's hard to use, it's not?
Speaker 2easy it is and it is quite unnatural. So when we tell parents, when coaching parents, we're like, oh, you need to do this. But they're like, how do I?
Speaker 1do that, it's not me.
Speaker 2I can't do something like that. But then when they see the effect it has on the child, they're like, okay, I can do that. And even this young child that I work with, uh, yeah, so, uh, I use a lot of affect with him, and now he started using exaggerated facial expressions he's like oh, you ask him something and he's like of course you can. Oh, that's gorgeous gestures and facial expressions and his tone. So yes, it helps model language to them and it also really helps with the social and emotional piece.
Speaker 1I would say so you mentioned parents. Nikita, how important is it to involve parents in your sessions?
Speaker 2I really think it's important because they are the primary caregivers and doing most of the work. The child comes to us maybe once a week or once a fortnight with them to see benefits of therapy and to support the child's development. The parents need to carry over these skills. So there is a lot of modeling strategies in sessions and so I model first and then I ask them to come and do it. We may take some videos just to help them reflect and see. It's just a really good tool to help them reflect on what's happening and how, when they use affect, how your child responds whereas when they're not using affect and do you find um parents change?
Speaker 1yes, like do you? Are you finding parents are changing from your training and from your coaching?
Speaker 2definitely yes. So, uh, there are a few families in particular that I've really enjoyed working with and they really take things on board and they use all the strategies, which is really amazing and then you can see the connection they build with their child because they're using lots of affect, using the different strategies that we use in sessions just to help them connect better, interact better, have that back and forth.
Speaker 1And I think connection is such a subjective word, isn't it because we go for that gleam in the eye and we go for that connection? And look, parents who come in with their children are feeling they are very connected with their child, which is natural. But it's just that gleam in the eye connection, isn't it that we're going for not just connection? Yeah, yeah, so it's all. Connection is on a continuum, I feel definitely.
Speaker 2Yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 1So, nikita, if I guess, when parents just focus on getting their child to say words, what happens and what do they miss out on? What do children miss out on in developing?
Speaker 2So very often we see parents coming to us and they realize their child is delayed because the child is not talking like same age peers, or they may have the parent, may have like a family friend or, yeah, just a friend whose child is the same age, and then they compare which is like a normal thing that we generally do Like, oh, my child is not doing this, but your child is the same age and doing that.
Speaker 2So then the focus is a lot on words and okay, I need my child to talk. Okay, I need my child to talk I need my child to have many words, but what they're missing in this process is the foundation skills. So how I like to think is they want the house ready, yeah, but the, the foundations, are not laid there's no concrete, there's no walls, so all those building blocks are missing, yeah, right, but they want the big picture, the big house, without laying the foundation.
Speaker 2so I think it's really important to work on these foundation skills. So just be present in the moment with the child and help them connect, help them communicate. And children communicate through different ways. They use lots of gestures, they may use vocalizing, vocalizations, words, and they miss out on that piece where they don't give the child the opportunity to communicate because you're focused on words and we say, oh, I want you to say this, okay, say this, say this say this word, say bye, say bye.
Speaker 1And asking lots of questions. Yeah, lots of questions. What's this? Okay, say this, say this, say this word, say bye, say bye. And asking lots of questions. Yeah, lots of questions. What's this? What's this?
Speaker 2what's this? Yeah, so, yes. So that's what they miss out on, where they miss out on the connection and the back and forth that they could possibly have had if they did not focus too much on words and, as I've spoken before before, all these actually help in building up two words.
Speaker 1So, yes, they miss out on all these so, nikita, what would be if a parent is listening to this and they're going, oh, this is, uh, I need to be looking at um, changing the way I'm communicating or interacting with my child as a speech pathologist? What would be three things, three most important things you would suggest for a parent if they're like trying to ask questions and things like that and they're really focusing on those words. What would be three things?
Parent Coaching and Practical Strategies
Speaker 2So the things that we generally say is stop asking questions, because you're so the focus. You want your child to start talking, but very often when you're asking questions, the child does not know the answer. So you need to help them build vocabulary first, and that's done by not asking questions but commenting or naming, as we say. So just add more to the child's vocabulary and give them more opportunities to hear the word, and then it generally comes out naturally where they will say the word. But by pressuring them to answer questions and very often parents ask questions that they know the answers to, like what color is this? Oh right, so then the child is like you know the answer. Well, child is probably thinking you know the answer. Why are you asking me that?
Speaker 2Yeah, so we say don't ask so many questions, give, uh, more information. And I, during my placement I learned this uh, one hand rule for language, right, so provide four bits of information before you ask a question. So four to one? Yes, wow to one. So if you're talking about a car, you can say its name, the color, the size, what the car does, and then you can probably follow that up with a question. Yeah, right, yeah, so we do a lot of that, and also when the child is at the place where they can answer questions, ask more questions to show curiosity and, rather than testing, show that you're really interested in what the child has to say so asking them questions that you may not know the answers for more open-ended questions.
Speaker 1So, instead of saying like what is this, while you're pointing to the car, you could ask like where is it?
Speaker 2going yeah, yeah, because you don't know what the child is probably going to say. The car could be going to the shopping centre, could be going to the station. Or they could even maybe not even say it, they might just point or take it to the place, right, if they're early language, yeah and if they've got a set up there with tracks and cars different, maybe a house so they can take it there, and then you're like, oh, okay, that's where the car is going.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah, and Nikita I want to. While we're on questions, what are the first questions that develop? What is it?
Speaker 2Yeah, I would say what and where. Yeah, because the who, why and all those require a lot of logical thinking. Yeah right, so basically don't ask why questions yes don't ask why, how, because how involves a whole process, uh-huh. So, yes, you can ask it's more what and where. Yeah, what questions and where? Questions, because you can generally answer these questions in a word or two.
Speaker 1Okay, nikita Pinto, you are a trove of information. I love seeing you work with the children and I love seeing you work with the parents as well. You've got such a natural and warm way about you and you've just changed. So I know I've seen that you've changed so many children's lives and so many parents are so much more competent and confident and they feel like they know where they're going with their child and that is a huge gift that you've given families. So I'm really privileged to work with you. I think you're an amazing speech pathologist and thank you so much today for sharing all of your information. And I guess, like, if people people want more, they can comment on the podcast. Maybe people have got specific information they can comment. We can do another podcast all about language and speech, because speech is different. Again, that's articulation, isn't it? So language is the words we use. Um, yeah, thank you so much for being on my podcast.
Speaker 2Thank you for having me, dana. It's been a wonderful opportunity. I was quite nervous at the start, uh, but then just talking about what I do on a daily basis your passion was just flu, so it was really easy, and I really enjoy parent coaching sessions, as you know. Yeah, I really enjoy working closely with parents. Yeah, and then just this as a platform to just give them some more information that they can support their children with yeah, I love it. Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you for having me. Thank you.
