Unplug for Improved Communication
The most important thing you can do with your child to enhance their language development is to engage with them. A study published in the journal "Current Biology" found that the longer parents held their eye gaze towards a toy, the longer one-year old babies held their gaze on the same toy, even after parents looked away. When parents are distracted by technology, shared eye gaze towards a toy (joint attention) is significantly decreased. The article below published by the American Academy of Pediatrics and American Speech-Language-Hearing Association gives some great strategies for parents to enhance their children's communication skills, suggestions for parents who feel tech-overloaded, and explains why YOU can not be replaced by technology.
