Motivate me! Setting goals to improve communication skills

As an SLP I am very familiar with writing goals in a treatment plan or an IEP. Goals are long-term, establish the path forward, set priorities, and with incremental objectives, lay out the leading toward goal achievement. I think of the goals I write as a contract, laying out what will be addressed and the outcomes that are expected.  

Motivating with visual supports

We use visual supports with children including token boards, first/then, contingency maps, and min-schedules to help them participate and invest in their own short-term goals involving completing tasks or managing their behavior. These are like contracts too, and we know they make a huge difference. They motivate and provide a sense of accomplishment. Not only because they help the child understand expectations and potential rewards, but also because we obtain the child’s buy-in by including him or her in developing the terms of the “contract” in front of them. 

Getting buy-in for long-term goals

What about explicitly including children in developing and investing in their long-term goals through contracts as well? I can remember sitting across a horseshoe table from a group of students in a speech/language group and asking, “why are you here?” Not a single one of them had any idea. I can’t expect them to be motivated toward achieving goals they are not even aware of. I don’t accomplish much when I don’t know what I am trying to accomplish either! It makes sense to include each child in understanding and buying into some long-term goals, with understanding being key to buying in.   

• Talk to your students individually. Use symbol-based visual supports as needed. I begin my contract discussions with students with a back-and-forth about things I do well (cooking), and things I could use some help or practice with (sports).  
• Help the student recognize something he/she does well, (make friends, swing, talk about dinosaurs) and something he/she could use help with (pronouncing /r/ better, knowing more words, making better sentences, telling what she wants).  
• Choose a sensible focus and make it as concrete as possible. One goal is enough for some students, others may do well with more.  
• Break it down, write it down with steps. To see examples of student contracts, click here. To see an example you can use as a template on the Boardmaker Community, click here. To join the Boardmaker Online Community or start a free trial, click here.  

Every student receiving SLP services should know why. Motivate them with active participation in setting and achieving goals to improve their communication skills.