Why is joint attention important?
Brianna Stodgell, CCC-SLP
We discuss joint attention frequesntly on our social media channels and work on this goal frequently with clients in our clinics. If you’ve wondelred why joint attention is important and the impacts it can have on language and other aspects of development, Brianna Stodgell CCC-SLP discusses those details further in this post.
Joint Attention- A Foundational Language Skill
Prior to using their first words, children must develop prelinguistic communicative skills that are foundational to language development and verbal communication. One important prelinguistic skill for caregivers to monitor when considering their child’s communication development is joint attention.
What is Joint Attention?
Joint attention, sometimes known as shared attention, is coordinated attention on an object or activity between individuals. According to an article by Tomasello (1995), joint attention is not just two individuals looking at the same object, nor is it a child watching while an adult engages with an object. Instead, joint attention involves two individuals attending to a shared object, event, or activity with the mutual intent of interacting and engaging with one another.
Some early developing joint attention skills include, but are not limited to:
smiling back at a caregiver
following a caregiver’s gaze
using gestures to make requests and direct attention
playing simple interactive games such as peek-a-boo
bringing objects to show caregivers
responding to the communication of others with eye contact
Why is Joint Attention Important for Language Development?
If you suspect your child has limited or delayed communication skills, increasing joint attention may be one of the first skills a Speech Language Pathologist will focus on during skilled therapy services. Joint attention is an important foundation for language development because it provides the basis for reciprocal communication. Studies show that children learn language best when engaged with a communication partner and when they can coordinate their attention toward each other, objects, and/or events. Joint attention increases opportunities for a child to attend to language modeling and other language facilitation techniques. It also raises a child’s awareness to others being intentional agents, which establishes a purpose for communication.
Ways to Increase Joint Attention:
Play-based therapy is a beneficial method for increasing joint attention abilities. Some skills a Speech Language Pathologist may work on in treatment may include: creating face-to-face interactions, playing during child-lead activities, interacting with child-preferred toys to increase interest, back and forth interactions (i.e. rolling a ball back and forth & alternating stacking blocks), initiating requests through repetitive actions (i.e. requesting more bubbles), singing songs with hand movements and gestures, encouraging imitation, and responding to/imitating a child’s vocalizations or gestures to model reciprocal interactions. Parent implementation and home-programming is important for developing pre-linguistic language skills. A large focus of speech therapy for early language learners may involve parent teaching and coaching on how to encourage and promote joint attention during daily routines and activities.
