Expressions of Love

February – the month of love; loving and caring for our family, our friends, our significant other.  Everyone needs a little help now and then. Helping our loved one express themselves is important in February and all year through. Expression cannot be limited to talking.  Expressions of love come in a variety of shapes, colors, and sounds. 

Opportunities to communicate happen every minute of the day, knowing the best or most effective way to communicate may take some practice.  Give you and your loved one the time to practice.  This practice doesn’t have to take long or even have a lot of ‘moving parts’. Valentine’s day is only a few days away, what a wonderful reason to practice and share your loved one’s communication skills with the special people in their lives. 

3 Ways to Increase Independent Expressions of Love

Here are a few ideas to get your creative communication juices flowing. 

• • Teach your loved one the sign for “I love you”.  Remember to teach those in your lives the sign as well so when your loved one signs “I love you”, the recipient will understand that wonderful message. 

• • Use a speech bubble and write a Valentine’s message in the bubble or a simple heart cut from paper.  Have your loved one hold the speech bubble or heart and snap a picture.  Whose day won’t be uplifted receiving that message via text or email?

• • Using pink or red lipstick/chapstick, have your loved one decorate a Valentine with lip prints by having them kiss the paper.  Not only is this just adorable, but it’s a GREAT oral motor exercise for speech.

• • Simple communication boards or pictures are also a great way of communicating. Making a video of your loved one creating a message and send it out via text or email will definitely brighten the day!

Practice Makes Permanent

Expressions of love do not only occur one day of the year. Talking time to practice these forms of communication makes the action permanent. 

• Start each day by touching the bubble you made. Put it on the refrigerator or on a door. Model touching the sign and saying the message.
• Use the Valentine’s communication board you made at the end of the day as part of the bedtime ritual.
• Model the sing for “I love you” through out the day. Create a ‘family code’ and use it at drop off or pick up.

Laying the Foundation for True Inclusion

Valentine’s day is a lovely day to be reminded of the importance of inclusion. EVERYONE wants to be heard, especially when expressing their love. Creating and modeling ways for everyone to participate sends the biggest message of love.

Let the world hear your loved ones’ message loud and clear this Valentine’s Day!