Following Directions and Understanding Concepts

Following directions can be hard for anyone whether you have difficulty learning or not. Receptive language is the ability to understand what’s going on or what someone says. One example is one’s ability to follow directions. In the classroom, directions include a lot of various concepts such as “First put your name at the top of the page and then only answer the questions on the front” or “Color all the circles and stars.”

Spatial concepts talk about a location, qualitative concepts are describing words and quantitative tells about how much. Directions given at home typically do not include as many concepts as school directions. For example, home directions may be “Go brush your teeth and get your jammies on” or “Go tell your sister it’s time for dinner.” At Mobile Therapy Centers we work with children on all of these things and make it fun so they enjoy what they are learning.

Here’s a few fun ways to work on following directions and understanding different concepts:

• One way we work on following directions and concepts in therapy is by playing games. For example, while playing a domino game we can ask the child “First pick out all the blue dominoes and then pick out three red”. If it’s a younger child, we might play with a farm set and play hide and seek, and tell the child to “Hide the pig in the tractor and hide the chicken in the barn or the dog behind the tree.”.

• Another fun way to help our kids learn different concepts and the ability to follow directions is to have a Leprechaun Hunt for St. Patrick’s Day! Without the kids knowing, the leprechaun makes a little mess in a room and the kids find it. They also find a clue that says something like “You’ll find your first clue where Grandma and Grandpa lay their head for bed.” The kids will have to figure out where this next clue is to try to catch the leprechaun. You can lay out several clues and then at the end have a little mess because the kids were not able to catch him in the act.

At Mobile Therapy Centers our therapists keep therapy fun, yet functional. Playing games while incorporating language concepts keeps kids attention, as well as reinforces the social aspect of taking turns and being able to handle both winning and losing.

Mobile Therapy Centers services include ABA Therapy, Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Behavioral Therapy and Counseling. We see children at our clinic, at your home or at your child’s school/daycare making it convenient for you and your family. Contact us for a FREE consultation at 847-816-7200.