Why is this important in developing language? Two important reasons are worth considering right now. Joint Attention benefits:
1: the development of a desire to communicate with others
2. the further development of receptive language, or language a child understands.
In other words, these skills increase and exhibit a child's desire to engage with people and understand and be understood by them, as well as increase what words and concepts they understand. These are vital in communication, and also aid what so many parents are after--talking!
By learning to look at what you are looking at, and hearing what you have to say helps your child develop a social connection with you. What's more, they not only continue to learn to enjoy people, increasing their desire to communicate, they realize that the stuff coming out of your mouth means something, and by following your gaze or point, they can sometimes figure out what you mean! In what we would consider atypical development, children fail to look and learn about things from you as much as we would expect and sometimes seem to live in their own world. If they are not realizing that they can focus on what you focus on, and that what you are saying is related to that, it will be much more difficult for them to desire or even realize they can communicate with you, let alone realize what you are saying and what they can say themselves. Healthy communication is what we are after!
Other ways your child engages in joint attention activities are by pointing, gesturing, or making sounds to get you to notice what they notice. They also might following your gaze to an object, by attending to books or pictures and listening to you talk about them, or even by playing peekaboo or other social games with you.
The desire a child shows for you to interact with them by exploring an object or looking at something interesting with you, is a healthy habit to encourage! The desire for a child to be with you and have you interacting with them may make some young children seem difficult to care for, and can even feel tiresome at times but truly this is thing to celebrate! Your child learns by being with you and interacting with you, and it is almost impossible to overdo it. As your child focuses on something, or attends to what you are focusing on, talking about this often feels natural, and this is a good thing! When you talk about what your child is focused on it potentially helps your child to learn to understand the language associated with this object. The language your child understands is called receptive language and is again important prior to getting those words out of their mouth! First, they have to understand what they mean. Typical children understand a lot more than they can say, and enhancing what they understand may help them be able to express more and perhaps do it more quickly. As simple and natural as it sometimes is, joint attention is a great way to enhance receptive language development, which can enhances expressive language, or what your child can say. If your child does not look at and engage in joint attention activities, take note that this is not typical language development and is red flag in possible need for help. If your child is showing great signs of joint attention, enjoy and enhance these occasions! To read more about joint attention, see Part Two!
