Expressive Body Parts
Teaching your child to name body parts is only a little different from teaching other expressive language skills. The only thing that’s different is that we don’t use pictures for this learning program. Instead, we use your child’s actual body parts as we did when we explained how to teach body parts receptively. And sometimes we also use the body parts of a doll.
The item list for Expressive Body Parts is the same as the one for Receptive Body Parts.
| Eyes | Nose | Mouth | Ears | Arm |
| Leg | Hand | Foot | Fingers | Toes |
| Tummy | Neck | Back | Hair | Teeth |
| Head | Shoulders | Tongue | Knee | Thumb |
Choose any three of these words that your child learned in the Receptive Body Parts learning program. If you have heard your child say any of the body part words after you said them while teaching the Receptive Body Parts program, then it would be a good idea to start with one or more of those.
Here’s what to do. Let’s pretend that you decided to start with nose, tummy and foot. Sit directly in front of your child, knee to knee. Touch one of your child’s body parts and ask, “What is it?” or “What body part is this?” For example, touch your child’s nose and ask, “What is it?” You should then prompt her by saying, “Say, nose.” Put the emphasis on the word “Nose” and not on the word “Say.”
Ask the child to name the three body parts in any order. Prompt using verbal imitation prompts or model prompts. In other words, you say the word so that she can copy you. Reinforce the child for trying to say the word. Save the best reinforcers for when your child responds all by herself. Fade your prompts gradually over time. You can do that either by pausing for a few seconds before you say the word, or by modeling only the first sound. For example, if you want your child to label “nose” you could say just the “Nnnn” sound.
When your child can independently name any of the three body parts you ask her for, without any help, put in a fourth body part. For example, if you started with nose, tummy and foot, you could add “head”. When you add the fourth body part, present it mixed in with the other three body parts your child has learned. As always, present them in a random order. And remember, you will need to prompt the new body part. Your child should be able to name the body-parts she has already learned, without prompts, in at least 8 out of every 10 trials. Try to present the new body part about 4 times out of every 10 trials, leaving about 2 trials each for the items she has already learned.
Here are some examples of a good order for a set of 10 trials:
| Sample Order 1 | Sample Order 2 | Sample Order 3 |
| Tummy | Nose | Head |
| Head | Foot | Tummy |
| Head | Head | Head |
| Foot | Nose | Foot |
| Nose | Tummy | Nose |
| Tummy | Head | Head |
| Nose | Foot | Foot |
| Head | Tummy | Head |
| Foot | Head | Tummy |
| Head | Head | Nose |
Keep Track of How Well Your Child is Doing Learning the New Item
Remember that you really only need to keep track of how well your child is doing learning the new item, because she should already know the others. Of course, as your child learns more and more items, she will have fewer chances to practice each of the body part words she has already learned. Just make sure that you practice each of the learned items at least once every day. Watch for any errors she might make.
What to do about Errors on Previously Mastered Body Parts
If you see that your child is making errors on a body part that you thought she had learned well, just start teaching it again as a new item. Present it at least 4 times out of every 10 trials, prompting as needed and fading your prompts as you go along. Don’t worry. If she learned it once, she will most likely learn it again quickly.
Trouble Shooting
Just like with Receptive Body Parts, if you find that your child has difficulty with this teaching program, you could try doing this program in front of a mirror. Another idea is to have your child name the body parts of a doll as you name them, rather than naming her own body parts.
Generalization of Body Part Words
Do you remember the idea of generalization? When we’re talking about learning to say words, generalization means that the child can name something, for example, body parts, when they are on different people, dolls, or in pictures as well as on herself. One way to work on generalization of Expressive Body Parts is to play with toys like Mr. Potato Head or Body Part Puzzles. When you remove the pieces, hold on to them and prompt your child to ask for the pieces one at a time. You can hold up one or two pieces and if your child points to ask you for one, prompt her to add the word. Or, you can just prompt her to ask for the pieces by naming them. In the next clip, the child is playing with the Mr. Potato Head Toy. Once he finishes putting in all of the body parts his teacher will blow up a balloon for him and let it go, which he loves. This will make him want to finish putting the Mr. Potato Head together. To get the parts, he has to choose one and name the part he wants.