AAP Communication Strategies at the 2026 conference highlighted trust, misinformation, and practical ways pediatricians connect with families.

Bilingual child gestures can reveal early communication strengths. Learn what recent research suggests and how parents can respond.

Children learn communication from more than the instructions adults give them. They also absorb how family members listen, handle interruptions, express frustration, repair misunderstandings, and respond when someone needs more time. That makes modeling communication skills at home one of the most practical ways to support a child’s development. No formal lesson is required. Meals,…

A quiet child may have plenty to say while needing more time, familiarity, or safety before saying it. Building communication confidence in quiet children begins with recognizing this difference: confidence is not measured by how quickly, loudly, or publicly a child speaks. Adults can help by creating comfortable openings for participation instead of turning conversation…

A child should not have to produce a perfect word before receiving help, comfort, food, or a break. Helping children communicate needs begins by recognizing that a request can arrive through speech, gestures, signs, pictures, facial expressions, sounds, or a communication device. Adults can make those requests easier by noticing what the child is already…

Hand gestures can help children connect words with meaning. See evidence-based ways parents can use movement during play, reading, and bilingual talk.

Culturally responsive interventions can support bilingual children when home language, family routines, and culture guide language goals.

A question may take only seconds to ask, yet a child’s answer can require much more work. Understanding child response time helps parents recognize that a quiet pause may be evidence of thinking—not refusal, distraction, or a lack of knowledge. During that pause, a child may be interpreting the question, recalling information, choosing words, and…

A child does not always answer the moment a question ends. Understanding child response time can help parents recognize that those quiet seconds may be active thinking rather than avoidance, confusion, or unwillingness to participate. Children may be interpreting the question, finding the right words, deciding what they want to say, or working out how…

Use bilingual discourse strategies to support young children’s longer sentences with careful questioning, extensions, and home-language support.

Build manageable family screen-time boundaries around everyday conversation, playful exchanges, age-appropriate content, and continued access to communication tools.

Teacher Language Switching can support DLL communication when it is purposeful, consistent, and paired with clear classroom interaction.