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• Introductory Concepts
  Communication is the exchange of information between people and is fundamental to life and learning. Communication may be verbal or nonverbal, symbolic or nonsymbolic, and intentional or nonintentional. Everyone can communicate in some way, and everyone has the potential for improved communication. Young children acquire communication most readily in natural environments. The objective is not to teach communication, but rather to help children use and develop the communication abilities they have in an interactive process. Interactions in one's natural environment can provide opportunities for meaningful communication, motivation to communicate, opportunities to practice emerging and newly acquired communicative skills, and models of appropriate communication. When communication is taught in the natural environment, all of the child's communication partners provide opportunities for learning.

• Communication of Young Children with Severe Disabilities
  Young children with severe disabilities exhibit diverse communicative abilities and disabilities. For example, some children communicate symbolically and learn to talk or use a formal sign or symbol system. However, many young children with severe multiple disabilities are nonsymbolic communicators and express themselves through vocalizations, facial expressions, and/or body tone either intentionally or non-intentionally. When communication is nonintentional, the partner is responsible for much of the interaction. Thus, some nonsymbolic behaviors that are nonintentional may be perceived or interpreted as communicative by the communication partner. This partner-perceived communication is important to the development of communicative competence in children. In general, communication partners assume more responsibility and provide more support during communicative interactions with children with severe disabilities than with children with less severe disabilities.
  
  
• Facilitating Communication
  The communication of young children with severe disabilities is fostered by acting as a responsive and sensitive partner in the communication process, by providing opportunities for meaningful interactions with peers and by supporting a child in an interaction if he or she needs it. Individuals who are careful observers of the child's behavior and sensitive to their communicative attempts can promote interactions between children that are sustained and not continuously supported by an adult. Practicing strategies that facilitate interactions between typically developing young children and their classmates with disabilities allows the children to determine the content and direction of their interactions, encourages true communication, and fosters an environment in which friendships can unfold.