An essential developmental task is the ability to communicate in a meaningful way. A predominant reason for referral to early childhood special education programs is communication disorders and delays. Communication may be verbal or nonverbal, symbolic or nonsymbolic, and intentional or nonintentional. Regardless of the child's communication mode, the focus of communication should be on functional use across environments. For individuals with disabilities, communication is important because it allows them to have some level of independence and control over their environment. Systematic planning is essential so that functional language use within the classroom is identified during naturally occurring opportunities, and other opportunities for language use can be created. For example, at circle time opportunities to stimulate communication can be found in activities such as group instruction, choral and individual responding, peer greetings, calendar, songs, routine opening activities and participatory finger plays. The following list displays concepts that should guide our approach to communication intervention for young children with disabilities:

• All behavior communicates. The goal of communication intervention is to identify current communication and build functional communication from it, rather than focusing on just changing the behavior.
• A multimodal approach is desirable. Total adoption of one form of communication at the exclusion of alternatives reduces the chance of communicative intent. Therefore, alternative forms of communication are encouraged and accepted (Read more about augmentative communication system).
• An environmental focus is needed. By acknowledging that environmental factors influence communication production, more functional communication skills can be learned through functional and meaningful activities in the natural context of the environments (Read more about environment to promote peer interaction).
• Interactions should serve as the context for interventions. These opportunities for interactions should not occur with just adults, but should include typically developing peers.
• Communication strategies and facilitation of communication skills should be provided as an integrated service throughout the child's day. Be alert to the many naturally occurring opportunities to promote communication skill development that are available throughout the day (Read more about promotin social development).
• A child-oriented approach to communication intervention focuses on the child's motivation to communicate and views the child as an active participant. This also places more emphasis on the child's strengths and less on the deficits (Read more about strategies to promote social interactions).