Following up Expectant Look with Wait Time because they really go hand in hand. Like peanut butter and jelly, or wine and cheese. There are times when each strategy can be used independently but their effectiveness is enhanced when they are used in tandem.

So what is Wait Time? Wait time is the pause used between an adult’s interaction with a child and the child’s expected response that allows the child time to process the auditory information and formulate a response (Dickson, 2010).

This pause signals to the child that they are supposed to say, or do, something (Winkelkotter & Srinivasan, 2012).

A child begins to create an understanding that they don’t have to listen if information is repeated without proper wait time. They may assume we will say it again and again until they are ready to listen, understand, and respond They are also denied the opportunity to trust their own hearing! Here are some guidelines for using Wait Time: before a command or comment is repeated,

Count to 8 (approximately, read on for more advice about the duration)
Look expectantly at the child (see previous post for more detail)
Lean in toward the child (as if to hear them, indicating an expected response)
Practice patience!

Wait Time can be VERY awkward. Last summer at the Texas Statewide Conference for Education of the Deaf in my presentation on AV Strategies, I demonstrated Wait Time by simply waiting. Silently. In front of an auditorium full of people. For approximately 20 seconds.

Rosenzweig and Smolen (in process) are researching how professionals use Auditory Verbal strategies and have found that many professionals, from a variety of settings, use this strategy. Wait Time can be used to encourage language regardless of communication mode. From the chart below you can see that there are some professionals who report that they do not use this strategy. I would argue that we all should use Wait Time, and I hope to detail why below!

Do you know how many people started squirming, looking around the room, looking at each other or their notes. Looking for something to happen. Because that’s what Wait Time does! It creates the expectation that a turn or response is needed. Our brains and our bodies are programmed to respond to Wait Time. However, Wait Time is likely the most underutilized, but most important, skill to develop for a parent, caregiver, family member, therapist, or teacher. These purposeful pauses teach our children how to engage in conversational turn taking by sending a message that a response is expected of them.

Sometimes we are advised to talk talk talk, narrating and labeling everything. We learn about giving rich language input to the brain and we focus on putting in as much as we can. This can lead for us to forget to allow the child to respond. In order to create a balance, we have to become comfortable with silence.

How do we use Wait Time correctly?

First, I think is the Expectant Look that goes along with it. The correct posture sets the stage for Wait Time to be effective. Guaitella (2009) for that the way we naturally raise our eyebrows during a conversation appears to acct as an attention-getting signal saying, “Look, I would like to speak” or “Listen, what I’m saying is important.” The social obligation can also come from a prosodic cue (inflectional rise).

Next, we need to know how long we should wait before prompting or repeating. Several sources say that a commonly appropriate Wait Time should not be less than 5 seconds (Gabel, 2004. Skiller, Pappas, & Davis, 2005). For children who are deaf and/or hard of hearing, this time should be considerably longer (Rowe & Rowe, 2006). The length of time is dependent on such factors such as linguistic complexity of the question and expected response, the child’s developmental level, and auditory processing capacities as well as environmental noise level (Maroni, 2011). Basically, wait quietly until it feels uncomfortable, and then wait some more. Eight seconds might be a good starting point for those who need a more concrete example. Then, you can wait shorter or longer depending on the child you are working with at the moment.

Which brings me to the next point.

When we think diagnostically, we are more apt to wait for a child’s response in order to determine an appropriate next step. Wait Time after the presentation of information or a question allows the listener wait time to process and the speaker time to consider whether clarification, repetition, or modeling is necessary before another conversational turn is taken (Garber & Nevins, 2012).

Below is a video demonstrating Wait Time in action. After watching, please comment how you see Wait Time working in your practice. Or perhaps what is keeping you from waiting a sufficient amount of time. How can we boost the effectiveness of this strategy?

John Tracy Center: Offer Wait Time