Supporting Young Adults with Communication Challenges

Many of our young adult students find it challenging to clearly express their ideas. Whether it's practicing public speaking, refining articulation, or enhancing fluency, we tailor our approach to each person's unique needs.

We focus on:

• Articulating Thoughts: Helping students articulate thoughts and ideas clearly. 

• Building Confidence: Encouraging participation in conversations while presenting ideas confidently.

Building and maintaining relationships in young adulthood can be challenging, especially for those with communication difficulties.

We assist with:

• Navigating Social Dynamics: Teaching how to set boundaries and to seek understanding in different social environments.

• Understanding Contextual Expectations: Explaining how social expectations can change based on the environment and practicing the interpretation of non-verbal cues. 

Self-advocacy is essential in both academic and professional environments. Many students who are entitled to academic accommodations may not know how to advocate for themselves. 

We empower young adults by:

• Identifying Needs: Helping to understand and express their preferences for different situations.

• Finding the Right Words: Supporting them in expressing their thoughts clearly when speaking up for their needs.

• Role-Playing: Practicing how to handle conversations about accommodations and support with confidence while reducing anxiety.

• Finding Resources: Identifying helpful tools and support that are available to them.

From essays to emails, written assignments and communication are a key part of high school and college. 

We assist students by:

• Understanding Assignments: Teaching strategies to break down assignments and plan the steps to completion.

• Chunking Tasks: Teaching students how to tackle assignments piece by piece, making them more approachable. 

• Organizing Ideas: Helping students develop clarity, coherence, and organization in their writing.

Effective time management and organizational skills are critical for balancing responsibilities while transitioning through high school and college.

We strive to help students plan ahead and avoid procrastination by:

• Organizing and Prioritizing Tasks: Teaching students how to organize their assignments and responsibilities based on urgency, importance, and deadlines.

• Making Time Predictions: Helping students predict the time needed for each stage of an assignment or task.

• Using Tools: Introducing digital tools to help students manage their time and schedules.  For example:

  • Calendars and reminders to ensure they don’t miss important deadlines.

  • Task management apps for organizing assignments and due dates.

  • Time-tracking apps to monitor how long tasks take.

In fast-paced academic environments, understanding lectures and taking meaningful notes can be overwhelming.

We help with:

• Note-Taking: Introducing strategies to improve listening comprehension, extract key information, and create effective notes to support learning and retention.

• Leveraging Technology: Using available tools like audiobooks, recorded lectures, teacher notes, and note-taking apps to aid their learning.

For young adults with reading difficulties, decoding words can impact both academic performance and daily tasks.  At Manner of Speaking, we provide multisensory, systematic reading instruction to enhance their skills.  Our targeted interventions focus on strengthening phonological awareness and decoding skills to build reading fluency and comprehension.