A kindergartner with multiple disabilities primarily uses gestures and sign language. To promote peer-to-peer communication, which strategy would best address this goal?

A kindergartner with multiple disabilities primarily uses gestures and sign language. To promote peer-to-peer communication, which strategy would best address this goal?

• A. Act as an interpreter for the student whenever she wishes to communicate with peers.
• B. Teach the whole class basic signs by consistently integrating signs into lessons and activities.
• C. Focus on increasing the student's spoken vocabulary to communicate basic wants and needs.
• D. Pair the student with a verbal, outgoing peer to work on classroom activities.

Answer: (B)

When the goal is peer-to-peer communication for a student who primarily uses gestures and sign language, the most effective approach is to create a shared communication system across the entire class. By teaching the whole class basic signs and weaving them into daily lessons and activities, peers gain real-time access to the student’s communication style. This builds natural opportunities for interaction, reduces the need for an interpreter, and fosters an inclusive classroom where many peers can engage with the student through sign, gestures, and routine exchanges. It also reinforces the student’s current mode of communication and helps peers generalize sign use across different activities and contexts. Interpreting for the student can create dependency and limit peer-driven interactions. Focusing on spoken vocabulary may not address the student’s primary means of communication and could place unnecessary pressure on a mode that isn’t yet accessible in real time. Pairing the student with a single verbal, outgoing peer can support collaboration with that one peer but doesn’t ensure broad peer participation or sustainability across the classroom.

When the goal is peer-to-peer communication for a student who primarily uses gestures and sign language, the most effective approach is to create a shared communication system across the entire class. By teaching the whole class basic signs and weaving them into daily lessons and activities, peers gain real-time access to the student’s communication style. This builds natural opportunities for interaction, reduces the need for an interpreter, and fosters an inclusive classroom where many peers can engage with the student through sign, gestures, and routine exchanges. It also reinforces the student’s current mode of communication and helps peers generalize sign use across different activities and contexts.

Interpreting for the student can create dependency and limit peer-driven interactions. Focusing on spoken vocabulary may not address the student’s primary means of communication and could place unnecessary pressure on a mode that isn’t yet accessible in real time. Pairing the student with a single verbal, outgoing peer can support collaboration with that one peer but doesn’t ensure broad peer participation or sustainability across the classroom.