Wait Time

After you take a turn, stop. Then, wait a little longer. A pause of ten seconds or more can feel extremely long to a speaking adult. However, it’s exactly what a student with complex communication needs requires to understand what was said, then find the words, and finally produce them. The research on wait time is consistent: the longer the pause, the more likely a response.

Ten seconds is a good start. Adjust to the student and the moment, and know that a pause you can’t hold every time is still worth holding at least some of the time. Shared reading is the easiest place to practice, because a story has natural stopping points built in. Approaches like “Follow the CAR” (comment, ask, respond, with a wait after each one) build several pauses into every page.

The pause does two jobs. It gives processing time and teaches turn-taking: the student learns not only that silence is an invitation, but more importantly that their turn is expected … and valued. Whether you manage two, ten, or forty-five seconds, the habit grows with practice and the room gets quieter in the best possible way.