Adult vs Child

Several students have expressed worry and fear about creating a child-like therapy session for their adult client. You might have the same goals for an adult client as you would have for a pediatric client, so how do you modify the session? This can be easily remedied when you think about how differently YOU act around the 2 different groups.

When interacting with a child, you tend to use mother-ese or at least a more animated voice. You maintain your client's attention with TV characters, games and toys with movement. 

When interacting with an adult, you use less prosody in your speech and have a more direct attitude. The majority of the session is focused on the task at hand and minimal time spent maintaining client's attention with external reinforcements. 

Simply put, think about how you would speak to your mother or father, what is a common item in his/her day? I highly doubt that it is a sippy cup, a Dora sticker or a stroller.  Nor would you do cartwheels to keep their attention!  Modify what you do to make your session appropriate for an adult client.