Hanen Programs

Hanen programs are evidence-based and world-renowned parent-training programs designed to teach parents how to implement speech and language therapy into their everyday activities with their child.

Research has shown that Hanen programs are effective towards improving both children’s speech and language abilities, as well as parents’ skills.

Studies have shown that when compared to a control group:

Children whose parents participated in a Hanen program showed:

• An increased ability to interact and take turns
• Had larger vocabulary
• Had a greater variety of words
• Used more multi-word sentences
• Used target words in a number of different contexts
• Used more speech sounds

Caregivers learn to:

• To be less directive and more responsive
• Use slower, less complex language
• And use target words more frequently
• Caregiver-child interactions became more balanced, frequent and last longer

What is involved?

Hanen programs involve a parental commitment of attending group training workshops for three or more months as well as individual sessions for you and your child at certain stages.

Types of Hanen Programs

The Hanen Centre has devised different programs to target specific areas of need. These programs are:

Hanen: It Takes Two to Talk

It Takes Two to Talk is an evidence-based parent-training program which promotes speech and language in children aged 0-5 years with a language delay.

Hanen: More Than Words

More than Words is an evidence-based parent-training program which gives parents the tools, strategies and support they need to help develop language, interactions and social skills in their child with autism.

Hanen: TalkAbility

The Hanen: TalkAbility program teaches parents how to help their child learn social communication skills.

It helps:

• Children who find it difficult to hold a conversation with others
• Children who have difficulty playing with children their own age
• Children who have difficulty talking about things that interest someone else

Parents will learn practical strategies that can be easily used in everyday situations to:

• Help their child develop back and forth conversation
• Encourage their child to pay attention to the social messages people send with facial expressions and gestures
• Help their child develop language to talk about their feelings and other people’s feelings
• Help their child make friends

To find out more about the Hanen programs or our other speech and language pathology programs available near you, contact us today.