Encourage pointing with beams 'o light!

Pointing is a very important skill.  It's a form of communication and joint attention.  When a child points to the passing firetruck, he is telling you "Look at that!".  He wants to share something with you.  He wants to make a social connection with you, and wants your attention so he can tell you about something.  Joint attention is essential for communication and social exchanges.

Inadvertently, pointing also triggers multiple learning opportunities.  When the child points to something, the response from the adult is something along the lines of "Oh?  What do you see?  It's a big red firetruck!  Where do you think the firetruck is going?  He's going fast, isn't he?".  Such a natural response is a wonderful learning opportunity, because we just labeled the thing he was interested in and pointed to ("firetruck"), and also presented characteristics ("big", "red", "fast").  We are having a conversation with the child, even if the child cannot verbally answer yet.

A lack of pointing is also one of those warning signs for autism.  Bugsy didn't point (at all) until she was 2 years old, and only after some pretty intensive therapy.  We did hand-over-hand a lot, modeling, and enlisted the help of toys with tiny buttons that could only be pressed with one finger.  Like an alphabet board toy where she had to isolate her index finger in order to press one button at a time.  Even after she started pointing, it was only under certain circumstances and only with prompting.  It wasn't until she was 3 years old that she was reliably and independently pointing to communicate her wants and needs. 

OTC 12 Finger Beams $8.00

The other day, a family friend gave Bugsy a toy that I wished I knew had existed 2 years ago.  It would have saved us a lot of sweat and tears.  They're finger light beams.  A little elastic allows you to put it on a finger (any finger), and then the light shines on whatever you're pointing to.  You can buy them online from Oriental Trading Company (12 for $8) or Amazon (40 for $7 with prime shipping: here or here).  


Now, granted, the toy will work and the light will still shine if the child isn't pointing but just making a fist or whatever.  But that's where the adult supervision, modeling, encouragement, and prompting comes in.  I particularly like the set that Bugsy got, because instead of just shooting a light, it actually makes pictures.  If she's not pointing at a blank wall, then the picture gets distorted and she can't see it, so it encourages her to target a specific location.  Also, if she's shaking her hand/arm/finger, the picture starts bouncing around - so it's motivation to hold her hand steady.  It's a good way to work on strengthening, because she can actually see that she's being unsteady.  Bugsy will say "uh-oh" if she drops her hand and loses her picture =).   

As you can tell from the picture, these things are pretty tiny.  Adult supervision is DEFINITELY needed because it's totally swallowable.  Besides the fact that swallowing anything non-food is not so great for you, these things are powered by 3 watch batteries...so that's something you definitely don't want to add to your diet.

The one thing I really don't like about this toy is that little elastic band.  Bugsy has come a long way with tolerating things on her, but when she first got this toy she was still a little bit hesitant.  I had to actually force it on her little finger, and she was about to make a fuss before I turned it on and she was too mesmerized by the pretty pictures to remember that she was mad at me.  Now when she knows we're playing with these she readily sticks her finger out for them.  However, I wouldn't be so confident 2 years ago the pretty pictures could have overpowered the tantrum.  This toy also requires a pretty dark room for it to work.  So if your kiddo has sensory sensitivities, this might be more trouble than it's worth for your family.

Has anyone else seen these things and had success with them in working on pointing?  I didn't know they existed until 2 weeks ago, and Bugsy has already mastered the pointing skill, so I'd be interested to know how it works for kids who are still working on pointing.