When the child attempts to communicate, respond to them with language. The child’s attempt may be verbal or nonverbal; both attempts are communicative in nature and by responding to them you are encouraging them to continue communicating. They learn that they will be rewarded with attention for communicating. This back and forth nature of communication can be seen as early “cause-and-effect” type learning. The child learns that when they do something (i.e., attempt to communicate), something happens (i.e., parent responds). Parental response shows the child that what they have to communicate is important; however, the way parents respond to their child’s communicative attempt is equally as important as the frequency with which the parent responds.