The FIRST program is a community outreach of the JMU Speech-Language Clinic for all infants ages 6-12 months and their caregivers. Families join us for a series of visits that focus on discovering new ways to engage babies in communication using a few key strategies called the 3Ts: Tune In, Talk More, Take Turns. Families are empowered to use these strategies through large group interactive discussions, small groups with other parents and in individualized one-on-one sessions with graduate student coaches. Topics relevant to the first year of life, such as feeding, sleep, attachment, and motor development, are often included with a focus on using the activities of everyday life as opportunities for enriched communication with infants. The program culminates in a FIRST graduation ceremony!
We offer the FIRST Program during Fall and Spring Semester every year. See below for details about the upcoming FIRST program. Contact the FIRST Program Director, Shiree Harbick, to sign up: harbicsc@jmu.edu or call the FIRST phone number: 540-255-0881.
A video about our program:
MSC 4304
235 Martin Luther King Jr. Way
Harrisonburg, Virginia 22807
