The secret to therapy: give help, then take it away

When a child is learning a new skill — putting on socks, asking for juice, waving hello — therapists rarely just "tell them to try harder." Instead they use prompting and fading, one of the most useful ideas in early intervention. A prompt is any help that makes success possible: guiding a child's hands, pointing to the cup, starting the word ("Juh…"), or modeling the whole action first.

The crucial second half is fading — deliberately shrinking that help over time. You might move from hand-over-hand guidance, to a light touch on the elbow, to just a point, to eventually nothing at all. Fading is what turns "my child can do it with me" into "my child can do it alone."

Skip the fading and you risk prompt dependence: the child learns to wait for your help rather than to do the task. That's why good therapists aim to use the least help necessary and remove it as soon as the child shows they're ready — celebrating the smaller and smaller amount of support needed as real progress.

You can do this at home during ordinary moments. Offer just enough of a nudge for success, then next time try offering a little less. The goal isn't a child who never needs help — it's a child who needs you a bit less each time.