Children with autism are wired differently from neurotypical children, and this can make it hard for you to communicate with them. However, with the right parent training autism doesn’t have to be a barrier between the two of you. You and your child can learn new ways to express yourselves. Here are some communication strategies that might help you bridge the communication gap with your child.
Making Conversation Easier
You can encourage your child to talk more in a few different ways. For instance, you may want to simplify your speech until the kid’s grammar and vocabulary catch up. Another tactic is to give a long pause after speaking or asking a question. Taking is hard for some children with autism, and they can often use more time to form sentences.
For younger children or those that are nonverbal, a communication board can be helpful. This is a board with pictures of common daily things such as a shirt (for getting dressed) or a bathtub (for shower time). The two of you can communicate by pointing to the pictures. There are commercially made boards or you both can collaborate to create a home-made board. Let your child decorate it with stickers and puffy paint pens to personalize it.
Your child doesn’t need to be hard of hearing to benefit from sign language based communication. Even better, you don’t need to become completely fluent, just learn and teach a few key signs. Even children who are verbal may benefit here. If they’re feeling too overwhelmed to speak, they may still be able to sign.
Communication and Social Skills
Higher functioning children with autism may communicate a lot. In fact, they often talk up such a storm about their favorite interests that you can’t get a word in edgewise. Other kids may take things too literally or get hopelessly confused by metaphors. Your child’s speech therapist can help you here, but some ideas for dealing with this include:
- explaining figures of speech as they come up so your child will understand them
- assigning your child to ask you three questions before talking about their own interests
- taking turns during conversation (you can try passing a ‘talking toy’ back and forth as a visual cue)
Skills For Autism
If you suspect that your child might have autism spectrum disorder, it’s important to get them professionally assessed. These assessments cover a wide range of skills and capabilities and will pinpoint exactly what you and the child’s therapists need to work on. At Skills for Autism, we can create comprehensive, research-based treatment plans that are straightforward to follow and custom-fit for your child’s needs. Contact us today to learn more.