From Kate Wilde:
Verbal communication is made up of two components someone talking (either verbally or non-verbally) and someone listening. I recently wrote a short blog about listening, this blog is about how we talk to our children. This week at The Son-Rise Program Intensive we have the cutest little cherub with autism. He is 9 years old, has black hair and loves to twiddle the seal from a prized carton of ice cream. He has a vocabulary of about 10 clear words,and a high pitched scream which he uses to convey the urgency of a want. He has yet to learn that we don’t understand screaming here at The Son-Rise House.: – ) Even though he does not speak many words or have conversations, he has shown us that he can clearly understand everything we say.
Our children may find forming words and sentences challenging, but this does not mean that they cannot understand what we say.. Here at The Autism Treatment Center of America we see again and again that our children who have yet to speak can understand us.
What do you do with this information? Talk to your children. Talk to them as if you were speaking to a fully speaking person. Tell them what is happening, explain to them in detail where they are going, and why they are going there.
If your child has to take medication explain in detail how the medication will help them.
If you do not want your child to do something like dump out all of the shampoo into the bath tub, let them know why you do not want they to do this.
If your children are resisting making transitions from place to place, or refuse to take medication, it may just be because no one has told them what is going on. If we explain in detail not only will they know, but they will understand that everything we are doing is to take care of them and help them.
Take a moment think of a place where your child may be extra controlling and resistant and take the time to explain the situation in more detail. You may be surprised with their response.
Have fun talking to your children.
With much love Kate