The Autistic Child's Need to Communicate

I was recently asked a question about a specific autistic child and speech therapy and I'm posting it here because I thought the answer might be helpful to others.

The person who asked me this question was not a speech therapist, but someone who was/is working with this family and their autistic 2 1/2 year old son.

To reinforce what  the speech therapist who is working with him is doing, my friend is trying to get him to imitate her in making sounds and consonant sounds. But she is getting frustrated and he is getting frustrated because he can't imitate even simple consonant and consonant vowel combinations. The only consonants he will attempt is b and m. He knows two signs, but unfortunately he has not learned any new signs in months, despite efforts to teach him.

After hearing these frustrations, I concluded that the most important thing this child needs is to be able to communicate. I asked her if he could point to pictures that she labeled and the answer was yes. What I then told her was that this child needs a picture communication system. This will not only teach him that there is a reason to communicate but it will give him the means to communicate.

I described to her a simple picture book that she could make for him with tabs for different pages/categories. Categories to include in this book would be toys (pictures of his toys - actual photographs work great), foods that he eats (no reason to put in a picture of a food that he will never eat and therefore never have a reason to communicate with that picture), clothes, colors, pictures of family members, simple adjectives and verbs (sleepy, hungry, thirsty, cold, swinging, etc).

She said his understanding (receptive language) is good, so he should not have much trouble learning to use this book to communicate. He first has to be taught that there is a reason to communicate and that communicating (for him by pointing to pictures) will get him something. So if you start out with pictures of his toys, he will soon learn that before he can play with a certain toy, he needs to make his choice and then communicate that choice by pointing to the appropriate picture. As he gets just a little older you should put the words with the pictures so he can see both. This kind of picture system can be used as he gets a little older to put 2 -3 word combinations together in order to increase his communication abilities.

If you suspect your child has autism, please consult your pediatrician right away. AutismSpeaks is a great resource for learning more about autism and this link will take you directly to a page that will help you learn and watch out for early signs in your child.  AutismLink will help you find resources right in your area.

I hope this has been helpful.