Teaching Communication to a Child with Autism and Emerging Verbal Skills
Teaching a child with autism who has emerging verbal skills to communicate effectively can be a rewarding yet challenging task. Developing communication skills is essential for your child's social, emotional, and academic growth. Here are practical strategies to help your child enhance their verbal communication abilities.
1. Understand Emerging Verbal Skills
Children with emerging verbal skills may:
- Use single words or short phrases.
- Have limited vocabulary.
- Struggle with forming sentences.
- Rely on gestures or non-verbal cues to communicate.
2. Create a Language-Rich Environment
Talk Constantly: Narrate your daily activities, describe objects, and explain actions to provide a language-rich environment. For example, while cooking, you might say, "I am cutting the apple. The apple is red and juicy."
Read Together: Read books regularly, choosing those with repetitive phrases and clear, simple language. Encourage your child to point to pictures and repeat words.
Label Everything: Label items around the house with words and pictures. This helps your child associate words with objects and actions.
3. Use Visual Supports
Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS): Use PECS, which involves exchanging pictures for desired items or activities. Start with simple pictures of common objects and gradually expand to more complex images and phrases.
Visual Schedules: Implement visual schedules to help your child understand daily routines. Include pictures with words to reinforce language learning.
4. Encourage Imitation
Model Speech: Model clear and simple speech for your child to imitate. If they say "juice," you can model a more complete phrase like "I want juice."
Echo Games: Play echo games where your child repeats words or phrases after you. Make it fun and engaging with different voices and expressions.
5. Use Positive Reinforcement
Praise and Rewards: Praise your child for any attempt to communicate verbally. Provide immediate and specific praise, such as "Great job saying 'apple'!"
Motivational Activities: Use activities your child enjoys as motivation for verbal communication. For example, if they like playing with blocks, encourage them to say "block" or "build" before starting the activity.
6. Expand Vocabulary Gradually
Introduce New Words: Gradually introduce new words and phrases related to your child’s interests and daily activities. Use repetition to reinforce learning.
Category Sorting: Teach words in categories like food, animals, or toys. Use sorting games to help your child group similar items and learn new vocabulary.
7. Foster Functional Communication
Requesting: Encourage your child to use words to request items or activities. Start with familiar objects like "milk" or "toy" and gradually increase the complexity of requests.
Commenting: Teach your child to make comments about their environment. Model simple comments like "big car" or "blue sky" and encourage them to imitate.
8. Incorporate Play and Social Interaction
Interactive Play: Use play as an opportunity to practice communication. Engage in activities that require verbal interaction, such as playing house, building with blocks, or pretend cooking.
Peer Interaction: Facilitate opportunities for your child to interact with peers. Structured playdates or group activities can provide natural contexts for practicing verbal communication.
9. Seek Professional Support
Speech and Behavior Therapy: Consider working with a speech therapist who specializes in autism. They can provide personalized strategies and support tailored to your child’s needs. Board Certified Behavior Analysts, like the ones that work at Bloomwell, are also trained to help children with limited vocal skills communicate and develop their skills.
Early Intervention Programs: Enroll your child in early intervention programs that focus on developing communication skills. These programs often offer comprehensive support, including speech therapy and social skills training.
10. Be Patient and Consistent
Consistent Practice: Consistency is key in developing communication skills. Practice regularly and incorporate communication exercises into your daily routines.
Patience and Encouragement: Be patient and provide continuous encouragement. Progress may be slow, but every small step is a significant achievement.
Teaching a child with autism and emerging verbal skills to communicate requires patience, creativity, and consistency. By creating a language-rich environment, using visual supports, encouraging imitation, and incorporating play, you can help your child develop their verbal communication abilities. Remember to celebrate every milestone, no matter how small, and seek professional support when needed. Your dedication and support play a crucial role in your child’s communication journey.
