Language development varies greatly among children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Some are early talkers and never seem to run out of things to say. Others are naturally quiet and begin speaking much later. However, differences in social communication are key features of ASD. Many children with ASD will benefit from some form of speech and language therapy to improve their communication skills.
What is social communication?
Some children with ASD face challenges communicating their wants and needs. Others may be unintentionally one-sided in their conversations and benefit from working on two-way communication.
Teaching children with ASD to converse with others in social situations is also called pragmatic communication. Pragmatic language involves skills such as picking up on body language, maintaining eye contact, understanding implied meaning, using normal vocal inflection and volume when speaking, staying on topic, and recognizing others’ level of interest in what is being discussed. The scope of speech and language therapy varies from child to child and depends on the individual’s needs.
The exact services your child needs are determined after an evaluation by a speech-language pathologist, often called a speech-language therapist. The therapy itself can be done individually, in small groups, or in a classroom. However, therapy is most effective when it involves everyone—teachers, support staff, families, and even the child’s peers—to encourage the child to practice speech and language in a natural setting throughout the day.
It’s important to think of communication as more than just speech, especially since recent studies show that about 30% of people with ASD do not acquire verbal speaking skills.
Beyond verbal speech: augmentative communication
Because some children with ASD are frustrated by their inability to verbally communicate their wants and needs, they may benefit from augmentative communication, using gestures, sign language, or picture communication programs. For example, your child may benefit from the Picture Exchange Communication System, a method that uses the principles of applied behavior analysis (ABA) to teach children with less-developed verbal skills to communicate with pictures.
With the guidance of a therapist, teacher, or parent, the child learns how to exchange a picture for an object and eventually learns to use pictures to express thoughts and desires. Finally, the child learns to create sentences using more than one picture and to answer questions.
Introducing augmentative communication to children with ASD who do not yet use verbal communication does not prevent them from learning to speak, and there is some evidence that they may feel more encouraged to learn to speak if they already understand something about symbolic communication. Augmentative communication can also include the use of electronic devices or applications, some of which have synthesized speech output.