Difficulty with language is one of the hallmarks of autism spectrum disorders. Children with autism commonly learn to speak later than their typically developing peers, and some children with autism remain nonverbal into adulthood. Depending on your child's degree of language delay, mental development and motivation to learn language, different techniques can be helpful in stimulating language development. Most techniques require long-term, repeated practice and trialing -- discuss appropriate techniques with your child's therapy team and health-care provider.
Reinforcing Vocalization
For a child who is nonverbal, increasing the sheer quantity of her vocalization is an essential preliminary technique in language teaching. You can increase vocalization by rewarding your child when she makes verbal sounds or noises, or when she echos a word or sound you have made. A classic 1964 research study by Wolf, Risley and Mees gave a 3-year-old boy his favorite foods when he echoed the instructor's words. This technique increased the boy's vocalizations, which could then be shaped into vocabulary.
Prompts and Fading
In Applied Behavioral Analysis or ABA therapy, a technique known as fading prompts can be used in development of language and other skills. You start by fully prompting a child's vocal response -- for example, by showing him a toy and prompting him to make a vocalization as you say the toy's name together. Wolf, Risley and Mees used a system of fading prompts -- after fully prompting the child to say the name of a certain item, they later reduced the level of prompting. For example, they might hold up a toy dog and say only the sound "d," prompting the child to complete the word "dog." As the same object is presented in different sessions over time, the child hopefully will learn to say "dog" with only the object itself as a prompt. Positive reinforcement of all vocal successes is important to the success of a fading prompt system.
Computer Programs
Children with autism typically struggle with social interaction and with reading facial expressions. These factors can make learning language skills from another person problematic in some cases. Computer-assisted language development programs can be helpful as the computer provides concrete answers and immediate feedback, without any need for interpreting facial expressions. A study published in 1993 used an instructive computer program, ALPHA, for six children learning Swedish and one child learning English as a second language. Interactive computer instruction was found to be beneficial for language development in these children with autism.
Picture Exchange Communication
Some children with autism may be unable to learn verbal communication -- in these cases, nonverbal communication methods such as sign language may be considered as either a substitute or a complement to verbal language. A system of picture exchange communication, known as PECs, is often helpful when children cannot effectively communicate through words. The PECs system uses pictures of everyday objects -- bathroom, car, foods, rooms in the home -- and a child can request a certain object or activity by handing you the relevant picture card. The cards may be used to bolster verbal language learning or as a prompt to be faded if the child's verbal language develops.
References
- National Autism Conference; Behavior Analytic Research in Autism (II); Vincent J. Carbone, Ed.D., BCBA; August 2011
- Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology; Facilitating Language Skills through Interactive Micro-Computer Instruction: Observations on Seven Children with Autism; M. Heimann, et al.; 1993
- Polyxo.com; PECs; Jason M. Wallin; 2004
