Tips for Improving Child Communication

ABA Tips for Improving Child Communication

According to Ellyn Lucas Arwood, EdD, a professor who specializes in language and special education at the University of Portland located in Oregon, children with autism think in terms of what ideas look like. Therefore, when communicating with children with autism, the more visual one can make the conversation the better. Here are some tips on how to improve child communication and make your conversations visual (Suszynski, M. 2016).

Improving Child Communication Tip #1: A parent can write sentences out. For example, a parent can write out “It’s time to brush your teeth,” then have the child read the sentence, and then you can even read the sentence out loud.

Improving Child Communication Tip #2: Draw pictures. Going a step further with number 1, when writing out sentences, you could even draw pictures that go along with the words. Another helpful thing to draw is a visual schedule that outlines your child’s entire day. This helps your child visually see what will be happening throughout their day.

Improving Child Communication Tip #3: Let your child visually communicate with you as well. When your child wants to communicate with you, let them select a way to communicate with you, that they feel the most comfortable doing. This could mean that your child uses gestures to show what they want (pointing at wanted items), writes or draws, uses sign language, or may even choose to type it out.

Motivate teachers, babysitters and family members to communicate visually with your child.  If your child’s school needs encouragement, you may be able to go in yourself and provide examples to their teachers. This way they can observe how well your child responds to it (Suszynski, M. 2016).

References:

Suszynski, Marie. “Learn to Speak Your Autistic Child’s Language.”EverydayHealth.com.

Everyday Health Media, n.d. Web. 22 Aug. 2016.