Helping Your Child with Autism Communicate

Our ability to communicate with others, be it our family or peers, shapes our day-to-day lives. After all, it helps us form strong relationships, advocate for ourselves, and get to where we need to be (both professionally and personally).

However, children with autism and related disorders may find it harder than most to communicate with others. There are many reasons for this, but it’s primarily due to the fact that the way in which we communicate in our daily lives caters to neurotypical people over neurodiverse.

Not only does it require a certain level of language processing skills, but it often requires speakers to pick up on nonverbal cues, such as body language, too — something that many people with autism find hard to read. Beyond this, a significant number of children with autism are non-verbal or “have problems with the meaning and rhythm of words and sentences.”

As such, parents must work proactively with their children to help them develop the communication skills they need to thrive!

How to Help Your Child with Autism Communicate

Enroll them in Speech Therapy. Working with a speech-language pathologist is one of the most effective methodologies when it comes to helping individuals with ASD find their voice and improve their communication skills. During any given session, they will work closely with your child to help them develop a range of communication-based skills. For example, they may work on:

Strengthening the muscles in the mouth, jaw, and neck.

Making clearer speech sounds.

Matching emotions with the correct facial expression.

Child with Autism Communicate

Photo by Jason Rosewell on Unsplash

Work to understand their unique communication style.

Parents tend to know their children better than anybody else in the world. Working to better understand their unique communication style means they can express their needs more clearly, making their day-to-day life a little easier. For example, stimming could sometimes indicate frustration or feeling tired and overwhelmed.

State how you are feeling, as opposed to “showing it.”

While helping your child recognize the difference between certain facial expressions can help them to better understand emotional self-expression, you can make this process a lot easier for them by stating how you are feeling instead of merely showing it. For example, you could say:

“I am happy because….”

“I am sad because…”

The more you get into the practice of doing this, the easier your child will find it to understand emotions or how they manifest for others. It could also encourage them to open up about how they may be feeling.

Look into Augmentative and Alternative Communication Devices.

For nonverbal children, AAC devices can prove to be instrumental in changing the way they communicate for the better. These tools can help them to participate more actively in conversations, express themselves creatively, and gain more independence in daily life. Speak to your child’s speech therapy beforehand to see which device is best for your child or to learn more about how you can integrate this into their daily routine.

In short, there are many different ways in which you can help your child with autism communicate!