{"id":17512,"date":"2019-08-09T02:22:30","date_gmt":"2019-08-09T02:22:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=17512"},"modified":"2019-08-10T05:51:09","modified_gmt":"2019-08-10T05:51:09","slug":"5-tips-for-parents-to-build-communication-skills-with-children-with-autism-spectrum-disorder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/5-tips-for-parents-to-build-communication-skills-with-children-with-autism-spectrum-disorder\/","title":{"rendered":"5 tips for parents to build communication skills with children with autism spectrum disorder"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sanikan Wattanawongwan<\/a>, Texas A&M University <\/a><\/em> and J. Ganz<\/a>, Texas A&M University <\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

We are researchers<\/a> who coach parents<\/a> to communicate with children with disabilities<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here are five strategies<\/a>
\nfamilies can use to help children with autism spectrum disorder build their communication skills, along with examples of how to use them.<\/p>\n

Autism affects an estimated 1 in 59 children<\/a> nationwide.<\/p>\n

1. Motivate the child to communicate<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Create opportunities for your child to practice communication skills<\/a>. Show your child one of their favorite items and encourage your child to ask for it. Children are more likely to be engaged and communicate when activities are based on their interests. Compliment your child when they communicate. For instance, say \u201cthat\u2019s a good question!\u201d or \u201cgood job asking me for help!\u201d<\/p>\n

Delicia, whose 3-year-old child, Pacho, has minimal verbal skills, motivates her child to speak by placing a cookie in a jar. Pacho can see the cookie but he cannot get it by himself. He has to ask for it. After Delicia teaches him how to ask for it, she will give him the cookie and praise him by saying \u201cGood job telling me.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

2. Model communication skills<\/h2>\n

Model communication skills<\/a> by speaking, using gestures and facial expressions. Your child will imitate them. While modeling, sit near your child and respond to the child\u2019s imitation with praise for using the new skill.<\/p>\n

Pacho cannot open the cookie jar, so he hands the jar to Delicia. Delicia models by saying \u201cCookies, please\u201d or \u201cOpen, please.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

For children with autism spectrum disorder with nonverbal communication or who have complex communication needs<\/a>, consider using a tool, called an augmentative and alternative communication<\/a> device, to supplement their speech.<\/p>\n

This kind of communication can be low-tech, such as exchanging pictures<\/a> to communicate. Or, it can be as high-tech as a communication app on a tablet.<\/p>\n

Archie, a 10-year-old with autism spectrum disorder who cannot yet speak, screams when asked to eat vegetables. His father places the vegetables on his dish and his mother models pressing an icon on an app to say, \u201cNo, thank you,\u201d and waiting for his response. The mother also says \u201cNo, thank you\u201d to give him a verbal model and waits for his response.<\/em><\/p>\n

3. Prompt the child to use new communication skills<\/h2>\n

Prompt new communication skills<\/a> by using verbal, visual or physical guidance.<\/p>\n

Fabiana, Archie\u2019s mom, physically prompts him to use the communication device by holding his hand to press the \u201cNo, thank you\u201d icon on his app<\/a>. Then, Fabiana takes away the vegetables and immediately offers something he likes.<\/em><\/p>\n

4. Allow the child to communicate independently<\/h2>\n

Slowly remove the prompts<\/a> so children don\u2019t become dependent on them. You can do this by waiting<\/a> one or two seconds before using a prompt in order to give the child an opportunity to communicate independently.<\/p>\n

After Pacho requests cookies several times, Delicia waits for one second before using modeling or prompting strategies. Delicia will periodically increase the time delay by one or two seconds until finding a delay that encourages independent responding.<\/em><\/p>\n

Archie says \u201cNo, thank you,\u201d with the app when Fabiana prompts him, so she starts waiting for one second before using modeling or prompting. Fabiana will increase the time delay by one or two seconds each day.<\/em><\/p>\n

5. Expand and generalize to other people, settings and activities<\/h2>\n

Using modeling and prompting strategies to add new words<\/a> to phrases the children have already mastered.<\/p>\n

When Pacho can independently asks for cookies by saying \u201cCookies, please\u201d several times, Delicia teaches him a new word by adding \u201cWant cookies, please.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

When Archie can independently use the communication app to say \u201cNo, thank you,\u201d several times, Fabiana teaches him a new word by adding \u201cNo carrot, thank you.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Use these strategies during your children\u2019s everyday activities, such as brushing their teeth, having lunch, going to the park or riding in a car.<\/p>\n

It is essential to use these strategies with different people and in different settings consistently over time.<\/p>\n

[ Thanks for reading! We can send you The Conversation\u2019s stories every day in an informative email. Sign up today.<\/a><\/em> ]\"The<\/p>\n

Sanikan Wattanawongwan<\/a>, Graduate Research Assistant, Texas A&M University <\/a><\/em> and J. Ganz<\/a>, Professor of Special Education, Autism & DD, Texas A&M University <\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sanikan Wattanawongwan, Texas A&M University and J. Ganz, Texas A&M University We are researchers who coach parents to communicate with children with disabilities. Here are five strategies families can use to help children with autism spectrum disorder build their communication skills, along with examples of how to use them. Autism affects an estimated 1 in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":17504,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[292],"tags":[812,2816,147,2813,1996,1034,384],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17512"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17512"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17512\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17516,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17512\/revisions\/17516"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}