Autism: Developing Communication Skills

Develop alternative communication skills

Autistic children can struggle to develop their speech skills, and instead, will communicate in other ways. It is important to encourage your child to develop alternative skills to speech so that they are still able to communicate with others. Your child may find it helpful to use images to communicate. You could begin by printing out some pictures of food or a bed and encourage them to show you a picture that relates to how they are feeling. This will help your child to communicate their feelings and emotions if they struggle to talk.

Visualise options

If you are giving your child a choice to make, try to provide visual objects so that they can have a better understanding of their options. For example, if you are giving your child a snack, show them what their options are instead of asking them what they would like. Asking them what they would like might cause your child to become overwhelmed by the options, whereas showing them and creating options for them will make the decision easier for them.

Understanding behaviour as communication

Certain actions can often be misinterpreted as behaviours when instead, it might be that your child is trying to communicate with you. It is important to be aware of these patterns and understand why your child might be doing this. For example, if your child comes home from school and seems irritable, and is displaying destructive behaviours, it could be that your child is overwhelmed from school, but they are unable to communicate this with you. By recognising this, you can help your child by working with them to channel their energy into something else. Instead, you could try implementing an element of exercise into your child’s after-school routine.

Flexible thinking

It is important to encourage flexible thinking in your child. Having an autistic profile can often mean having a literal thought process. Exploring different meanings with your child can help them to understand this. For example, if a sign says ‘wipe your feet’ explore the different things this could mean. Ask them what they think it could mean and then offer alternatives. Your child might interpret this as they must take their shoes off and wipe off their bare feet, instead, explain to them why this wouldn’t be appropriate in a public space and offer an alternative idea.

Model behaviours

You can greatly support your child's communication development by modelling effective communication skills. Whether it's verbal or non-verbal communication, demonstrating to them how to express thoughts, emotions, and needs can help your child learn by example. Be patient, consistent, and use simple language while interacting with your child. By displaying these skills in everyday interactions with your child, they will be able to learn these communication skills and apply them in social situations.

Watch the webinar