Communication is not just talking. There are many visual and other cues that help us understand what another person is saying. People on the autism spectrum have difficulty processing non-verbal cues or may also use non-verbal communicative methods themselves.
This means they might not hold eye contact or use body language in expected ways, they may misunderstand or misuse gestures or have a lack of, or different, facial expressions, which can make their social interactions challenging and sometimes confusing. Many individuals on the spectrum use echolalia, which means they repeat words or phrases over and over, often using them without meaning or using them in an unusual context.
They might repeat the words of familiar people parents, teachers , or they might repeat sentences from their favourite video.
Individuals may demonstrate immediate echolalia a repetition of words or phrases straight after they hear them and delayed echolalia repeating words and phrases at a later time. According to The Hanen Centre , there are many reasons an individual might use echolalia for a communicative purpose:.
There are a lot of tools that can help people on the spectrum develop their language and communication skills. They can also provide support planning for intervention, and advise of which strategies can be best use to support the development of communicative skills. Visual supports are tools that help communicate and build language skills. This can incorporate the use of symbols, photos, written words and objects to help people with autism to learn and understand language, process information and communicate.
Many people on the autism spectrum respond well to visual information and visual information can be processed and referred to over time, whereas spoken communication is instant and disappears quickly. The individual can point to the image when they want to communicate.
For example, if they are hungry, they can point to an image of food. As the child learns more symbols and words, they can use them to create sentences and to answer questions. Others can also use them to communicate with the child.
The Picture Exchange Communication System can be used in the development of intentional and functional communication. Another autism communication support tool is known as a visual or picture schedule. This helps individuals learn the steps of a routine, like getting ready for bed.
A series of pictures shows the steps in order and over time they learn each step. Visual schedules can also be used to show a person on the spectrum what is happening next or show when there is a change in routine. This enables the language surrounding change to be more easily understood and allow individuals to refer back to schedules throughout the task and throughout their day. Augmentative and alternative communication AAC , helps individuals who cannot talk or are very hard to understand.
AAC includes:. AAC can help many individuals with autism and can even assist with developing spoken communication. Low-tech autism communication strategy — these are usually paper-based and include visual supports like cards and picture books, photos and communication boards.
This also includes hand signs. High-tech autism communication strategy — there are a range of electronic communication aids. Use cookie settings to control which cookies are allowed or click on Allow Optional Cookies to allow all cookies.
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Last reviewed and updated on 20 August Was this page helpful? The following are examples of effective communication tools. Individuals who use this communication system carry around a hard cover book that contains a variety of icons.
These icons are usually simple words and images, so someone who has never been exposed to PECS would be able to understand their meaning or what they represent. The child can hand icons to another person one at a time, or line up words and images on a plastic sentence strip to express a need or request.
Although PECS is very functional and can enable communication ranging from simple requests to more detailed communication, there are some down sides to this communication system. Icons may be lost or wear out and need to be replaced. This is not costly, but it requires time. This is a good choice for practices that seek integrated autism and developmental screening.
See website. This screening test is not specifically for ASD but encompasses communication more broadly. Sens 0. Does not reliably discriminate between autism and another communication delay or disorder. This has the youngest age range of all screening tests listed; it is widely used in some parts of the United States.
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