There was a degree of uncertainty about E's diagnosis. His autism is mild and it is harder to diagnose especially when the person is young and has severe language delay. (Language delay can cause a child to mimic similar symptoms to autism due to the mere frustration of not being able to communicate). E has significant eye contact for a child with autism and this caused the paediatrician some pause. However, he also noticed other strong features of autism within E such as the way he appropriates language ( or misappropriates it).
Autism causes a significant social deficit in people. They cannot or have limited reading of social situations, voice intonation, facial expressions, body language etc. Normal social cues are often missed by people with autism. So teaching social acceptable behaviour is very difficult because there is no understanding of these things and no natural ability to assume these behaviours - they have to be learnt and mimicked.
People with autism will have difficultly in 3 main areas.
•Social communication: knowing what to say to other people and understanding what they are saying to you.
•Social understanding: knowing what to do when you are with others or behaving inappropriately (apparently oblivious to social rules).
•Imagination: pretend play, make believe and fantasy.
Source: Autism Northern Ireland
Source here
Language occurs within a social context. Often the meaning of words (especially in English) change depending on the context and intonation of voice. A person with autism will not naturally sense these social subtleties. It makes perfect sense why a child with autism will struggle with language.
E is building up his word bank slowly. At nearly 3, he probably has close to 200 words. (An average 3yr old would have 900-1000 words). They are nearly all in single word formation. Many are still words that he mimics. He is very slow at building spontaneous language. When he does use spontaneous language it can sometimes be out of context. This is a classic symptom of autism. For example, E has said 'bye dog' in a certain context which has obviously stuck in his memory. Now, whenever he says bye to something or someone else, he will also say 'bye dog'. He has also learnt the phrase 'Look at that, frog!' Now, whenever he chooses to point something out he will often use that phrase and call it a frog! There seems to be no awareness that there is no dog or frog to speak about!
Speech and communication are a daily struggle for us. For a period of time when E had no verbal or non verbal way of communicating we had major behaviour issues. Then he began to use some single words and start to take us by the hand and drag us to what he wanted. His tantrums became a bit less frequent. Now, they are on the increase again, because he is trying to speak more words which I don't understand.... if I don't respond immediately to E's needs, there is a major meltdown.
In comes visual aids for communicating. Well, the concept of it anyway. I actually haven't gotten around to printing and laminating all these aids yet. But I will soon. The idea is that E can point to or bring to me things that he wants. I can have some on a key ring for when we are out of the house. They also aid in establishing routines or helping children understand what is going to happen and when. You can place them into a sequence of events. I am looking forward to seeing how these help our day to day.
Autism causes a significant social deficit in people. They cannot or have limited reading of social situations, voice intonation, facial expressions, body language etc. Normal social cues are often missed by people with autism. So teaching social acceptable behaviour is very difficult because there is no understanding of these things and no natural ability to assume these behaviours - they have to be learnt and mimicked.
People with autism will have difficultly in 3 main areas.
•Social communication: knowing what to say to other people and understanding what they are saying to you.
•Social understanding: knowing what to do when you are with others or behaving inappropriately (apparently oblivious to social rules).
•Imagination: pretend play, make believe and fantasy.
Source: Autism Northern Ireland
Source hereLanguage occurs within a social context. Often the meaning of words (especially in English) change depending on the context and intonation of voice. A person with autism will not naturally sense these social subtleties. It makes perfect sense why a child with autism will struggle with language.
E is building up his word bank slowly. At nearly 3, he probably has close to 200 words. (An average 3yr old would have 900-1000 words). They are nearly all in single word formation. Many are still words that he mimics. He is very slow at building spontaneous language. When he does use spontaneous language it can sometimes be out of context. This is a classic symptom of autism. For example, E has said 'bye dog' in a certain context which has obviously stuck in his memory. Now, whenever he says bye to something or someone else, he will also say 'bye dog'. He has also learnt the phrase 'Look at that, frog!' Now, whenever he chooses to point something out he will often use that phrase and call it a frog! There seems to be no awareness that there is no dog or frog to speak about!
Speech and communication are a daily struggle for us. For a period of time when E had no verbal or non verbal way of communicating we had major behaviour issues. Then he began to use some single words and start to take us by the hand and drag us to what he wanted. His tantrums became a bit less frequent. Now, they are on the increase again, because he is trying to speak more words which I don't understand.... if I don't respond immediately to E's needs, there is a major meltdown.
In comes visual aids for communicating. Well, the concept of it anyway. I actually haven't gotten around to printing and laminating all these aids yet. But I will soon. The idea is that E can point to or bring to me things that he wants. I can have some on a key ring for when we are out of the house. They also aid in establishing routines or helping children understand what is going to happen and when. You can place them into a sequence of events. I am looking forward to seeing how these help our day to day.
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