How to Teach Language Skills to Children With Autism or Other Developmental Disorders
Children with autism or developmental delays often struggle to acquire the language that comes naturally to other children. If your child suffers from one of these afflictions, ensure that he reaches his language potential by dedicating more effort to explicitly teaching him the basics of communication. Teaching these lessons doesn't require complex tools, but will require some effort.
Instructions
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Create individualized goals. Trying to make a child with a developmental delay meet standard milestones is a futile effort. Instead, set goals for your child that are slightly higher than where he currently is. For example, if he can say five words, set a goal for him to say 15, and begin to work toward it.
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Read to the child daily. Set aside a standard time for this reading, such as right before bed. Sit with your child, and ask him to follow along with the text as you read to him, if he is old enough to do so. If your child, like many children with autism, is fascinated with certain subjects, select books in this subject area to keep him more engaged in the reading process.
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Speak directly to the child when addressing him. Facing your child and speaking deliberately to him makes it easier for him to see how you are forming words. It also promotes connection, an area in which many autistic children, and some developmentally delayed children, struggle.
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Group similar words to teach relationship. Autistic children often learn best when information is chunked. Create meaningful chunks of words to take advantage of this skill. For example, if your child has learned the phrase "dump truck," present him with other construction-related words, like "shovel," "construction worker" and "street sign," to build upon this learning.
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Provide picture prompts when building vocabulary. Many developmentally delayed children benefit from visual cues. To use this skill, gather pictures of words that your child is currently learning, and use these pictures to help him study these terms. For example, you could hold up a picture of a flower as you reach a part in a story that talks about a flower, if he is currently learning that term.
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Praise his successes. Developing language skills is often exceedingly hard for developmentally delayed children. Remind your child how proud you are of him daily to encourage him to keep working toward his language-development goals.
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