How to Teach Language to Autistic Children
Autistic children employ language to meet needs, such as asking for objects, demanding action or protesting. In contrast, developing children use language to label things and connect with others. The difficulties that autistic children have in learning language revolve around understanding phonics, syntax and rules of grammar, according to The Healing Center. An autistic child may respond to a teacher's cues with detailed explanation or automatically repeat what the teacher has just said. Strategies that utilize objects and pictures can be used to teach the meaning of language to autistic children.
Instructions
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Place the child's favorite foods or toys into a nontransparent bag. The object of this is to cue the child to ask "What's that?" Take an object out of the bag. Label it and then show the object to the child. Repeat this process until the child learns to ask, "What's that?" Put neutral objects on a table. Place his or her favorite objects beside the neutral ones. Start with only one neutral object that the child has to label to every four favorite objects that he has already identified. Continue to put more neutral objects on the table until the child asks, "What's that?"
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Hide the child's favorite objects in, under, behind or on top of things. Cue the child to ask, "Where is it?" Answer the question. If the child is able to find the object, reward him. Repeat the process. In order to help the child learn the meaning of location, cue the child to articulate the preposition, such as "under " or "behind", before he or she can take the object from its hiding place.
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Gather objects that belong to the child's family members. Hold an object up and cue the child to ask, "Whose is it?" Answer in the possessive form and then hand the object to the child. Repeat the process, but cue the child to answer in the possessive form whose object it is before he or she takes it. Use the child's favorite object to teach the difference in meaning between "yours" and "mine." Cue the child to ask, "Whose is it?" Respond by saying, "It's yours." Before you give the object to the child, cue he or she to say, "mine."
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Use a pop-up book to teach verb tenses. Autistic children typically find the past tense challenging. Select a book that is of particular interest to the child. Pluck a tab on the book. Cue the child to ask, "What happened?" Answer the child by telling him what happened. For example, you say, "The dog barked." Cue the child to repeat the past tense of the verb. He or she should say, "The dog barked."
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