When I was first diagnosed with breast cancer, I didn't know what I was going to do. After the devastation subsided, I decided to take a very standard, western approach to my healing. Although initial efforts were successful, my cancer recurred a few months later. I endured many additional months of treatment before I started focusing on myself. I decided it was time to incorporate complimentary alternative treatments into my healing regimen, including massage therapy. I can't even begin to tell you how much it changed my life. My healing became a process, instead of something I simply had to endure. I hope that the articles on my website can inspire you to stay open-minded about your own healthcare.
When you have a child with autism, it is difficult to know what you can expect as they grow and develop. After all, there are many different degrees of autism and every child is different. If your child is having trouble developing speech and language skills as a result of their autism, you may find yourself at a loss as far as what you can do to help them. Not being able to communicate with your child or not knowing what they are trying to communicate to you can be stressful and frustrating, but it is not necessarily a permanent issue. Get to know some of the ways that you can help your child with autism to develop language skills so that you can get started working with your child as soon as possible.
Focus on Play-Based Learning
Children, especially young children, learn best through interactive play. This means that they engage with an activity in a variety of ways and are able to explore the world through sight, smell, touch, hearing, and the like. For example, to build language skills, you can incorporate songs into games and play activities.
If your child has a shape sorter toy that they like to play with (in which there is a box or ball that a child puts blocks of different shapes into holes in the container that match the shape) that they like to play with, you can create an educational song to go along with playing with the toy. Interact with your child while they perform the activity by handing them each shape and singing the corresponding song. They will begin to associate words with their tactile interactions with the toy, helping to build language skills and comprehension.
Work with a Professional Speech-Language Therapist
While your interactions with your child will be extremely important for language development, it is also quite helpful to incorporate treatments from a professional into the process. A speech-language therapist will be able to work with your child in different ways using language development therapy techniques to help your child learn to express themselves and understand language better.
The speech language therapist or pathologist will first meet with your child and perform assessments to determine their exact linguistic and speech struggles. They can then design a customized program to help you and your child work together to develop language skills. This can include specific exercises including mimicking their speech and encouraging your child to mimic your speech, learning sign language and other non-verbal communication skills, and more.
Consider the Assistance of Technology
If your child continues to struggle with their language and speech skills or you want to provide them with all of the assistance possible, you may want to employ the use of technology in the process. Devices like iPads or other tablets and smart devices can help your child to communicate with you when they cannot find the word to speak out loud.
This can help to reduce frustrations for you and your child as they learn language and help fill in the gaps in the meantime. For example, if you were to ask your child if they are hungry and they indicate or state that they are, you may want to ask them what they want. When they are struggling with vocabulary, this can be difficult, but with a tablet, they can use various language learning apps with food pictures and select the one they want. The tablet can say the word aloud when the touch the screen so that your child can tell you what they want non-verbally but also learn the word for it.
Now that you know a few of the ways that you can help your child with autism develop and improve their language skills, you can get started as soon as possible. For more information, visit a clinic like Evergreen Speech & Hearing Clinic, Inc.
Share14 October 2016
