Michelle's Journey through Assistive Technology: Autism and Expressive Communication!

Ever try to get someone's attention? You were either trying to get their attention so that person would do something or so that person would stop doing something. That is the basis of expressive communication!

Expressive communication involves sending a message to another person to either make something happen or to stop something that is already happening.

Autism is a term we are hearing far too often and we need to be prepared as educators to have these children included in the best way possible. Children with autism struggle with the ability to use expressive communication.

Some students with autism may be non-verbal and have significant challenges with all forms of expressive communication, while others may be verbal but use language inappropriately or get confused by the language of others.

It is important to remember that being able to speak does not mean that a student with autism is an effective communicator.

There are numerous challenges they face with this!

Some of the challenges in communication can include:

delayed or absent speech development
difficulty understanding the spoken communication of others
difficulty understanding the non-verbal communication of others (following a point, understanding facial expressions or tome of voice)
literal and concrete understanding of language (the student may be very confused by figurative language such as ‘pull up your socks’, ‘it’s raining cats and dogs; may not get sarcasm, irony and some humor)
delayed processing of language (taking a long time to understand and act on an instruction)
echolalia (repetition of another’s speech, including what is heard on games, TV and movies)
different motivation to communicate, with many children commonly communicating about their needs and wants, rather than for sharing information or other social reasons

This is a great site called positive partnerships. There is a wealth of info about school age children on the autism spectrum.

So what are some teaching strategies for these kids?

non-verbal, an augmentative communication system must be in place. The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) has been very effective.
Voice output communication devices may be very appropriate.
students who do have verbal communication skills, many benefit from having some form of augmentative communication available as a back-up system for times when expressive communication may fail. This can reduce aggressive behaviors!
Picture cards
Motivating activities, objects, etc. can serve as a starting point in teaching the child the functions of communication.
Using repairing strategies- breaking down into steps by teaching persistence, and then by "show me" cues.