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re:更多的回帖：My son is 3...
更多的回帖：
My son is 3 years old and is receiving training at a local training center for children with autism in China. His speech ability is within the normal range for his age; he is able to talk in full sentences. However, he is lack of initiative to speak. He only initiates to talk for 3 to 4 words each time. I try to do my best to encourage him to finish full sentences whenever he initiates to talk. The practitioner at the training center suggested that my son is an introvert. We need to assist him to find meaning and motivation to initiate speaking. I have worked on that but it still seems it is not enough.
Think about his age-listen to how other 3 year olds talk and what they talk about. At that age many kids are using more “descriptors” such as a “blue bike” or the “big ball”. Even with our verbal children,PECS is helpful in expanding their sentences, especially using descriptors. Anytime visuals are used along with practice, it is easier for kids with autism to “rehearse” what they want to say. Research has shown many kids with autism have the most difficulty in initiating conversations. Give them topics of interest to them to get them going. Many of our kids with autism especially those who are more cognitively able or have Asperger’s, tend to have a perfectionistic streak in them, and may not talk if they feel they don’t do it correctly, or are going to be corrected. Using a visual system allows them to put sentences together, look at the sentence and rearrange it before saying it outloud. Give practice 1-1 or small groups; make it fun! We often talk about what is on the kids shirts, shoes, backpacks, etc. This way they can recognize their friends interests as well. Turntaking can be more structured with talking initially, again using visuals. Use repetitive, predictable stories and songs to give practice as you expand sentences.j
I think it is really important to think about what is age-appropriate for kids to talk about. I can always tell which kids have been in adult-directed learning when they approach another child and say “Hi, how are you”. Typical 3 year olds don’t say that!!!
(1)Is there any suggestion related to motivation of initiating conversation in children that you can provide? Also, my son has a tendency to talk to himself with no specific speech content. Sometimes he talks, sings, read poems out loud impulsively, and the content often is unable to be understood. Could you help?
I always think of much of this as “practicing” talking. Again, visuals can be helpful in helping a child focus. It’s often interesting to learn how many of our kids with autism actually “perceive” what they are hearing! They often repeat words/phrases the way they hear them and then process them. Again, giving them practice in awareness of how words should sound is helpful. Listening to recorded words/watching DVD’s of particular programs that kids are interested in they pronounce the words correctly can be helpful.
2) How to effectively correct speech pronunciation of children? My son is 3 years old. He cannot pronounce words accurately. I tried to talk slowly to teach him accurate pronunciation; however, it doesn’t seem to be working. Please give me some advice, thank you.
Look at the developmental stages of how speech sounds develop and when they should occur. Check with a speech therapist; many English speech sounds(such as “r”s) aren’t expected to develop until the children are 4 or older. Again, giving children opportunities to practice (and I think it should be in fun ways, not just drills) is helpful
3) My son is 3 ½ years old. He has well comprehension and memory, but the development of speech is slow. He did not have any speech before he received interventions. Now, he can speck a few words such as mom, dad, I, doll, no, number two, five, and eight. Are there any methods to improve a child’s speaking ability?
I can’t stress it enough! Picture Exchange Communication System!!!(PECS) I provides visuals and opportunities to initiate speech. Also, go with your child’s high interest areas (counting, ABC’s, dinosaur names-whatever they interest!!)
With young children, movement activities always help with producing more speech sounds. You’ll get more sounds/words with movement activities than just sitting in a chair.
4) My son is 3 years old and four months. He didn’t have any speech before until recently. Now, he learned to repeat words. He will repeat the words that I said. It has been half year. I don’t know how to teach him to engage in normal conversation.
Children who start speaking late (and hooray that he has started to speak!!) need time to practice. Use fun, repetitive activities, such as stories and songs that the child is familiar with, and use visuals with them to start. Do movement activities (which always stimulate speech) such as bouncing or swinging, and use the “ready, set, …..GO!” sequence. Each time stop the activity, say “ready, set, “….and pause, waiting for the child to say the “go”
When using PECS, give time for the child to process, formulate the words and say them. It is amazing how much time some kids need to say the words more fluidly. It comes with practice. It is often hard for adults to stop talking and give kids time to respond!!
Conversations are more likely to begin as the child becomes more fluid in their thinking and speech. It is quite a process to think about the words, then think about how to physically say them. Incorporate high interest areas to stimulate beginning conversations, which will be short initially!!
5) Is oral muscle strengthening and training effective? How to eliminate the repetitive questioning behavior in children with autism? How to improve social skills and increase self-esteem?
Oral motor training activities are very effective as a part of communication development. Again, it is important to make them fun! Blowing bubbles, using a variety of different items to blow them, blowing feathers, imitating faces, etc. Speech therapists and OT’s have a wealth of information about these techniques.
Repetitive questioning: When kids do this I want to figure out WHY they are doing this! Many times they are limited in their strategies to initiate intereactions/conversations, so they use a strategy that is tried and true, such as repetitive questions! With some children I can rephrase the question to them (“What do you think it is?” “Why do you think he does that?”) If you know the child knows the answer, rephrase the question. Give practice with other social language strategies and again, use visuals!
Social skills and self-esteem develop best with positive practice, successful interactions and beginning structured interactions in which the adult helps facilitate the interactions. Teaching children how to have fun and enjoy doing fun activities with peers is a good first step. Often interactions that don’t require a great deal of language can be successful as a first step (such as playing together at a park or playground.) In structured play situations, have enough materials so kids can use the same materials alongside each other without having to get into sharing/turntaking initially. This will develop as their comfort level and trust level develops with peers. There are many good resources for social skills.
6) My child is 3 ½ years old. He only can repeat what other said and cannot distinguish the different between pronoun such as he, she, and it. Are there any effective methods that I can implement with my child?
Check out where the child as at developmentally in their speech. If the child is still repeating words/phrases, understanding pronouns will be difficult. When the child is at a stage where he can understand pronouns, using a visual can be helpful. We have used the picture of a boy/girl along with the printed words “He is___” or “she is_____” Again, positive practice is helpful! When you think about the concrete, visual way that most individuals with autism think, and the young age of the child, understanding pronouns is difficult.
7) I tried everything to help my child ask questions. It does not work. Could you provide some activities that I can use to help?
Look at high interest areas-what would your child be motivated to ask questions about? We do a variety of repetitive high interest activities, along with visuals to stimulate asking questions. We talk about the weather (using the “Weather Song” by Dr. Jean) and visuals. We start with yes/no questions (Is it sunny?-look out the window. Yes or No?) We talk about “What’s on your shirt?” and have the kids take turns asking their friends; same with snack-“What’s for snack today?”
Video modeling can be helpful too as kids get a little older. Again, look at your child’s peers; what are they asking questions about?
8) My child seldom initiates any conversation. Most of his language is about requesting things he need. And he does not look at people when he is speaking. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks.
Research has shown initiating conversations and interactions is one of the most difficult things with individuals with autism. Start with high interest areas and build in turn-taking, so your child also learns to listen and respond. Looking at people can be very stressful for some individuals with autism, but they can sometimes learn to do it in certain situations. Practice and confidence helps over time! Listen to our adult with autism and Asperger’s; some really cannot concentrate if they are looking at someone when speaking. Each child is unique; get to know their style and comfort level. Video modeling again has shown some nice results as kids get older (kindergarten, elementary age and above) Nobody wants to “fail” at interacting, so knowing how to do it and feeling positive about it will help.
9) Do you know some websites with good information on improving communication skills?
The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) , The Hanen Centre, SCERTS, Amy Wetherby, Vince Carbone-verbal behavior model; there is a huge amount of information on the web now!!
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发表于 2010-5-18 04:26:51
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发表于 2010-6-11 08:18:23
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