Speech Therapy Activities for Autistic Children

Autistic children often have trouble understanding what constitutes a socially-appropriate interaction, and many have trouble with the symbolic nature of communication itself. According to SpeechTX, many autistic children have trouble understanding fleeting speech, because speech doesn't leave behind any representation that they can see, touch or hold. Designing activities that incorporate how autistic children learn can help them develop communication skills and reach out socially more often.

Start by Providing Choices

• With children at the earliest stages of communication development, teach the skill of communicating through movement by offering the child choices throughout the day. For example, when dressing your child, hold up two shirt options, a green and a black shirt. Gesturing toward each shirt as you speak, ask the child, "Would you like to wear the green shirt or the black shirt today?" If the child looks at the black shirt, respond with, "You must want to wear the black shirt today," and help him bring his hand forward to gesture towards the black shirt. Continue with this and similar exercises until he begins to communicate on his own; next, you can move on to pictorial representations.

Use Representative Pictures on a Board

• Teach the child that pictures can represent real-world concepts. For example, SpeechTX recommends cutting out and pasting pictures on a board that represent your child's two favorite TV shows. Ask your child, "Which show would you like to watch right now? Sesame Street or Dora the Explorer?" If she looks at Dora, bring the child's hand forward to touch the picture, and restate the name of the show. As she gets better at communicating a preference between two options, SpeechTX recommends adding another picture to the same category on the board--The Wiggles, for example.

  You can also expand your child's communication skills by adding a higher category to the mix. For example, create a separate board that has a picture representing "listen to music" and another representing "watch TV." First, ask your child what she would like to do. If she gestures towards TV, present another, second board with pictures of her favorite shows and ask which one she'd like to watch.

Teach the Child to Make Requests

• Go outside with your child on a nice day and blow bubbles. If he shows signs that he wants more bubbles, give him a card with a picture of bubbles on it and help him with the motion of handing it to you as you say "I want more bubbles please." Try placing a favorite toy in a clear, plastic container that the child can't open. When he shows signs of wanting to get what's inside, help the child hand the container to you as you say "Open the container for me, please."

Show and Tell

• For children who are more advanced communicators, the main problem is often recognizing when certain kinds of communication are socially appropriate. Many autistic children have difficulty learning manners, or when to say phrases like "I'm sorry." Lovetoknow recommends playing out short, social scenes in front of your child so they have an example to refer to when learning to interact in real life.