Pictures Cards
Autistic children don’t interpret pictures the same way that a typical brain does. We tried printing out pictures of her favorite things to turn into Flash Cards, but I read that Bella would understand it better if it was an actual picture. So, we took pictures of her favorite movie, snack and drink and then a picture of a diaper and her blanket. We printed these out at home, but you can print them at any photo kiosk. We found these magnet sleeves at Wal-Mart where you just slide the picture in and stick it to the fridge. The intent being that she can grab, or tap the picture when she wants that object. This worked well with Bella until she realized they could be taken off the fridge. Then they seemed to become toys. She would routinely pull them off and put them back on for fun. Also, this method doesn’t help when you’re away from home.
Sign Language
American Sign Language is one of the most popular ways to teach a non-verbal child to communicate. We taught Bella the most basic signs that she would use everyday. “More”, “drink”, “food”. Then we would add another sign in as we went. Sign language is relatively easy to teach, but it does depend on how much your child can understand and comprehend at once. Our trail and error resulted in about 20 mins, three times a day. Any more than that and Bella would lose focus. Less than that and it would take longer for her to learn the sign. For us, Bella used five signs that she’d learned for almost two weeks. Then, for whatever reason, she just stopped. It’s been about four months now and she hasn’t used a sign since. Every time I sit her down to try again, she “protests”. I’m not a hundred percent on why she’s so resistant to use signs, but I think it’s in part to the fact that she’s created some of her own.
Observe. Interpret. Learn
Observing your child’s facial expressions, hand gestures and any change in tone of their vocalizing can be a great help at indicating what they are in need of. Learning to interpret the little signals your child gives you will not come easily. With Bella, it’s hard to decipher what is a motion for help and what is just another stim. It’s taken awhile, but now, when Bella does something like, tug on her lip, that’s her telling us that she’s thirsty. I think this might be why she didn’t take to traditional sign language. Bella has three or four signs that’s she’s made up and uses almost every day. They may be made up, but they work for her. So, if you’re child does a certain “stim”, observe what else is going on. It could possibly be them trying to indicate to you that they want something and they are telling you in their own way.
Text to Speech Programs
There are many computer programs out there that can translate text or typed words into computerized verbal speech. Of course, we have yet to try anything like this due to the fact that Bella can’t read or write yet. She’s only two, but, for those who are older and have access, these types of programs can work wonders to help lessen the barrier for non-verbal autistic children and adults. Hacking Autism is a great site dedicated to apps for tablets and smart phones that were designed and created to help autistic children communicate. We have tired a few of these with varying success.
Make Contact
While most of the methods Cy and I have tried are to the benefit of our daughter, we reminds ourselves everyday that we are learning too. While most autistic children are resistant to physical contact, we make sure to engage in some kind of affectionate contact with Bella as much as she’ll allow. A quick hug or a kiss on the cheek while saying “I love you”, might not mean much to her right now, but it does make us feel better. I’d like to think that by doing this, Bella feels more comfortable. Even though it’s more for us than it is for her, it can’t hurt.
Repetitive Educational Videos
You can purchase DVD’s aimed at pre-schoolers to help your child. Repetition has long been proven to help teach children basic education. There are many options available, some that are even aimed at autistic children specifically. Watching them together with Bella has actually been quite fun. We get to see how she reacts to certain videos. We’ve noticed that she really likes the ones with a lot of music and doesn’t really care too much for ones that star “talking big eyed animals”. The only downfall to this method is that you’ll find yourself walking around most of the day with very simplistic song lyrics in your head.
Speech Therapy
In most states, speech therapy for school aged children is offered free. Sometimes a team will evaluate your child, or sometimes it will just be one speech therapist. They will determine what areas your child needs the most help and a plan will be written up. The one-on-one therapy is effective and very helpful. Most also allow parents to observe therapy sessions. Being able to experience what they do with your child at school or during therapy can give you a great jumpstart on what you can also do at home to help.
Practice. Practice. Practice.
Persistence is key. You will experience setbacks and it will sometimes feel like nothing you are doing is working. Trust me, it is. Every time your child is exposed to sounds, speech, stories, music, one or all of the methods listed, they are slowly picking up on how it all works. We were told that Bella would most likely never vocalize at all since she wasn’t a regressive autistic. She didn’t learn words and then forget them, she just never spoke. Now, she’s vocalizing a lot more and even making forming sounds that resemble actual words. Although she may never fully learn to speak, a combination of different methods can only make it easier for her express herself.
There are a lot of things we take for granted in life. Being able to so easily communicate myself was one of them for me. Watching Bella when she gets frustrated trying to express her needs and wants can be heartbreaking. As much as I get frustrated trying to figure out what she wants, I can only imagine what it must be like for her.
I really hope that what we’ve experienced can help someone else that’s going through something similar. With that said, if anyone reading has advice to offer, please feel more than welcome to share.
