Communication Corner – Communication and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
April is recognized as Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month
Communication is typically impacted by ASD. Some of those impacts may include…
- Limited or different eye contact
- Difficulty noticing and understanding non-verbal cues such as facial expressions and gestures
- Varying abilities to use speech as communication
- Trouble communicating about subjects not of special interest
- Echoing words or phrases seemingly without meaning
- Confusion around the meaning of metaphors or common phrases
- Overall challenges with language development
Some ways to provide support include…
- Speech and Language Evaluation
- Using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) strategies and tools
- Developing nonverbal ways to communicate clearly like using American Sign Language
- Describing your actions as you do everyday things to model communication
- Using direct, clear language
- Clarifying meaning as both the sender and receiver of messages
- Recognizing and encouraging any attempts at communication, both verbal and non-verbal
Communication is more than words and together we can make sure that everyone is heard and understood!
For more tips, please visit “Communication And…” Series – MyODP
