Turn Autism Around by Mary Lynch Barbera Ph.D

Author:Mary Lynch Barbera, Ph.D. [Mary Lynch Barbera, Ph.D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hay House
Published: 2020-01-12T00:00:00+00:00

Sign Language

If you are trying to teach your child to mand but are getting few or no sounds or word approximations, consider teaching him sign language. Teaching kids to use signs to request items can often be a springboard to vocal language, and it can also improve imitation skills, prevent or reduce problem behaviors, and increase a child’s toleration of gentle physical prompts. Many professionals believe that children need to imitate before they can learn sign language, but I’ve found that teaching children to sign is one of the best ways to teach them to imitate. Some people also worry that sign language prevents children with delays from speaking, but in my experience, when signing is accompanied by spoken words, it almost always improves vocalizations.

To get started with signs, it’s best to focus on teaching three to five at a time. When your child wants a “ball,” you can first teach him to mand for it using sign language by holding up the ball, making the sign yourself, helping your child make the sign, and then delivering the ball to him. During each step, say “ball” while you and your child make the sign for ball so that your child hears “ball” three or four times before it’s delivered.

If you physically prompt a child’s hand to make the sign for “chip” and give him the reinforcement of a chip right away, you have paired your teaching and physical prompts with reinforcement, which will help your child learn all sorts of skills.

There are also speech devices and apps to help nonverbal children communicate. While I encourage the early use of sign language, I’m not as big a fan of using these speech devices with very young children, at least not in the beginning. However, if your child is already using a tablet app or another augmentative system for communicating and having some success, I would continue with that system. I would also start using the Turn Autism Around approach to see if the combination might help boost vocal language and increase other communication skills, while reducing problem behaviors.

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