As a parent of a child with Autism or ASD, you will be aware of the challenges your child has communicating, both verbally and non-verbally. It is also difficult for them to interact socially, especially with people outside their families.
You may be having a hard time communicating with your child, which may prevent you from providing suitable care your child needs.
One way of coping with problems in communicating is through speech and language therapy. Most children diagnosed with ASD are recommended to undergo speech and language therapy, which can help children with ASD communicate effectively in meaningful and functional ways.
Speech and language therapists work with a team of other healthcare providers usually composed of physiotherapists, occupational therapists, psychologists, and ABA therapists. This multidisciplinary approach is developed to provide holistic care for children with ASD.
Let us take a closer look at how speech and language therapists at autism centers help children with ASD for their literacy development.
What is Speech and Language Therapy?
Speech and Language Therapy is a service that provides support, care and treatment for individuals who are facing challenges with communication such as speech, pronunciation, language, reading as well as auditory processing. Similarly, speech therapists address the problems of swallowing, drinking and eating. Several tools and methods are used for therapy including speech exercises and play activities with the use of toys that help educate the child.
A speech therapy program varies from person to person. It all begins with an assessment by a speech-language pathologist or an SLP to determine and establish an individual’s specific goals, from which a tailored therapy program is developed.
Speech And Communication Problems with Autism
Children with ASD experience several difficulties when it comes to speech and communication. Each child has his/her unique challenges. For instance, some children with ASD are not able to speak at all, while others love talking, but find it challenging to process non-verbal communication such as body language, facial expressions, and hand gestures. They also have a problem in holding a conversation or maintaining their focus in listening or paying attention. Other speech problems associated with autism are the following:
- Grunts, shrieking or babbling with word-like sounds.
- Echolalia or repeating what the other person is saying.
- Robot-like speech or usage of foreign-sounding words.
- Having trouble with producing sounds for speech.
- Lack of understanding semantics or symbols.
- Trouble with maintaining eye contact or focus.
- Failure to interpret or understand facial expressions.
- No emotions or having an unexpressive manner when communicating.
Due to these challenges, it is not enough for children with ASD to learn how to speak rather, they should be taught to understand and use language to effectively communicate and become understood.
Speech and Language Therapy for Autism
A child can be diagnosed with autism as early as 3 years old. After this, an evaluation is done to assess the child’s speech capacity. The treatment of autism varies from child to child; as each individual under the autism spectrum is unique and has distinct needs.
Speech and Language therapy plays an important function as a part of a multi-component program provided by a team of multi-disciplinary medical specialists for the treatment of autism. Specifically, SLP’s role is to help children on the autism spectrum with their literacy development. Depending on a child’s goals, therapists work to improve the following areas or skills of communication:
- Nonverbal communication
- Speech pragmatics
- Prosody
- Grammar
- Conversation and Social Skills
- Concept Skills, Answering and asking questions.
Autistic children who have had early intervention and speech and language therapy grow up to have excellent communication skills. However, for others who have not been given access for treatment can still undergo therapy as adults.
If you live in the UAE, Dubai Autism Centers like Pulse Therapy and Learning Center can help your child by offering speech and language therapy along with a multi-disciplinary approach to improve the quality of his/her life. For more information about speech and language therapy for ASD, reach out to our specialists today.