Communication can be very daunting to many Autistic or Asperger’s children so it’s important that we as parents and careers handle the subject with care and understanding.
Being asked or expected to spontaneously begin a conversation is a terrifying and highly stressful task for many Autistic children of all ages.
All children, when taking part in any activity need a clear expectation from the adult. For example taking a child to the park, the expectation is that the child plays where you can see them and comes when they are called by you, this expectation will be told to the child before they enter the park. And believe it or not our literal thinking ASD and Asperger’s children are no different!
To help your child comfortably initiate a conversation you’ll need to give them some pointers…
Firstly let’s narrow it down for your child. Give them a starting point, a subject to talk about. Just doing this alone can lift a huge amount of pressure from your child. Something so simple but so necessary, as and they can now focus their mind to one topic.
Next something that is very important is to give your child a time scale of how long the conversation will last. This is the expectation. Two minutes has shown to be the most appropriate starting point for Autistic or Asperger’s children.
To help eliminate any remaining anxiety you will now tell your child they can have two minutes to collect their thoughts, then your two minute conversation can commence.
If your child comes off subject, which they might. Just remind them of the conversation subject in a calm manner and continue. This is not a problem.
For this strategy to be most effective you should repeat the two minute conversations daily. A great time to do this is at meal times, as research has shown meal times are an ideal opportunity to practice family social time and communication. Also to ensure that your child doesn’t lose interest in these two minute conversations, change the subjects daily. E.g. How did your day go at school? Or tell me about your P.E class?
Best of luck, let me know how you get along.
Speak with you soon, until then
Live every moment, Love beyond words and make a difference today!
Emma Ottaway
The Autism Support Specialist
