How Speech Therapy Can Be Helpful For Children With Autism? What Parents Need To Know!
Since autism is a bio-neurological disorder, it does not have any predefined treatment. A series of cognitive therapies are prescribed to the individual so that they could cope better within the society. One of such therapies is language or speech therapy as autistic children or adults may find it difficult to communicate with others.
Behavioral Traits An Autistic Child Show
A child with autism generally shows some typical behavioral traits. These traits show difficulty in communicating socially, displaying acute discrepancy with both verbal as well as non-verbal communication, obsessive interests, exhibit repetitive behaviors, and narrow aptitude, etc.
Some children with autism function at a higher extent of efficiency keeping their intelligence and speech levels almost at perfect developing conditions as that of a child without autismNevertheless, there are several instances, where a child shows a complete inability to speak. Children with autism also suffer from several other behavioral traits.
A child with autism nurtures the tendency to close off or center on particular behavioral patterns in a repetitive manner and show extreme rigidness and dislikes. Such child is reluctant to make eye contact, seems withdrawn and shows little interest when it comes to language learning skills.
Speech Pathological Therapy – Why Practice It?
Speech pathological therapy has been defined as a treatment method that helps treat the speech or language disorders among kids and adults. Child with autism may find it difficult to understand or deliver certain speech sounds, language etc. There are different types of speech disorders.
Speech Therapy For Kids
When your child is diagnosed with autism, language and speech therapy is generally one of the prime and best treatments that are recommended by every physician. Leading pathologists can shed light on how speech therapy can help an autistic child.
Language or Speech therapy can play a crucial role when it comes to treating a child with autism:
Communication impairment is quite common among children who are diagnosed with autism. Language and speech therapy usually play a crucial role in their initial Intervention treatment. It is better to refer the child and their parents to specialists.
If your child is diagnosed with Autism, you should engage professionals to help your child through language and speech therapies, which could help them communicate better and improve on their quality of life. As your child may have no or very little speech ability due to autism, speech therapy professionals may bring alternatives to language therapy, such as using signs or technology to achieve effective communication.
How Speech Therapy Help Children With Autism?
The main purpose of language and speech therapy is to help the autistic child improve their ability to communicate effectively. It is extremely important for a child with autism to develop communication skill, as it is the only technique that allows him to form new relationships and function well in their everyday life.
Generally, speech therapy helps an autistic child to:
- Develop The Ability To Express Their Needs And Wants
This could be done by using both verbal and non-verbal communication techniques. It is imperative to make children with autism learn how to exchange their ideas with others. This is not just limited to their family members, but also when they are interacting with friends, fellow colleagues or people outside of their social circle.
- Understanding What Is Being Said To Them
Language and speech therapy help kids with autism to understand the verbal and nonverbal communication methods that others use. It helps them recognize several other cues such as facial expressions and body language.
- Communicate Effectively To Interact With Peers And Develop Friendships
Some children with autism may find it challenging to respond to unpredictable questions and spontaneous replies in a casual conversation. They may also have very particular interests and find it difficult to talk about other topics.
Language and speech therapy can help these kids learn different strategies that help them to mingle with other kids as this helps them make new friends, play and experience the aspect of social success in a better way.
- Learn To Communicate In A Way That Makes Them Understandable
Oftentimes, autistic kids might bring with them an unusual language processing and idiosyncratic learning patterns. Consequently, kids who suffer from autism commonly have issues developing their spoken language skills. Sometimes, they get to learn the spoken language in chunks without breaking what they may hear down into separate sounds and words.
They may keep repeating long ‘chunks’ of their favorite TV shows or stories without actually understanding what they are saying or if they should be using the words in the ‘chunk’ independently. This condition is known as ‘echolalia’, language and speech therapy actually help autistic kids to find means that help them overcome this condition and the other complexities they face while communicating with others.
- Articulate Sentences and Words Well
Like several other neuro-typical kids, children with autism also struggle with the articulation of putting words and sounds into sentences. Most of the autistic children find it difficult to understand abstract language, time concepts, and their vocabulary mainly depends on the context for meaning.
Non-literal language such as hints, idioms, and indirect instructions can turn out to be quite tricky for them. These are some of the aspects that a professional speech pathologist can assist a child with autism with.
- Oral Motor Therapy
This therapy comprises of different types of physical activities that mainly focus on developing the muscle in and around the mouth. These techniques are quite useful in treating speech delays that may occur due to physical limitation rather than the underdeveloped skills or the disorder itself. Sometimes, this therapy is used when the child finds it tough to swallow or eat properly.
Conclusion
Autism is a condition that usually shows up before a child turns the age of 3, and the speech delays could be noticed as early as 18 months. In some cases, autism could be identified in a child as early as 10 to 12 months of age. Hence, it is crucial to look out for services that could assist parents with their child’s treatment – Life Speech services assist with speech and educational therapy assessment, intervention and training!
Professionals at Life Speech are expert in assessing, treating as well as training children with autism through pathology/speech therapy programs. Their educational therapists completely evaluate, diagnose and treat patients having issues with speaking, using language skills, understanding, drinking and/or eating.
It is extremely crucial to start language and speech therapy for your autistic child as early as possible, as it can really have the greatest impact on the child’s ability to live a better life.