http://www.thinkingautismguide.com/2019/01/can-my-child-ever-learn-to-speak.html
This is a really excellent piece on authentic communication and the importance of non-speech communications. I posted a couple weeks back regarding a nonspeaking (but definitely communicating!) autistic person name Deej. This is an account from a different person who has valuable thoughts on what communication can look like.
Much is said in the autism world regarding the importance of early intervention, with the assumption that without that early intervention, the child will never learn to communicate "properly." And by properly, they invariably mean speaking. More and more, it seems this is inaccurate. This author didn't learn to use speech the way most people do until age 10.
Sometimes, autistic people simply develop more slowly. That can be on any number of spectrums, speech being one. Others include emotional intelligence, physical coordination, sensory integration, and time management skills. In some cases, these things may never develop to "normal" capacities. But in many cases, it's just a matter of time.
If you or your loved one struggles with speech as a communication method, consider looking into other methods, such as pictoral systems, sign language, text-to-speech programs, and others. A place to start might be this page.
This is a subject I can't speak to a lot personally, because I've been capable of accepted speech since I was quite young. It is, however, highly relevant to the autism world in general. Even those of us who, like me, tend to be highly communicative via speech, can sometimes become mute when put into sufficient stress.
However, like the author, I too think "use your words" is a cruel and thoughtless thing to say. I strongly agree that simply being capable of speech-communication does not guarantee you a normal life. It certainly hasn't for me, normal to above-average speech capabilities or no.
Also, as an ending note: I am highly fluent in speech. That does not mean I think in words. I actually don't. Nor am I exactly like Temple Grandin, who thinks in pictures. I think in some crazy hybrid of music/sounds, pictures, short video clips, flavors/smells, and memory concepts. I don't know how to explain the last one. It's more like muscle memory than anything else, I guess? It's like the remembered flavor of a steak, except for the concept of how a shoulder is supposed to rotate. Or what adjustments are necessary to walk safely on a sheet of ice.
Words and speech, then, are a second language to me, though one I've practiced extensively. If I hadn't done this, what would authentic communication look like for someone like me? I truly don't know. Hopefully, as we learn to welcome more nonspeaking people to the table, more methods can be introduced to the general public, and be made available so that everyone can communicate and understand each other.
This is a really excellent piece on authentic communication and the importance of non-speech communications. I posted a couple weeks back regarding a nonspeaking (but definitely communicating!) autistic person name Deej. This is an account from a different person who has valuable thoughts on what communication can look like.
Much is said in the autism world regarding the importance of early intervention, with the assumption that without that early intervention, the child will never learn to communicate "properly." And by properly, they invariably mean speaking. More and more, it seems this is inaccurate. This author didn't learn to use speech the way most people do until age 10.
Sometimes, autistic people simply develop more slowly. That can be on any number of spectrums, speech being one. Others include emotional intelligence, physical coordination, sensory integration, and time management skills. In some cases, these things may never develop to "normal" capacities. But in many cases, it's just a matter of time.
If you or your loved one struggles with speech as a communication method, consider looking into other methods, such as pictoral systems, sign language, text-to-speech programs, and others. A place to start might be this page.
This is a subject I can't speak to a lot personally, because I've been capable of accepted speech since I was quite young. It is, however, highly relevant to the autism world in general. Even those of us who, like me, tend to be highly communicative via speech, can sometimes become mute when put into sufficient stress.
However, like the author, I too think "use your words" is a cruel and thoughtless thing to say. I strongly agree that simply being capable of speech-communication does not guarantee you a normal life. It certainly hasn't for me, normal to above-average speech capabilities or no.
Also, as an ending note: I am highly fluent in speech. That does not mean I think in words. I actually don't. Nor am I exactly like Temple Grandin, who thinks in pictures. I think in some crazy hybrid of music/sounds, pictures, short video clips, flavors/smells, and memory concepts. I don't know how to explain the last one. It's more like muscle memory than anything else, I guess? It's like the remembered flavor of a steak, except for the concept of how a shoulder is supposed to rotate. Or what adjustments are necessary to walk safely on a sheet of ice.
Words and speech, then, are a second language to me, though one I've practiced extensively. If I hadn't done this, what would authentic communication look like for someone like me? I truly don't know. Hopefully, as we learn to welcome more nonspeaking people to the table, more methods can be introduced to the general public, and be made available so that everyone can communicate and understand each other.
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