- Use books to help your autistic child learn to speak
- Tips on what books to choose, and how to read them
Many of the first words that my son uttered were learned from books. Long before he was able to speak, he loved having stories read aloud to him, often the same book hundreds of times.
As with many children with ASD, my son has an excellent memory. The repetition over weeks and months helped him to memorise the words in his favourite books, anticipate them as they were being read aloud and — eventually — join in to say them together.
Here is a step-by-step guide on how I helped him along the journey.
Choose the right book
My son, like many other children with autism, loves the rhythm of the words in a book and absorbs them like a melody in a song. So, in the early days, I chose books that had simple, rhythmical, repetitive phrases.
From the ones I listed in Best picture books for children with autism, here are some good examples:
Question and answer
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? and Where’s Spot? both have simple, repetitive Q&A phrases featuring key everyday words such as colours, animals and places around the home.
Onomatopoeic words
Adapted from a folk song, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt is very lyrical with fun onomatopoeic words that capture the drama.
Dramatic storyline
The Gruffalo, an all-time classic, was my son’s absolute favourite, thanks to the simple yet dramatic plot, endearing animal characters and beautiful rhymes.
Deliberately pause
Once I saw that my son really loves a particular book and has memorised it, I would one day start reading it out loud and suddenly stop mid-sentence. My son would be so surprised and indignant, and keen to hear the rest, that he attempt to try saying the next word himself.
When you stop mid-sentence, stop before a word that’s simple to pronounce, fun to say, or very familiar such as the main character’s name. For example:
‘….then it went off with a big loud….’ (bang)
‘….and who should it be but our good friend….’ (Max)
If your child reacts in a non-verbal way, encourage them to say the word by sounding it out, one sound or syllable at a time.
Try stopping at different points in the book, in more and more surprising, unexpected places. This will encourage a strong reaction from your child and hopefully tempt them to try saying the missing word.
As your child attempts to speak, wait a good while longer than feels natural. Adults are conditioned to find silences uncomfortable and feel compelled to break them. But children — especially those wth autism — need that time, and more, to process the situation and convert it into action.
Deliberately make mistakes
Instead of stopping before a word, deliberately say the wrong word: eg ‘Bob’ instead of ‘Jane’, ‘sea’ instead of ‘forest’, ‘ice cream’ instead of ‘carrot’.
Again, this will hopefully surprise your child and tempt them to try correcting you!
I use this trick of deliberately making mistakes, or ‘acting dumb’, in many situations to encourage my son to express a preference, respond to questions and interact during playtime.
Clap out words
Clapping to sound out words was one of the key ways I taught my son to speak. Books with fun, rhythmical phrases are fantastic for this. Clap out each syllable as you read, encouraging your child to do the same by guiding their hands.
Adding a physical movement to speech really helped my son process words and reproduce them.
Talk about the illustrations
Stop to observe interesting things in the pictures. Axel Scheffler’s illustrations of Julia Donaldson’s books are brilliant for this, as they contain so much detail that provide conversation starters. Talk about the animals, colours, scenery, or what the background characters are doing.
If your child doesn’t like this and wants you to carry on with the story, then it’s a great opportunity to teach them to say ‘go’!
Summary
Wait until your child has memorised a book, then deliberately pause or make a mistake when reading it out loud.
Clap out key words to help your child match a physical movement to speech.
Autism Hacks 