Now that we've looked at a few examples of how AT can help students in the classroom and at home, let's take a moment to discuss the challenges of students with Autism have with expressive language.
Expressive language is the ability to communicate a person's wants or needs verbally, by using sign language or a communication device. Expressive language means being able to put thoughts into words and sentences and then being able to express those thoughts. Expressive language also includes nonverbal communication skills such as facial expressions and gestures.
There are different strategies to help students with autism who have difficulty with expressive language. Talking activities such as: modeling grammar, naming tasks to facilitate prompt word retrieval, developing definitions of words, and developing concept books, will help increase a student to express his/her wants and needs. Reading and writing activities such as: listening to music and modeling gestures to lyrics, read a-louds, and writing simple things like a birthday card, can also encourage a student to be more expressive.
Students with autism who have difficulty with expressive language are unable to communicate thoughts, needs or wants. They may understand most language but are unable to use this language in sentences because they have difficulty with the pronunciation of words. Students may have a limited vocabulary, overuse of non-specific words like "thing", over reliance on stock phrases and difficulty getting to the point of what they are trying to say.
Students with autism who have difficulty with expressive language are unable to communicate thoughts, needs or wants. They may understand most language but are unable to use this language in sentences because they have difficulty with the pronunciation of words. Students may have a limited vocabulary, overuse of non-specific words like "thing", over reliance on stock phrases and difficulty getting to the point of what they are trying to say.
The next posts will discuss the use of break cards, choice cards and past event cards to help students with expressive communication difficulties.
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I really like your post about students with autism and their difficulty with expressive communication. I work with a lot of nonverbal autistic students who are constantly struggling to let us know their wants and needs. It is really upsetting to see them struggle because often times they don't even know what it is they really want. I feel like we as educators have to constantly think of all the possibilities that a student made be trying to communicate. Sometimes it may even be that they have a headache and they need to be able to let us know they need Tylenol
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