Developing your child’s communication is likely one of your top priorities, to help here are our 5 Autism Speech Development Tips.

1) Pauses for progress

If one word can demonstrate how collectively we taught our children to talk, it’s anticipation.

Pauses at relevant points during the course of your interactions with your child are crucial in speech development.

With a well timed pause you can develop an urge in your child to try to fill the silent void.

Some ideas where you can insert pauses are as follows;

When pushing your child on a swing, stop them and say “ready, steady….. (pause)”.

With repitition and time they may try and fill the void with something resembling “go”. Naturally they won’t say anything the first or even the hundredth time.

But a key is to reward any attempt at speech with a loud and clear “go” by yourself before release.

Similarly if your child likes being thrown in the air follow the same tactic but using “up” as the trigger.

Lower them slowly to the ground saying “down, down, down” before pausing at the bottom.

You will likely have to demonstrate “up” a number of times but when your child understands the sequence start to insert pauses.

Their desperation to be thrown up in the air is the fuel for them to make noises to trigger the fun.

2) Use nursery rhymes

Nursery rhymes are the gift which keeps giving in that they are fun but educational also.

When you break down a nursery rhyme it has a number of key components which can help with speech.

Firstly they usually involve an easy to follow pattern. Secondly they involve fun and memorable tunes. Finally they usually involve some sort of physical action also.

Using these three elements you can crucially have fun with your child while you are trying to tease out words.

Have a go at nursery rhymes such as “wind the bobbin up” or “row, row, row your boat” with your child.

If you are unfamiliar with these then YouTube is littered with demonstrations.

Try to make the interaction as engaging as possible and then experiment with pauses once more.

You can elaborate with the pauses using the song actions as well.

For example in “wind the bobbin up” there is a point where you sing “…clap, clap, clap”.

You can hover your hands together just about to perform the clap, to reaffirm the trigger for your child.

3) Use pictures

The concept of picture cards is quite divisive in the autism community. Some parents absolutely swear by them, believing they are transformative tools.

Others have either had no success or in turn are resistant due to the fact they fear their child may come to rely on them.

Ultimately you have to do what you think works for your child.

All that said as a middle ground when compared to full on ‘pecs’ you can try some photos of favourite objects.

Once you have prepared these images then allow your child an element of choice at specific points.

For example, have a picture of a banana or an apple (if they eat fruit!) and present the options at snack time.

Your child may reach for or point at one or the other.

When they do so say the word clearly and then provide the desired snack.

What you are doing here is showing your child that they can impact their world using communication. To that point usually everything has just been done for them.

Once they have got to understand the choosing of a snack then their mind may wonder to how else they can influence their world.

4) Use basic sign language

In a very similar vein to the pictures you can try to teach your child basic sign language.

There are many options available but one to consider is makaton. This is a simplified version of traditional sign language and a lot easier to pick up.

Again the same concerns might be present in that you may feel your child will come to rely on signs.

From personal experience we can confirm this was not the case for us. Using just a handful of signs you can once more teach your child there is value in communication.

They can learn that when they communicate with the outside world they are more likely to get what they want.

This can be a step to speach.

5) Up your word count

As a parent it is particularly easy to just go about our days relatively silent.

We engage in chores, prepare food and generally carry on without speaking.

If we are trying to develop our child’s speech however it is important to narrate our day.

This is a simple change but it can make a big difference. So just try and explain each action you take in slow and simple language.

As an example if you are preparing food for your child, talk through the process.

Simple phrases such as “oven on”, “plate out” and “pour drink” can really help.

Even if your child doesn’t speak themself that doesn’t mean that the words aren’t seeping through.

One tip is to count the stairs as you are going up or down.

The rhythmical nature of counting can lead to your child beginning to understand the concept of spoken numbers.

Summary – 5 Autism Speech Tips

So there you have it with our 5 autism speech tips. Naturally any suggestion comes with the caveat that every child has their own way of learning.

You may therefore have to experiment with different options and versions which work for you.

If this list has been helpful then please share with the wider community. Also if you have any to add please do so in the comments below.

Good luck everyone.