"High-functioning" ASD can't speak for "low-f

Post Reply New Topic

A person's got to know that one thing can stand for another thing--what a symbol is. Like, knowing that a picture of Mom represents Mom, that kind of thing. Language is a set of symbols. Sometimes kids start out with symbols that are much closer to the actual object than words are. Photographs and models are probably the easiest, then drawings, then written words or signs, then spoken words. but it depends on the skill set the kid starts with.

It also helps to know that if someone else is pointing at something, it's probably useful to look at it. And it helps to know how to point at things, yourself. It's not really necessary to have "joint attention" or to point in the traditional way. Example of non-traditional pointing: I draw my cat's attention to something by wiggling my fingers near it. The cat is attracted to the motion and sees the object. A kid might grab your hand and lead you to something they want to point out to you.

Cause and effect, very basic but very important--"I do this, and that happens, and the results of my actions are relatively predictable." That helps with PECS because you can learn things like, "If I hand Mom the card with the cookie picture on it, she will give me a cookie."

Knowing that there are interesting things in the world to explore. Curiosity. Most kids have this but some don't; some are just spending all their energy dealing with crazy sensory stuff, or sticking with the same old stims and special interests because those are comforting and everything else is foreign and scary. These kids have to learn that the world is a safe place to explore.

One thing, though; I have often heard autistics explain that they understood more advanced things before they understood simpler things that were supposed to be prerequisites, walking before crawling or doing algebra before they learned their times tables. So, assuming that one skill must be mastered before others can be attempted, might mean that your kid is missing out on an opportunity to learn something that they can actually learn now even though it seems like they're not ready. I think the best way to deal with that is to just give them plenty of opportunities to learn things, just expose them to those ideas so that they know what's possible; and if they start to show an interest in something, give them a chance to try it even if it seems like they "shouldn't" be ready to learn it. With language, I think it's pretty simple to just keep showing them language of all sorts, spoken and written, reading to them, talking, whatever, just to give them a nice broad set of ideas that they can latch on to and use for communication themselves.

Thanks, this is very helpful information, I think my daughter may be older than your son so I'll add my experiences against your dot points.

I found playtime also very useful...if possible get your son to do monkey bars and climbing, apparently there is a neurological link between these two physical activities and reading/comprehension. Another useful activity is turn taking where the child plays games involving taking turns with another player.


Be careful, my daughter (and many autistic kids) actually understand a lot more than what they reveal. Use visual aids, it was helpful when teachers tried to gauge if my daughter understood instructions or comprehended a story.


My daughter still has problems pointing but I make it easy by narrowing down the options in the visual field of view. Now that her eye contact with me is improving she is imitating non verbal facial expressions a little.


Simply having your son in school for a few hours a day is enough. He will start to template good social behavior even if he initially does not understand it;s purpose,


It sounds like you are on the right track. ABA type repetition is unnecessary if your child is encouraged using positive reinforcement to use words/communication at common situations ljke the playground, dinner table or when reading a book before sleep. He will get that words/communication are associated with playtime, breakfast time or dinner or sleep as these are key times for your son.



LOL! your advice is much better for $100 than the expert quacks I've paid substantially more to tell me things I could have devised myself.

MathGirl, if you're making testable predictions, then you're doing science. Keep it observable. Beyond that, you could get into the realm of speaking for other people.

Last edited by jrjones9933 on 16 Jul 2014, 3:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Will respond on our LFA thread in the Parent Forum, as we can discuss these pointers more in detail there !

Interesting information in this thread, the points stated above are consistent with the research I've been exposed to so far.

Thank you all so much for the responses. I am glad I am not going into the "speaking for" realm. I will make sure I point it out to others if I ever see them do this (and I have seen it before!).