6 Ways Speech Therapists Help Kids with Autism

Speech therapy specifically for children with autism can be one of the most effective ways to help your child develop.  Children who have been diagnosed with autism may have a range of symptoms that a comprehensive speech therapy program can address.

While some children may not talk at all, others may make noises such as humming or babbling.  Other children with autism may be able to talk, but may be lacking expression in their voice.  It is also common for kids with autism to have issues with conversation, understanding, or echolalia (repetition of words).  Speech therapy can help with all of those issues.

How do speech therapists make progress with their patients?  Here are just a few of the tools that they use to assist kids with autism in making progress:

Provide electronic “talkers.” Electronic “talkers” look much like a children’s toy, but are actually sophisticated communication devices. Programmed with common words that can help a child to get their message across, speech therapists can help children connect with the word and the action.

Teach signing or typing. For children with limited speech skills, speech therapists can also teach sign language or typing as another method of communication while they work on enhancing speech.

Use pictures for communication. Visual cues, such as using pictures, can help kids with autism to connect what they see with the sound that a word makes. This can give kids a new way to “talk” to the people in their family, decreasing frustration.

Teach sounds. Speech therapists are also experts at helping kids to understand how to make how to make the basic sounds that comprise speech. These basic sounds are the building blocks to our language.

Improve articulation. For kids that can speak, speech therapists can help to refine their articulation, making their communication much easier to understand.

Sing songs to improve speech. Kids with autism can also benefit from singing songs. Songs teach new words, rhythm and meaning.

These are just a few way that a qualified speech therapist can help to improve a child’s speech. Contact Peak Potential Therapy today for more information on our services!