Developing effective communication skills is one of the most significant areas of need for students with autism spectrum disorders. For that reason, it is important to make teaching communication the highest priority in any environment. Here are eight fundamentals to support student learning.

Focus on communication
Consider the development of effective communication skills the prime objective. Activities chosen, timing of activities and flow of the schedule need to be designed to facilitate communication.

Teach both parts of communication
Remember that communication involves understanding as well as expression.
Focus on improving both.

Match the student's understanding
The words you use need to match the student's ability to understand. That means simplifying your language to a level that matches how the student is able to respond with consistency.

Capture the moment
The most effective teaching occurs when a real need occurs. Take the time to teach at the moment the student has a need. This type of learning will be most meaningful to that student.

Use visual communication supports
Make using visual strategies a rich part of the environment. The basics are a schedule and visual tools to give information, support transitions and establish important rules.


View behavior challenges in the context of communication
Behavior problems are frequently related to communication.
Two common issues are
1) a breakdown in understanding and/or
2) difficulty effectively expressing needs. When the cause of the behavior problem is identified to be related to communication, the solution to that problem will evolve from improving communication.


Teach pragmatic skills
Pragmatic skills are those "invisible" skills that make communication effective.
Two important ones to teach are
1) How to get someone's attention and 2) How to manage a communication breakdown.


Integrate communication into activities
Any activity can offer the possibility for communication training. Making Jell-O can take 5 minutes. But that same activity can become a rich opportunity for meaningful communication and social interaction. Allow enough time for this to occur. When communication becomes a part of every activity the student will develop more really meaningful, functional communication skills.



It's important to give the highest priority to teaching communication both in the classroom and at home. Incorporating these critical elements will help create rich learning opportunities. There are many things these students need to learn. But a strong emphasis on developing effective communication skills will be the foundation for all other social and academic learning.



© 2009 Linda Hodgdon

Visual strategies are NOT just for students with autism. They can work for many of individuals, not just those with communication challenges. Here is an example of some creative intervention. This story shows the versatility of visual strategies beyond the autism spectrum.

There was a boy who had receptive and expressive language skills within normal limits. He had volatile emotion swings.

It didn't take much to set him off into a tantrum, and sometimes we were baffled as to what had triggered him. At times he was so disruptive during circle time that he was asked to sit in another part of the room.

During one of these episodes, I grabbed a "happy boy" face picture and a "mad boy" face picture and sat next to him. I showed him the pictures, and talked about how "happy boy" could sit with his friends at circle and "mad boy" had to sit by himself and not have any fun.

It was like magic. He decided he wanted to be "happy boy." Clutching the picture, he returned successfully to the group. After several incidents involving "happy boy" and "mad boy", this little guy starting bringing his chair over for circle and then going to get the "happy boy" picture on his own before staff even had a chance to remind him.

The magic of "happy boy" made many rough times disappear or shorten, and the teachers were thrilled to have such an easy strategy to use.
Melinda L. Boring, MA-CCC/SLP

Thank you for sharing, Melinda. This is a great example of how some creative teaching with a simple visual support solved a really huge problem.

I've been listening. I hear from lots of you when you contact me with questions and requests for information. So I've been working hard to provide some "user friendly" ways to meet the needs. There will be some special projects coming up in early in 2009. I can't tell you too much yet. Just know that you'll be hearing from me early in 2009. I can't wait to tell you more.

Here is a great opportunity to attend one of my programs. I will be speaking as a part of the Heartspring Conference Series. The date is April 3, 2009.

If you are in or near Wichita, Kansas you can arrange to attend this program live. If you can't travel to Kansas, you have another great opportunity.

This program will be webcast. That means you can watch the live program from home. Institutions can arrange to host the webcast in your own location for a group.

Contact Heartspring directly to register for this opportunity,

P.S. They have a special registration rate for parents & caregivers.

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Linda Hodgdon, M.Ed., CCC-SLP is a Speech-Language Pathologist and a Consultant for Autism Spectrum Disorders. She is the author of the bestseller, Visual Strategies for Improving Communication, one of the most recommended books in the field of autism.

Internationally recognized as a powerful and informative speaker and consultant, Linda has presented her insightful and dynamic workshops to audiences of educators and parents worldwide.

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