Children with ASD tend to have difficulties in three key areas: language, behaviour and imaginative thinking. This is sometimes referred to as the triad of impairments. These three areas are distinct but also interrelated. For example, people’s behaviour in different situations can determine their use of language, and vice versa. Imaginative thinking can also affect language understanding. In particular, lack of imaginative thought (for example, an inability to grasp innuendo or idiomatic language) may well lead to misinterpretation of what people are saying.
Plain Speaking
Children with ASD like predictability and "sameness", as these bring reassurance and reduce anxiety. Unfortunately, the English language is characterised by subtlety of meaning, words that break the "rules", mixed messages and non-verbal communication. These can be open to interpretation (or misinterpretation) and can create confusion for a person with ASD, who may well have a natural tendency to adhere to a rather rigid or pedantic style of language use.
Simplicity and clarity are key strategies to adopt when speaking or giving instructions and explanations. It helps to avoid use of pronouns. For example, rather than using the vague term "she", it would be better to say "the teacher" or use the person’s own name. Similarly, nouns (such as "the car", "the weather" or "the time") are less confusing than "it", which could refer to any number of other things.
Short Sentences
Short, succinct sentences in the present tense ("here and now") are easier to understand than longer, more complex phrases which require the listener to decipher two or more parts. Here is an example of how a sequence of instructions can be broken down into discrete chunks:
“Would you like to go to the other side of the pool, where your sister is, and line up with the other children getting into the water?”
This can be simplified and separated into the following smaller instructions (it is helpful to start each instruction with the child’s name as this emphasises that the instruction applies to him/her). In this scenario the hypothetical child’s name is Daniel and his sister is called Lisa. The simplified instructions might be:
- Daniel, walk over to the other side of the pool.
- Daniel, stand behind Lisa.
- Daniel, wait for Lisa to get into the water.
- When Lisa is in the water, Daniel can get into the water too.
It is important to allow the child adequate time to process the information he or she receives, before expecting a response. Each instruction can be repeated if necessary (after waiting), remembering to break long information into smaller chunks rather than bombarding the child with too much all at once.
Phrases, Sayings and Idioms
Idiosyncrasies in language and dialect, such as local sayings like "go to the foot of our stairs!" or "in clover", add richness and character, but can often rely on an implicit understanding of the usage and meaning, which may have little or no resemblance to the actual words themselves.
It is, therefore, advisable to avoid using these kinds of phrases and to teach the child what they mean when they are encountered. Interestingly, although autistic children may find idiomatic language tricky to understand, they may have a high capacity for rote learning (memorisation), especially children with Asperger’s Syndrome, so can be taught this vocabulary. This applies to social use of language (what to do and say in social situations) – children with ASD will probably not intuitively know how to behave in different contexts and will need to be taught explicitly about language, behaviour and non-verbal communication (Social Stories are an excellent tool for this).
The language needs of autistic children will vary from individual to individual, but most will benefit from strategies such as simple, plain speaking in short, explicit phrases, which are precise and easy to understand. Further reinforcement can be provided by repetition and use of visual or pictorial cues (such as visual timetables).
