when do a child start to communicate with autism?

Answer 1

"Autism Spectrum Disorder" is a broad spectrum.

In Asperger's, a high functioning form of autism, kids many time speak very early & very clearly. But thier speech often lacks emotion, almost computer-like. Dr. Asperger, himself referred to these children as "little professors."

My neice has classic, or "Kanner's" autism. She is 10 years old and speaks on a level of am 18 month old. She seems to understand much more than that, though.

Answer 2

There is no way to say. Many children with autism had some level of communication abilities before they started to "slip". This is one of the classic symptoms of autism...loss of speech or communication after said skills have already been demonstrated. Children who did have some skills early on and/or recieved intervention at an early age often do fairly well. My son had had a working vocabulary of about 10 words when they suddenly vanished. That, along with some behavioral changes, were the biggest factor in getting him into services within the next 6 months. Intensive language and speech therapy for the next 4 years helped him find ways to be understood, but true communication skills did not start until he was nearly 7 and they did not really click until he was past 8. I should clarify that I am using communication and language to mean being able to tell what he needed in a way that someone not familiar with him would be able to understand. Prior to that, he had symbolic speech, the private language many autistic kids develop and use when they speak to themselves. Not all autistic children are silent!!

Generally speaking, all a parent can do is be sure the child is getting the services they need, implements the suggestions made at home and uses other methods they feel are effective, expose the child to as much language as possible, be loving and supportive and wait. It will happen...be it with words, sign, picture boards or a combination, but one day your child will reach out to you. It may never be the long converstations we dream of, but it will be.

Answer 3

Any child starts to communicate at birth. Autism is diagnosed before age three, but, the brain is constantly forming connections at all times. If the autism has already been diagnosed, so be it, but, there are so many early intervention tools that can be accessed to improve the plasticity of the brain, which is constantly developing. Access p/t, o/t, with visual, auditory or listening therapy, fine motor, an o/t with a specialty in DSI, or sensory integration, a d/t for overall development, a nutritional therapist, to ensure child does not aspirate food causing pneumonia, and that growth is on target, and that social services for mother and child may be able to be accessed. Once the child is in school, the one-on-one stimulation is gone. Mother is usually best to do this, via sensory stimulation, sensory integration. Read Carol Kranowitz's book, the Out of Sync Child. Cross midline as much as possible, as this thickens the corpus callosum, the mid-brain that connects the left and right hemispheres, that develops into the fourth decade. It forms billions of connections, that are pared off if they are not continually stimulated. Get a neuropsych evaluation, Hemi-synch or other DSI services in place; your child can communicate. Believe in the child, and miracles will occur.

Answer 4

I think it varies with each individual child. I have an aquaintance who is the mother of an autistic child. He was not communicating at all, would not make eye contact and was running wild all the time. Her doctor suggested that she feed her son organic foods. No nitrates or other additives. She started doing that and he now looks you in the eye, talks to you, is in school. The only little mannerism left is a fluttering of his hand now and then. It's made such a difference. I don't know if this would help all autistic children, but you might give it a try. It couldn't hurt.

My daughter is high functioning Aspergers Syndrome. When I heard from my friend about the organic foods, I started buying what I could that is organic and has no additives. It can be expensive and so we aren't completely organic, but I can see a difference in her. It's such an obvious difference that I've had her teachers and counselors commenting on how well she is doing.

Answer 5

From the day they are born.. communication is not just words, it is cries, hugs, hand gestures, etc.. communications is greater enhance by the amount of time u actually spend communicating.. Here r some simple things to do that will encourage stronger communication skills....

Communication is one of the primary deficits of children with autism. It is difficult to remediate because it is a language disorder more than a language delay. When we speak, words fly out of our mouths and disappear. The child with autism has a difficult time holding on to the words. By using linguistic representations (pictures) paired with our words, the child now has something to hold on to.

Ten Ideas to Encourage Communication
Children communicate because of motivation and opportunity. So, find out what is motivating and supply the opportunity. You may have to set up a situation or "sabotage" in order to give the child a reason to communicate. Here's some ideas to get you started.

Put a desirable object into a clear container that the child is unable to open. Place the container in front of the child and teach the child to request.

Put an undesirable item on the child’s plate during snack or lunch. Iif the child is unable to reject the item, teach how to reject by pushing the item away or by giving you a "no thanks" card.

Put several items in front of the child and ask, “What do you want?” or “Which one?”. Teach the child how to choose.

Hide something the child needs (utensil during lunch, crayon during a coloring activity, or coat at the end of the day). Teach the child to initiate a request for the item or teach the child to ask, “Where”.

Blow bubbles, then close the container tightly and place it on the table. Wait for the child to ask for more. You can teach the child how to ask by giving you the container or a picture card of "bubbles".

Start a turn-taking gestural game (i.e. hiding behind or under a small blanket) and after several times, pause to see if the child will initiate some type of movement to let you know to continue. If the child wants to continue but does not request, teach the skill.

During snack place a plastic fruit on the child’s plate to see what they will do to protest or get something else. If they don't respond, teach the child how to protest/reject or request a real piece of fruit.

If an older child is writing, give him a pencil that has a broken point and see if he will ask for another one (hide the pencil sharpener).

Unplug the TV (or other appliance that is frequently used) and wait to see what the child will do when it will not turn on. This is a good opportunity to teach the child to get help.

When the child asks for an item, give him something else and see what happens. If the child is unable to protest/reject, this is another opportunity to teach the skill.
You can take digital pictures of the items you are teaching or you can print these:
Breakfast Pictures
Activities
More Activities
Hygiene
Verbs

Answer 6

It depends on the child, and what you mean by communication. If you mean using gestures, grunts and handsignals, or if you are speaking of using talking. Depending on the child, they may functionally communicate by using gestures and grunting by the time they are 8 months old. Sign language is often taught to children with autism, as well as a system called PECS (picture exchange communication system) that uses photos of objects to represent the objects desired. Other methods include teaching words (depending on the cognitive level and speech articulation of the child) and using augmentative communication devices (such as computers). So, depending on the child, they could start communicating as early as 8 months or so. Speech generally takes longer, and often, the children are first diagnosed with a speech delay, before they are diagnosed with autism.

Answer 7

Some never do and some will with a lot of training. It is hard to say exactly when. My friend has an autistic child who can communicate at a fair level, but cannot control her bowel. Type the word autism on the web site and you will get a lot of good explanations.

Best wishes.

Answer 8

it all depends on the severity of the autism in the child. the child may never speak, or they may speak around 2 or 3 years old. the likelyhood of oral communication gets better with early therapy and intervention. talk to a pediatrician about that.

Answer 9

well if an average child starts speaking at 2 yrs old probably multiply it by 2.5, around 5 years, the kid will start to speak with intensive training and therapy. depends on how the parents do, what do therapist does, and how does the environment does affects the learning of communication.

Answer 10

it really depends on the child, and where they are on the spectrum. some kids will never talk, some will have limited language. some (in cases of asbergers) might refrain from speech even though they are perfectly capable of speaking, merely because they don't have anything to say.
talk to the child as much as possible, even if they can't talk, they understand what you're saying.