There are other types of echolalia that are difficult to explain, for example, involuntary echolalia , when the person blurts out words...

Though echolalia can be non-communicative , in many cases it is used for communication. Parents of autistic children (with echolalia) can decode their child’s utterances. For example, for many years (up until he was in his late teens), Alyosha was echolalic and used set phrases to talk to us. Most of the time it worked because I knew his particular ways to let me know that he was hungry or wanted to watch TV, or to go for a walk. The problem is, however, that for others (neig

If it’s not for communication, what’s the point? As I didn’t know much at the time, I made a mistake thinking that as soon as my son started speaking, everything would be fine. However, though Alyosha did start talking at the age of seven, ‘talking’ is not the word to describe his verbal utterances. My boy echoed words and phrases that he had heard in the past, often irrelevant to the situation, or just ‘talked’ to himself. There seemed to be words which he especially liked,

Which is better for autistic individuals? Although sign language was first developed as a means of communication for the deaf, it has been also used to teach people with developmental disabilities communication skills. With autistic and other developmentally disabled children Makaton sign language is usually used. Sign language is introduced either as an augmentative system to facilitate the development of speech for those who understand verbal language but have problems wit

I am happy to announce that the 2nd Edition of Communication Issues in Autism & Asperger Syndrome has now been published. In this book, I provide a theoretical foundation for understanding communication and language impairments specific to autism. This includes: the effects of different perceptual and cognitive styles on the communication and language development of autistic children as well as nonverbal language - which can be visual, tactile, kinaesthetic, auditory, olfacto

For more than 30 years, I’ve been researching autism. It all started, when my son, at the age of 2 and a half, was diagnosed (no, not with autism but) with (using the terminology of the time) severe mental retardation and schizophrenia. To say that I disagreed with this ‘verdict’ is not saying much. After that day, I turned my life around (or, started my “second life”) by learning about autism and working with autistic children, adolescents and adults. So, my interest in the

The placebo effect can be defined as the power of the mind and the unconscious to heal in response to something (whether sugar pills or just a suggestion) that the person believes will improve his or her condition. Scientific studies on placebo focus on the effectiveness of new drugs or treatments, whereas they have confirmed the reality of a mysterious phenomenon – the possibility of thought influencing not only psychological but also physical states of people. The effect

Autistic people have unique ways of communicating and interacting that are rooted in their unique ways of thinking and experiencing the world. While there is much variation between autistic individuals, the following guidelines are a few good things to consider when communicating with autistic people. - Distance : Many autistic people are hypertactile and may be afraid that people who get too close might touch them, or they may simply feel uncomfortable with the nearness of

Some individuals with ASD (especially those with high-functioning autism and Asperger syndrome) possess well-developed spoken language, with good vocabulary and perfect grammar. However, they still have difficulties with pragmatics (using language for communication) and non-verbal communication. Let us consider some other common problems experienced by ‘fluent speakers’: Receptive language Autistic people may have problems with comprehension because of processing problems. Th