A Parent’s Guide To Speech Therapy For Children With Autism

ByAria Tyler

Being a parent is considered to be one of the most challenging roles in the world. Though the entire experience is highly rewarding, there can be many roadblocks that parents have to face to provide what’s best for their offspring.

A differently-abled child who has speech issues will require extra attention, love and care compared to other children. In addition, seeking specialised speech therapy for children can also help in understanding the needs of the child and different ways of helping them make sense of the world.

With a specialised therapy plan laid out by trained professionals, parents will be able to contribute tremendous value to their child’s life. This is particularly true for children who have autism spectrum disorders.

Though the communication abilities vary among children with autism, caregivers and parents can use speech therapy services for children as a tool to witness significant progress in their communication skills.

How can speech therapy help children with autism?

Autism spectrum disorder is often diagnosed early when communication skills start to develop. This condition can make it particularly difficult for children to communicate. However, the degree can vary from one child to another. Some children cannot speak at all while others have limited speaking abilities. And in some cases, children are not able to talk about very specific topics in much detail.

According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, children with autism tend to experience difficulty in developing language skills as well as understanding what other people say to them. In many cases, children also experience difficulty with nonverbal communication, which includes facial expressions, eye contact and hand gestures.

Speech therapists in the UK try to help children with autism in improving their non-verbal skills, refining their spoken languages and learning other forms of communication methods. These professionals also equip parents with different ways of improving communication with their children, which are often tailored to meet the specific needs of the family, child and communication contexts.

Several evidence-based treatment approaches that speech therapists use to help children with autism include –

  •  Activity Schedules/Visual Supports
  • Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)
  • Video-Based Instruction
  • Computer-Based Instruction
  • Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
  • Behavioural Interventions
  • Play-Based Interventions
  • Literacy Interventions
  • Social Communication/Social Skills Interventions
  • Relation-Based Interventions
  • Routines-Based Interventions
  • Parent-Implemented Interventions and Coaching

Benefits of speech therapy for children with autism

Speech therapy interventions are known to offer a range of benefits to children with autism. Speech therapy will determine if a child has a specific social communication disorder and devise a plan that is appropriate in meeting the specific needs of the child.

Parents of children with autism will see them –

  • Improving in self-advocacy and independence
  • Adapting to feeding challenges
  • Enhancing skills in various social situations, including at school, at home, and in the community
  • Increasing understanding of facial expressions and body language
  • Learning to use Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), such as sign language and writing
  • Regulating the tone of voice
  • Making speech clearer and improving articulation
  • Strengthening jaw and mouth muscles
  • Matching pictures with meanings

What role do parents have to play?

Parents will have a stronger relationship than the speech therapist with their own children, giving them more opportunities to interact, which will certainly play a critical role in communication development.

Apart from the help provided by speech therapists in the UK, parents can offer their support to see significant progress in communication. Parent-led interventions are known to have positive outcomes which help in reducing stress in the family. Not only does the involvement create stronger bonds but also helps in understanding the child better.

Parents have to implement very specifically individualised strategies for supporting their child’s learning and communication. Such strategies can include giving the child reasons to communicate and wait for a response, following the child’s lead, engaging in parallel play or talk, providing choices and using visual supports.  

Though some parents might seem apprehensive when it comes to providing speech therapy intervention, many speech therapists work alongside caregivers to build skills that they can use to assist their children at home. Through this process, families become more engaged, independent, competent, confident and knowledgeable in their abilities to interact and communicate with their child, helping them accomplish everyday tasks and enhance the learning process.

Challenges parents face with speech therapy interventions

When it comes to speech therapy for children with autism, there are many roadblocks parents face when they are learning to communicate with their child. They include –

  • Difficulty engaging the child in activities or catching his/her attention.
  • Feeling anxious or incompetent when it comes to their ability to facilitate speech therapy by themselves at home.
  • Unclear expectations about the speech therapist’s role and their role in speech therapy.
  • Stress and stress associated with their child’s diagnosis.
  • Feeling overwhelmed by their child’s needs.
  • Difficulty getting access to therapy due to waitlists for services, schedule conflicts, transportation barriers or location.

Building competence and confidence in parents

When children with autism, speech therapists and parents work together, the interventions are much more effective and relevant. Caregivers should ideally start involving themselves in their children’s routine and gradually take over more challenging scenarios.  

Gaining competence and confidence is a journey, and parents have to work towards it to become motivating caregivers to their child with autism. There will be roadblocks, but doing adequate research and seeking expert advice and help is the key to resolving issues and moving forward.