Communication Issues in Autism and Asperger Syndrome: Do We Speak the Same Language?
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Overview
Providing a theoretical foundation for understanding communication and language impairments specific to autism, Olga Bogdashina explores the effects of different perceptual and cognitive styles on the communication and language development of autistic children. She stresses the importance of identifying each autistic individual's nonverbal language - which can be visual, tactile, kinaesthetic, auditory, olfactory or gustatory - with a view to establish a shared means of verbal communication. She offers an explanation of why certain approaches, for example PECS, might work with some autistic children but not others. Offering real insights, the 'What They Say' sections enable the reader to see through the eyes of autistic individuals and to understand their language differences first hand. 'What We Can Do to Help' sections throughout the book give practical recommendations on what to do in order to help autistic individuals use their natural mechanisms to learn and develop social and communicative skills. The final chapters are devoted to assessment and intervention issues with practical recommendations for selecting appropriate methods and techniques to enhance communication, based on the specific mode of communication a person uses.Synopsis
Drawing on her experiences as an academic specializing in childhood autism, and as the mother of a teenaged autistic son, Bogdashina builds a theoretical foundation for communication and language impairments specific to autism. She examines the theories of language acquisition and how language proceeds from sensations to concepts differently in autism, how autism contains its own language characteristics and means of learning, and what methods to guide autistic learners closer to the mainstream by developing supportive communication systems and environments and using a social skills approach. In essence, Bogdashina finds that autism is another language which the instructor needs to learn before attempting to teach the local vernacular to children with autism. Annotation ©2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR