AUTISM

Autistic Children: Parents and Teachers Guidance and Help



Autistic Children: Parents and Teachers Guidance and Help

Introduction

Autism impinges on an individual's capacity to form social relationships and hinders their communication. One chief aspect of children with autism is delayed speech and language (Metz & Haas, 2003). This paper discusses a modification model of treating autism which eases the communication barriers between people with autism and others. This then may allow children with autism to build the kind of relationships while they are young that they will be able to build on later in life.

Discussion

The Natural Language Paradigm (NLP) was developed in order to assist in opening the communication barriers that clients and their families experience. It emphasizes integrating motivational factors into the teaching situation. The NLP emphasizes augmenting unprompted social communication by means of a mixture of activities. Multi-modal communication mechanisms such as gesture, speech and augmentative communication are used in obtaining language in chief contexts. In other words, these methods are used in order to help maximize the speech output. The NLP uses a child's interests as well as emphasizing shared control and functional communication to increase generative language output. (Laski, Charlop, and Schreibman, 1988).

The NLP involves four factors. The first is using a purposeful stimulus which is selected by the child. The second factor is the use of natural reinforcers. The third is the reinforcement of communicative attempts even if they are incorrect, and the fourth intervention trials mixed with a natural exchange.

It should be noted that autism is more prevalent in males then females, although when diagnosed in females it is more severe (Metz & Haas, 2003). This study employed more males then females, thus making it difficult to know if the NLP is effective on more severe cases of autism. It should also be noted that while the NLP may help provide a substantial amount of help to many individuals suffering with autism it is not a cure. Methods such as discrete trial procedures, incidental teaching and delay procedures have been applied to boost speech, but more than half of children with autism remain devoid of speech (Metz and Haas, 2003). However, it can be used to help develop the communication of many children with autism because it is a very flexible model that can be used by parents, teachers, therapists and others to help autistic children obtain communication skills no matter what level they may be at in terms of development.

While the NLP has allowed autistic as well as echolalic children to make great strides in their speech, it also has its disadvantages. While it should be utilized as a tool to help increase speech, parents should remain aware of the fact that it is not a cure for their children's disorder. They must keep in mind that it is only a program designed to elicit greater speech on their part of their children. The real cure, or answer, has yet to be found. However, in the meantime, this model can assist in some of the hurdles ...