Speech therapy addressed challenges communication and language. The goal is to help children communicate more effectively and functional ways. For those children with autism, it can improve their nonverbal, verbal and social communication.
If you have a child who is autistic, you are not alone. The CDC estimates 1 in 59 children will be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Boys are four times more likely to be diagnosed with autism than girls, 1 in 37 boys and 1 in 151 girls.
Having a child with ASD can be overwhelming, but a speech therapist may be able help
Professionally trained in improving voice, speech, and language disorders. A speech therapist will perform a comprehensive evaluation of your child’s ability to communicate.
Then a treatment plan is designed, specifically tailored for your child, with a variety of techniques.
The earlier Autism is identified and addressed with speech therapy, the easier it will be for your child to grasp and understand the spoken language, improve their communication skills, and reach their full potential.
The American Speech Language Hearing Association lists key factors alerting families and providers to the possibility of autism. These include:
absence of or delay in pointing to express interest
hand leading or using another’s body to communicate, often replacing pointing
failure to show interest in or joint attention to games for pleasure or connection with another
failure to “show” objects
failure to look at others
failure to show an interest in other children
failure to orient to name or delayed response to name; lack of attention to voice, particularly neutral voice
no meaningful words or fewer than five meaningful words at 24 months, or cessation of talking after saying three or more meaningful words
no understanding of words out of context
failure to demonstrate symbolic play
aversions to social touch, poor nonsocial visual orientation/attention, excessive mouthing of objects
unusual mannerisms involving the hands and/or fingers
Autistic children can benefit from speech therapy in many ways. Such as an improvement in their ability to form a good rapport with those in their life and improvement in their overall communication skills, both verbally and nonverbally.
First Words Therapy provides a personalized approach to speech care. We support both children and their families affected with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
