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Help/Advice on Comms with 4 year old Non-Verbal Autistic Child

NAS87321

Hi

New to this and just looking for some advice/help on how to help a 4 year old who is non-verbal and has alot of meltdowns frequently throughout the day to communicate. 

By way of background, the child did used to communicate better and say the odd words and had better focus on playing games etc then but as they’ve gotten older, have gotten worse and almost at zero communication. Feels like dealing with an 1 year old. Other than there is physical communication such as passing a bottle for a drink etc. We’ve been told they may have ADHD and there seems to be a huge oral need to bite/chew everything.

The meltdowns are catastrophic with a lot of self hitting such as bashing their own head with their hands or on the floor, or wanting to bite others, loud screaming and brought on randomly. No sensory toys seem them to calm them down whatsoever.

Weve tried communication cards which have done nothing except become a chew toy, audio learning books, sensory books/toys, sensory tent which they don’t want to go into. Nothing seems to help and the child doesn’t focus on any of it and we understand the meltdowns may be coming from sensory overload so desperately want them to be able to express themselves. It breaks our hearts on a daily basis and causes a lot of stress for the entire household and the child’s siblings. 

Has anyone been through the same struggles and has any tips on how to help them communicate? Will literally try/buy anything to help! Appreciate every child is different and has their own needs. But hopeful for some help anyway. 

Thanks so much :) 

Parents

  • Have you tried Makaton signing? It's basically what Mr Tumble uses (don't know if that's still a thing for young children). We used this for my son that had limited verbal communication. The goal isn't to end up talking eventually (although that did happen with my son. He's 19 now and I never thought he'd be able to communicate). The goal is to communicate in whatever way your child can. Makaton is much more logical than other sign languages and uses symbols and spoken word too.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makaton

    We found that my son's meltdowns reduced dramatically when he could communicate his needs. We started with "want" as the goal verb to learn. His motivator was raisins. He used to take me by the hand to the cupboard where the raisins were and use my hand to point for them. So we learnt the signing for "want raisins please". He picked this up within days. For the example you gave, when your child passes you the bottle you would act a bit ignorant with the attitude of not knowing what that means, then say very simply "want drink?" with the two signs for want and drink. Keep doing this. If your child gets frustrated, get the drink but keep signing want and drink. When you pass the drink reinforce the signing by saying "drink" and signing at the same time. Once that's mastered you can increase vocabulary gradually so it becomes "want drink please" then you get the drink, sign "drink", and then "thank you ". You have to really reduce the demands by speaking too much and overwhelming a child that is struggling this way. Keep it very simple and see if the reduced demands improve their ability to communicate in a way they can. 

    Here's the Makaton website:

    https://makaton.org/

    You haven't said if your child is receiving speech and language therapy. With the difficulties the lack of communication is causing that you described your child should qualify. 

Reply

  • Have you tried Makaton signing? It's basically what Mr Tumble uses (don't know if that's still a thing for young children). We used this for my son that had limited verbal communication. The goal isn't to end up talking eventually (although that did happen with my son. He's 19 now and I never thought he'd be able to communicate). The goal is to communicate in whatever way your child can. Makaton is much more logical than other sign languages and uses symbols and spoken word too.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makaton

    We found that my son's meltdowns reduced dramatically when he could communicate his needs. We started with "want" as the goal verb to learn. His motivator was raisins. He used to take me by the hand to the cupboard where the raisins were and use my hand to point for them. So we learnt the signing for "want raisins please". He picked this up within days. For the example you gave, when your child passes you the bottle you would act a bit ignorant with the attitude of not knowing what that means, then say very simply "want drink?" with the two signs for want and drink. Keep doing this. If your child gets frustrated, get the drink but keep signing want and drink. When you pass the drink reinforce the signing by saying "drink" and signing at the same time. Once that's mastered you can increase vocabulary gradually so it becomes "want drink please" then you get the drink, sign "drink", and then "thank you ". You have to really reduce the demands by speaking too much and overwhelming a child that is struggling this way. Keep it very simple and see if the reduced demands improve their ability to communicate in a way they can. 

    Here's the Makaton website:

    https://makaton.org/

    You haven't said if your child is receiving speech and language therapy. With the difficulties the lack of communication is causing that you described your child should qualify. 

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