1. Create Needs and Obstacles
One strategy to increase spontaneous speech at home is to create needs and obstacles that our children cannot fulfil or solve by themselves. It is often the case that our children are very independent to complete routines and chores without asking for assistance. Therefore, from time to time, we need to create noticeable disruptions in routines, for example hiding one shoe away, no water in his/her cup, and giving mismatched socks to the child, and guide them to say the right words to you to fix the problem. When they can spontaneously say the right words, we can teach them different words or sentence structures to ask for the same type of assistance, or we can create new needs or problems that they need to solve.
2. Tempt Children to Comment
We can also tempt children to comment on absurdities and asking why things have gone wrong or different. For example, playing their favourite movie with a different language, preparing a special snack box for school, putting a birthday cake out without announcement, etc. When they are aware of these differences and comment on or ask about them spontaneously, it’s necessary to give a consequence that is meaningful to the children to reinforce their responses, like adding a snack of their choice to the special snack box, and having a bigger slice of the birthday cake.
3. Create Novelty in Various Situations
Another way to facilitate spontaneous language is to create novelty in various situations. Placing a new book in his school bag, downloading a new game on his electronic devices, putting a new snack in the snack box may elicit curiosity in children and tempt them to comment or ask questions.
4. Give an Unexpected Response
Beside manipulating the environment, when a child makes a request, ask for assistance or ask us a question, we can try giving an unexpected response to them, or playing “dumb” to tempt them to make a further response. For example, we can deliberately get a wrong item after their requests, do a wrong action after they ask for help, or answer a question in a fun or silly way, like using a different voice or giving a wrong and funny answer.
5. Let the Child to Explore and Lead the Activity
Lastly, play is essential to increase spontaneous language. Unlike teaching play skills, real play should involve letting the child to explore and to lead the activity. When appropriate, parent can join in and model comments, initiate dialogues, and encourage children to do the same and reward them with more exciting and fun ways of playing.
Information provided by Autism Partnership
Autism Partnership (AP) is one of the most established Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) service providers for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in the world. Formed in 1994 in the United States, AP is run by professional clinicians and specializes in providing one-on-one therapy, group interventions and overseas consultation for children with ASD and their families.
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[:zh]缺乏溝通能力是自閉症的核心問題。儘管一些自閉症兒童具有適齡的語言能力，但通常只有在他們需要滿足自己的需求（例如物質的要求和尋求幫助）時才主動與人說話，而不是出於社交目的進行溝通。這導致父母總覺得他們太安靜和被動，有時會因為他們反覆問孩子關於他們的感受、想法和意見的問題而感到沮喪。以下是一些方法讓大家參考：1. 創造需求和障礙
其中一個增加在家中主動說話的一個方法是生活規律中創造需求和障礙，令孩子需要別人幫忙。通常的情況下，我們的孩子可以非常獨立地完成規律及家務而無需尋求幫助。因此，我們有時需要在日常活動中創造明顯的干擾，例如，將一隻鞋子藏起來、水瓶不放水、給孩子穿一雙不一樣的襪子，並引導他們對你說正確的話，解決問題。當他們能夠自發地說出正確的話時，我們可以教他們使用不同的句子以尋求相同的幫助，或者我們可以創造新需求或新問題。2. 引導發表評論
我們還可以引導孩子們對荒謬、奇怪的東西發表評論，並詢問為什麼事情會出錯或有所不同。例如，用不同的語言播放他們喜歡的電影，為孩子準備一個外型特別的點心盒，沒有預告下放一個生日蛋糕，等等。當他們意識到這些差異並自發描述或詢問時，我們有必要透過給予相關的獎勵去強化主動說話的行為，例如在點心盒中添加他們選擇的零食，或得到最大塊的生日蛋糕。3. 創造新穎的元素
促進自發語言的另一種方法是在各種情景下創造新穎的元素。在他的書包裡放一本新書，在他的電子平板上下載新遊戲，在點心盒中放新的零食，都可能會引起孩子們的好奇心，並誘發他們主動描述或提出問題。4. 給出意想不到的回應
除了改變環境之外，當孩子提出要求，尋求幫助或向我們提出問題時，我們可以嘗試對他們作出意想不到的回應，或者「裝傻」來誘使他們做出進一步回應。例如，我們可以在他們的要求後故意給錯誤的物品，在他們尋求幫助後做出錯誤的反應，或者以有趣或滑稽的方式回答問題，例如使用特別聲調或給有趣的答案。5. 讓孩子探索並帶領活動
最後，遊戲對於增加自發性語言至關重要。與教授遊戲技巧不同，真正的遊戲應該包括讓孩子探索並帶領活動。在適當的時候，父母可以加入並示範描述，發起對話，並鼓勵孩子做同樣的事情，並通過更加有趣反應及遊戲方式獎勵他們。資訊由Autism Partnership提供
Autism Partnership （AP）於1994年在美國成立，是全球最具規模為自閉症患者提供『應用行為分析』(ABA) 治療的專業機構。AP是由多位專業臨床心理學家、應用行為分析治療顧問及治療師管理，為患有自閉症譜系障礙（ASD）的兒童及其家庭提供一對一治療、行為干預小組訓練及海外諮詢服務。
請分享，讓更多人了解自閉症及學習更多應用行為分析（ ABA）的治療技巧。
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