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Children with Autism Try to Memorize Language

Many children with autism try to memorize words and phrases the way you might memorize a song in a foreign language. You might not understand the words but you can remember the melody and the general sound of the words. When children repeat a lot of what they hear, this is called echolalia (repeating what others say, without fully understanding what others mean). All kids do this sometimes, and even grown-ups do it occasionally because it is a good strategy for learning new ways to use language. Kids with autism tend to use more echolalia and sometimes almost exclusively use echolalia rather than combining words into original sentences. If you are a parent of a child who uses a lot of echolalia, you are understandably anxious for your child to learn to generate original word combinations.

So how do you teach your child to combine words in an original way? Memory is often a strength for children with ASD. So, it is tempting to teach language though rote memory. Teaching little scripts can help children start to communicate. We are teaching many little scripts in the games that we show on this site. I encourage parents to use a lot of scripted language early on because this helps a child with autism understand what a parent is saying during the period of time when that child is only able to use his or her memory to interpret language. But, eventually, the child will need to master some rules of grammar because grammar is the rules that allow us to create original sentences.

If your child uses single words, you should model and demonstrate the meaning of sentences that are two and three words long. Don't combine too many different words--pick some words that your child clearly understands. Daddy's shoes. Mommy's shoes. Annie's shoes. Black shoes. Red shoes. White Light-up shoes.

If your child is able to combine two and three words, start to demonstrate the meaning of four and five word combinations. This is what one would do for any young child to speed up the child's language learning. For a child who tends to memorize language chunks, there is another step. Take more time to show how the same words can be combined in different ways and what these combinations mean. Once the child knows what Daddy wants the ball means, then help the child understand what Mommy wants the ball means and Puppy wants the ball, and Annie wants the ball. Then show your child what Daddy wants the truck means and then Mommy wants the truck and then what Puppy does not want the truck means and what Annie does not want the truck means. And so on.

You are not only helping your child understand and use longer sentences--you are helping your child understand novel sentences in this way. Your child is learning what happens to meaning if the same words occur in a new combination. Draw pictures of what novel sentences mean. Demonstrate. Show.

To know if your child is learning this skill, you must evaluate what your child does with novel sentences (sentences that your child has never heard before). When you use a brand new sentence, like Grandma does not want the ball, watch carefully to see if your child has understood this. Does your child keep trying to give Grandma the ball or does he or she stop trying to give the ball to grandma. If your child puts the ball down, you know that your child is starting to understand all does not sentences. If your child fails to understand this novel sentence, you might want to make up a does not game.

When your child creates a novel sentence, you will also know that your child is learning how to combining words rather than use memorized word combinations.

Medical Disclaimer Autism Games © By Tahirih Bushey 11.12.2009