The Use of
Sign Language to Help Autistic Children Communicate
By Lindsay Peterson
November 25, 2008
Autism is
a developmental disability that begins in early childhood and persists
throughout adulthood affecting three crucial areas of development: verbal
and nonverbal communication, social interaction, and creative or imaginative
play. Other characteristics may include repetitive and ritualistic
behaviors, hand flapping, spinning or running in circles, excessive fears,
self-injury such as head banging or biting, aggression, insensitivity to
pain, temper tantrums, and sleeping and eating disturbances Carr &
Kologinsky, 1983). Many of these issues stem from the child’s inability to
communicate their wants and/or needs.
Communication deficits include autistic people's difficulty using
spoken language and gestures, inability to initiate and sustain appropriate
conversation and use of inappropriate, repetitive language. Autistic
children have great difficulty understanding spoken words. They have trouble
understanding that words relate to objects and activities. Abstract words
are extremely challenging because they are not linked to something tangible
that can be inspected and pointed to. Without concrete visual connections to
objects or activities, words are nearly impossible for them to understand (Ticani,
2004).
There has been extensive research done exploring different ways to
teach Autistic children to communicate. Some of the methods tested have been
verbal communication, Applied Behavioral Analysis, individual speech
sessions, PECS systems and sign language. Sign language has been identified
as one of the best ways to strengthen speech and language development of an
autistic child. According to research the use of sign language increases the
chance of children learning the spoken language (Thompson, McKerchar &Dancho
2004). Therefore, using sign language with pre-school aged autistic children
may help enable them to stimulate and strengthen their communication. In
addition it also provides children with and alternative mode of
communication. Instead of crying and or whining the child now has another
means to communicate what they want therefore extinguishing that negative
behavior Teaching sign language to the child would provide him/her with a
way of expressing his/her needs in a manner which is more socially accepted
and easily understood. Due to this the child would experience less
frustration (Ticani 2004).
It is easy for parents or caregivers to learn sign language and
utilize it while interacting with an autistic child. There are many
resources available to help parents learn sign language and to be able to
teach it to their children. It is found that autistic children are able to
learn signing successfully. Some reasons for this are that signs can be
physically guided unlike speech; signs can be frozen in time in order for
the child to process it. When teaching sign language, one can repeat a sing
numerous times and physically prompt the student until the child has success
on his or her own. This repetition is likely to help the child commit the
signs to memory. (Thompson, Contnoir-Bichelman, McKercharm Tate & Dancho,
2007).
Along with enhancing and stimulating speech in autistic
children, sign language is also being taught for them to use as their
primary means of communication. Many autistic children never develop the
ability to communicate verbally. Some never utter a single word. By teaching
them sign language you are giving them a means of communication and a sense
of independence. For any individual with autism communication is their
greatest difficulty. Providing them with the ability to communicate with
people in the environment is vital to their independence.
Sign language is becoming more popular within the autism community. More
research is still needed in this area. More people should be aware of the
benefits of sign language in order to help children with autism communicate
more effectively and to help alleviate some of the stress in their everyday
life.
References:
1. Carr, E & Kologinsky, E. (1983). Acquisition of Sign Language by
Autistic Children II: Spontaneity and Generalization Effects. Journal of
Applied Behavioral Analysis, 16, 296-314.
2. Ticani, M (Jan 2004). Comparing the Picture Exchange
Communication System and Sign Language Training for Children with Autism.
Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 19, 152-163.
3. Thompson, R. H., McKerchar, P. M., & Dancho, K. A. (2004). The
Effects of Delayed Physical Prompts and Reinforcement on Infant Sign
Language Acquisition. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Analysis, 37,
379-383.
4. Thompson. R. H, Contnoir-Bichelman, N.M, McKerchar, P.M, Tate,
T.L & Dancho, K.A., (2007). Enhancing Early Communication Through Infant
Sign Training. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Analysis, 40, 15-23.