WHAT IS SPEECH THERAPY?

Speech therapy aids those affected with autism who have major difficulties with verbal and nonverbal communication, those affected may also have hardships with interacting socially.

According to Webmd, common speech problems that affect 1 out of 3 people with autism may include, not talking, humming or talking (musical way), babbling, robotic speech, echolalia, grunting, crying, shrieking, to name a few. Communication problems may include, trouble with gestures and eye contact, understanding words outside of its context, lack of creative language, little understanding of meaning of words/symbols, and reliance on echolalia (as main way to communicate) to name a few.

It is suggested that autistic children are sent to a Speech-Language Pathologists (SLP) for therapy as soon as parents learn of their condition. SLPs can help children, communicate and comprehend verbal and nonverbal communication, learn appropriate time to communicate, develop conversational skills, learn self-regulation and articulate words well.

Sources and helpful links:

WebMD – Benefits of Speech Therapy for Autism – http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/benefits-speech-therapy-autism

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association – Find a Speech Language Pathologiest – http://www.asha.org