CAREGIVERS OFTEN FOCUS ON BUILDING THEIR CHILDREN’S COMMUNICATION SKILLS, BUT HERE’S WHY IT’S ALSO VITAL FOR PARENTS TO ENSURE THEIR OWN INSTRUCTIONS ARE CLEAR.

By Joe BUTLER, BA, PGCE

Any parent will recognize times when an instruction given, or question asked to their child, has not been responded to in the expected way, if at all! When communicating with an autistic child, it is all the more important to consider whether what we think we’ve asked is clear. Unclear communication can cause unnecessary frustration for both yourself and your autistic child.

When questions or instructions are misunderstood, or even completely incomprehensible, it can add to a child’s anxiety. So how can we address this? By adapting your language and communication style through simple steps, you can make interactions with your child easier and more effective.

The burden is all too often on the autistic child to learn what response is expected and make changes to ‘fit in’ to a neurotypical world, but communication is a shared responsibility. As allistic (non-autistic) people, we can—and should—look at the way we communicate, and adjust it to better suit autistic children.