The following is an excerpt from an email my wife exchanged with an individual looking for help with his Garfoosling, concerning language development skills. I hope anyone out there looking for similar advice finds this useful. Bold words added by Mr. Garfoose.
Hello Darth Vader (and family),
First, let me say that your boy is adorable! Now, on to the ideas!
As a music therapist, I have worked with over a dozen nonverbal kiddos with Autism in 1:1 music sessions. Even though the general need to learn a viable form of communication is the same, each child needs different levels of support to achieve their highest communication potential. I always stress “highest potential” with my client families because, in all honesty, some children develop verbal language over time and some don’t. The most important thing a parent can do is provide a nurturing, loving, and predictable environment that will help the child be successful—probably stuff you already know. So, if nothing else, I hope this [email] is encouraging. Now, on to the general music and non-music techniques that can support you, your family, and your son as he continues to grow:
1) All communication is good communication. By this I mean that when your son looks at you and smiles, gives you a hug, vocalizes non-sense vowel sounds, uses sign language, or points to an object, etc… he is communicating his needs and emotions to you. Use these opportunities to define what he is doing with words. If he smiles saym “nice smile Darth Junior”. If he looks at you while your talking to him say “nice eyes Darth Junior“. If he follows through on a direction say “nice listening”, slowly repeating the word or action he is trying to say or do by pointing to your mouth or his. You can even ask him to repeat the word with the prompt: “Darth Junior says”, (the word or action you want your child to say).
2) Your son probably understands language much better than he can use it. In my 6 years experience it never ceases to amaze me how much my clients understand. Just the other day I was working with a 10 yr old boy with autism (a boy who only has about a 100 word vocabulary) and he told me what day it was with out any prompts or previous teaching on the matter. I asked him to say all the days of the week and he did in perfect order. After his session, I asked his mom if he knew the days of the week and his mom said no. I proceeded to ask the boy to cite them and he did a second time. His mom cried and hugged him. We were both floored as he was never directly taught the days of the week but obviously used receptive skills to internalize them for himself. This is just one example of thousands I could share, so, suffice to say, use every opportunity to communicate language to your son, even those concepts you think might be beyond his abilities.
3) Sing, sing, sing! I would be remiss if I didn’t suggest music as a great tool for teaching language. Many of the clients I have worked with were able to sing on pitch before they could talk. Some could even sing words better than they could speak them. The multi-sensory capabilities of music allow it to tap into all the parts of the brain including the language cortex. Therefore singing (even vocalizing) on a particular pitch can help to develop language. Songs like, Old MacDonald, Bingo, Row, Row, Row Your Boat, Are You Sleeping?, and Wheels On The Bus are great given their repetitive lyrics and tunes. I also recommend making up your own songs to encourage language and desired behaviors. I make up songs for my clients on a daily basis, usually to the tune of familiar nursery rhymes. Sometimes they are as simple as the familiar “Clean Up, Clean Up” song from Barney and Friends or a little more involved like “Great job Mary! Great job Mary. You cleaned up your toys. You cleaned up your toys. Now it’s time to wash your hands. Now it’s time to wash your hands. Sit down to eat. Sit down to eat.” (to the tune of “Are You Sleeping”). Remember, its not a performance so don’t worry about singing like a rock star!
4) Play instruments! I always suggest parents have a few instruments at home for the purpose of positive stimulation. Given that your son is only 3, I’m going to take a guess that his attention span is very low, and his need for stimulation (ie: oral, facial, tactile) is very high. This is a tough phase to deal with because of the choking and physical dangers it can present. However, movement equipment like a swing, trampoline, or yoga ball can give your son appropriate physical stimulation. I also suggest musical instruments like drums, specifically ocean drums, boomwackers, and rainsticks for physical, tactile, and visual stimulation. Kazoos, train whistles and slide whistles are also great instruments for oral stimulation. By addressing your son’s need for positive and appropriate stimulation you will increase his attention span, which will, in turn, create more opportunity for language development.
Certainly not an exhaustive list of ideas, but hopefully a springboard to get you started. 🙂 if I can stress one point more than any other– try everything. Your son is unique and one technique or therapy that has worked for another child with Autism might not work for him. When you find something that works stick to it.
Blessings, and lots of good luck to you and yours.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Garfoose