Have you made mistakes when teaching conversation kills to your students with autism? I know that I did! But then I figured out how to get my students with autism talking to each other. And not me! Find out how not to make these 5 conversation building mistakes that I made.
Would you want a life without conversations? No way! We probably can’t even count how many conversations we have in a day. So try to imagine what life is like without this skill. That is the life of many of our students with autism. But we can help them to build better communication skills for daily life.
What are the 5 mistakes?
1. Using imitative skills to have “conversations” which went nowhere.
2. Getting rote ‘I like/What do you like?’ interchanges only.
3. Prompting with ‘say’ and ‘ask.’
4. Prompting responses verbally.
5. Teaching students to have conversations only on their favorite topics.
Why do these cause problems?
- Imitation is usually a great tool for speech/language therapists. We model, our students learn, and then they apply the skills. But children with autism lack generalization skills, so they imitate. The skill stops there.
- Talking about what we like to find common interest is important. But no-one has conversations completely made of “I like ____. What do you like?” So, we can start here, but expansion has to come in quickly. The best use for a repetitive conversation like this is to practice the flow and fluency of conversation. This can be helpful for getting out of the verbal prompt rut that some of our students have fallen into.
- When I prompted with “Say ___.” or “Ask ___.” my students got totally confused about what was expected of them. Maybe yours don’t! But be aware that this is a method that inserts the SLP into the conversation.
- Prompting students verbally almost always makes you a necessary part of the conversation. My students ended up talking to me and not with each other! Visuals work so much better and help our autistic students converse independently.
- Yes, you will start using preferred topics for conversations. Students have a fund of information on their preferred topic, making conversation easier. Expanding the variety of topics is important so they don’t end up just telling every fact they know. And our students with autism need to gain some perspective skills and realize that not everyone loves that topic. We need to talk about what others are interested in as well.
Figuring It Out
I knew that there must be a way to build conversation skills visually and avoid these issues. But it took me years of trial and error before I came up with these methods. They really worked for my students on the autism spectrum. You can have the same success that I did with these clinician-tested therapy materials.
I am thrilled beyond measure that your students are making progress in conversation skills.
See what happy buyers of the Conversation Bundle at TpT said:
- “What a wealth of resources! The variety of books, games, and worksheets really offer a ton of ideas for therapy.”
- “So many great activities and materials for conversations!”
- “These are great packets. Great visuals. Simple enough for almost any age/skill level. I really like the way each of these activities are presented and my kids enjoy them as well.”
- “I have been struggling to make/come up with activities for these skills. This bundle is going to be SO helpful in my sessions. THANK YOU!”
Let’s Get Started!
Get this FREE SLPs’ Conversation Tool Kit for Autism. It will help you assess your students’ current status, plan therapy, and measure progress. Priceless!
Are you stressed for time? Are you too busy to create your own materials? The Conversation Guide is so useful, you will want to check out the therapy materials that go with it. This thorough bundle is full of a multitude of engaging activities for differentiated instruction. There are tons of skill-building activities, printable games, worksheets, homework, books, and fun conversation activities. You will have plans and activities for the year!
Enjoy!