VOL 2868
talks to oneself, which is one of the language characteristics of children with autism.
We often hear that autistic children mutter that they have nothing to do with the current situation or have no communication partner. These words may be cartoon lines, or they may be heard by accident, or they may be strange Martian ...
Calm down and think about it. Everyone has times when they talk to themselves, such as:
✔ When I closed the door, I thought about not getting the key yet, and blurted out in anger: "Oh, the key has fallen at home!"
✔ At the moment of closing the door, I thought of not getting the key yet, and blurted out in anger: "Oh, the key has fallen at home!"
✔ When immersed in the plot of the TV series, I couldn't help but comment: "It's so touching! It's so easy to cry!"
✔ When taking a shower, I hummed happily...
Why does autistic children's self-talk to themselves drive parents crazy?
The reason is that children with autism talk to themselves. Usually the timing and scene are not suitable. Not only does it have meaning to their own thinking and expression, it will also disturb others.
So, what should parents do?
senior supervisor Li Qi used specific cases to give you tips for different situations—
situation
complete Mars language
outline
only autistic children just make sounds, but there is no specific content, and others don't understand what he is talking about.
case
Xiaobu often stays alone, not playing with toys, nor sticks to his parents. One day, after taking a nap, he was still sitting on his small bed, repeating some Martian words that others could not understand. A few minutes later, my mother saw Xiao Bu walking towards her snack cabinet while continuing to chant syllables that she couldn't understand...
Analysis
Xiao Bu's language has no practical meaning. Judging from his behavior, he is likely to be hungry and wants to eat snacks, but he has no intention of expressing needs or communicating.
I want to emphasize that expression is not only spoken language. Some children can't speak, but can communicate with each other with their movements. When they are hungry, they walk towards their mother and drag her to the snack counter.
Strategy
For Mars language, that is, meaningless self-talk. The first thing parents need to do is to awaken the communication motivation and help children find appropriate communication methods, such as gestures, pictures, similar sounds, etc.
Demonstration
Mom put Xiaobu's favorite toy car in a transparent box, then took it to him and shook it, and said to him: "There is a toy car in the box!"
When Xiaobu wanted to reach out to grab it, her mother took Xiaobu's hand, patted herself while saying "Mom", and then grabbed his finger and pointed to the box of the toy car.
In this process, the father can assist in the demonstration.
Scenario 2
Self-talk
Overview
Autistic children tell themselves what they see, hear, and even imagine. Others can understand what they are talking about.
case
Xiaoming plays with traffic car toys on the floor. He muttered while playing: "wee-woo, wee-woo, the fire truck is here", "You can't park here, it's not a parking space, drive here", "Shanghai station is here, please ask the passengers who arrive at the station to get their own belongings, the next stop, Hangzhou station "...
During this process, my mother sat on the sofa next to her, but Xiao Ming did not interact with her mother.
Analysis
Xiao Ming's self-talk is meaningful self-talk. Children will have similar situations during the language learning stage. If this scene occurs when the child is playing alone, it is not harmful. But if the children still don’t interact with others when they are playing together or when there are people next to them, it’s inappropriate.
Strategy
For this kind of situation, parents should actively join their children's activities and guide them to social interaction.
Demonstration
Mom walked over naturally and sat next to Xiao Ming and played with him.
When Xiao Ming was playing with a fire truck, his mother pointed to the building blocks and said, "Hurry up, it's on fire here!"
When Xiao Ming was playing with the parking lot, his mother held a small car and said, "Where is the parking space? Can you help me?"
When Xiao Ming simulated the scene of a high-speed rail station, his mother took a toy doll to pretend to be a passenger, packed up her things, and prepared to get off the bus: "Little man is a small car, he said, 'Thank you, commander, goodbye!'".
When Xiao Ming was playing with himself, parents took the initiative to add social interaction elements to guide him to interact and help him learn how to play and talk with others.
Situation Three
Escape task/self-stimulation
Overview
In specific occasions or specific emotions, children mechanically repeat some sentences in order to escape task and (or) self-stimulation.
Case
When my mother and Xiaolan were studying together, my mother pointed to a bunch of cognitive cards and asked, "Which one is a square?"
Xiaolan could not be found, my mother held Xiaolan's hand and pointed to the picture of the square and said, "This is a square, and said to me: 'Square'"
Xiaolan's pronunciation is not clear yet, and she said in an imitation: "denghuang ”
Mother said: “No, it’s a ‘square’ to be clear.” ”
After several times, Xiaolan began to slowly shake her body back and forth, and kept reciting the animated lines: “ Pig Dad , Pig Mother, Peppa Pig, George , Grandpa Pig ..." Although she still couldn’t explain clearly, she still carved her familiar animations on her own.
No matter what my mother said, Xiaolan ignored it anymore.
Analysis
The activities of learning cognitive chart card types are boring for Xiaolan, and these contents are also somewhat difficult for Xiaolan, so Xiaolan uses to talk to himself to avoid the task. At the same time, in order to soothe her emotions, Xiaolan also uses self-talking as a strategy to self-stimulate to meet her needs.
Strategy
Reduce the task difficulty or increase the fun of the activity.
Demonstration
Mom can use other activities instead of cards to teach Xiaolan to understand graphics.
For example, use a shape toy box, and each person takes turns putting the shape into the box. During this process, the mother constantly repeats the name of the shape;
can also use a toy truck to carry a square to drive it to the front of Xiaolan, and say while driving, "The square is coming!", or ask Xiaolan to drive the truck, and the mother narrates it: "Wow, the square is here!";
can also put the shape in a black bag, let Xiaolan close her eyes and grab one, and take it out and see what shape it is.
These activities are more interesting than simply identifying the picture card, and can also improve the interaction between Xiaolan and her mother, so that Xiaolan will not feel that the task is too boring or too difficult.
In addition, mother also needs to teach Xiaolan how to express rejection.
When the mother observes that Xiaolan does not like the card activities, she can teach Xiaolan to say: "I don't want to do it" and "I don't like it". After Xiaolan expresses it correctly, put the card away.
Supplement
Xiaolan talked to herself, in addition to escaping from tasks, she also had self-stimulation.
We noticed that when Xiaolan talks to herself, her body shakes back and forth. At this time, "Music to herself" is a self-stimulating behavior accompanied by her body shakes back and forth. Because the task is too difficult, she needs to self-regulate to avoid emotional outbreaks.
vs. crying and making noises in emotional outbursts. Children use self-talk to adjust their emotions. In many cases, it is a desirable strategy.
Situation Four
Thinking activities externalization
Overview
Some autistic children with good oral expression will express what suddenly comes to their mind regardless of time or occasion.
Case
Children are playing board games. When Xiaomu saw these pictures, he thought of his favorite marine animal , and began to talk endlessly, repeating the names, living habits, etc. of the marine animal.
Analysis
Xiaomu saw the board game pictures and thought of things that he was familiar with or liked, and wanted to post some comments. This situation will happen to everyone. For example, when seeing the beautiful sunset, I couldn't help but sigh: "Wow, this is the verse in the 'The setting sun and the lone wild goose fly together, the autumn water grows together and the sky is the same color'!"
The difference is:
. We rarely blurt out directly, but will first think silently in our minds or in our hearts;
✔ Even if we say it, we will not chatter and repeat it over and over again;
✔ Most of the comments we blurt out are considering the feelings of the people around us and will be accepted.
Strategy
Similar to Xiaomao's situation, parents should not be anxious, they just need to teach them some simple social rules.
Demonstration
Parents can usually play more scene simulation games with their children and play other children in the game.
After seeing marine animals, parents can guide their children to interact with others first, and then introduce: "This is dolphin . I like dolphins very much, dolphins..."
When the child finishes talking about some basic habits of dolphins, parents ask some questions and guide their children to answer.
In addition, in daily life, parents should also set more common plots to let Xiaomu tell when it can be said with his mouth and when it is enough to think about it in his heart.
Finally, it is recommended that parents must observe and think more when facing their children's inappropriate behavior. Only by analyzing the reasons can they find a targeted solution!
Author of this article｜Li Qi
Rice and XiaomiSpeech Language Therapy (ST)High Supervision
American Speech and Listening Association (ASHA)Certified Professional Speech Language Pathologist (CCC-SLP)
NY state Speech language pathology practice license
NY state Education Bureau Certified Chinese and English Bilingual-Speech language and language barriers
Canada Hanen Center Certified Professional Parent Training Speaker
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