Expert: Trey McGowan - 4/7/2008

Question
Hi Trey,
My 2 1/2 year old boy has been diagnosed with ADHD/Autistic features and I am in the process of getting him speech and occupational therapy. How do I get him to respond to his name ? Need some tips/advice.

Thanks
Saratha

Answer
Hi there, Saratha!

If you are in therapy with your son already, then they should be able to help out a little with the 'name response' tricks if you bring it up with them. They will likely be able to start some work with it while they are doing other things.

In the meantime, the best way to get him to respond to his name is to try and make sure that he realizes it is an 'important' word. At 2 1/2, giving him a detailed explanation of this will likely not be helpful... even an autistic child can only reason at certain levels, after all... but by affirming to him that 'Your name is <name>', it might start getting into his head that that specific word is referring to him-as-a-person.

You can also demonstrate to him that a name has meaning by showing others reacting to it. Call your friend by their name and let them react. Summon a sibling or a friend by their name. The lack of 'sense of self' can sometimes make this less successful, but it is a good start to at least getting the understanding of what a 'name' means. Ultimately, the hardest part will probably be to make him understand that *this* word is pertaining to him and him alone, and that when he hears you saying it, he knows you are talking about him. Once that sinks in, hopefully the rest of reacting and answering to his name will come quickly.

Hopefully, these tricks will help! If you have any more questions, any comments, feedback, follow-ups, or the like, then I'm available!

Trey