Expert: Valerie Herskowitz - 11/12/2010

Question
I have been helping my Aunt for a very long time now with my Autistic 3 1/2 yr old nephew. At times it is very hard for her to deal with the day to day issues of EVERYTHING. Bobby does not talk at all. He makes sounds and humms. Sometimes it sounds like he will say "more" or "mom" or "yeah". He will let it be known of what he wants if he is hungry or wants to leave he will take your hand and walk you to the door and put your hand on the doorknob. He has been going to a preschool and they are very good with taking care of Bobby. He is 1:1 in school and has a speech therapist there to help him. My Aunt tries feeding him all organic foods and vitamins. With all of this already done he still doesnt speak which is one of the biggest things tearing my Aunt and myself apart. You walk through the mall sometimes and will see a parent telling their child to "Shut Up" because they are talking to much, but then you will see my aunt instantly stop to try and talk to bobby, knowing that she just wants him to talk so bad and these other parents take it for granted that their child can talk. So many things that just leaves so much confusion. There are times that Bobby will wake up in the morning and just start crying and all day it seems like he is sad all day. When you Is there any books or programs out there to help teach bobby new things that may help or also any books that may help my aunt to understand how to deal with these emotions ourselves.

Answer
HI Kim

Thanks for writing.

I think it would help Bobby immensely if he could communicate. Since he can't talk, there are many ways to teach him communication using other means. Here is a simple and easy-to-learn method:

Go to google images and find pictures of things that Bobby needs to ask for: such as foods, toys, videos etc. Print these out all on one page and take them to a place like Office Depot and get them laminated. You can also add pictures of people or activities like swimming (pool) or swinging, etc.

Make each picture 2" by 2". Then put them all on a small piece of foam board.

Starting with just one or two pictures, show Bobby how he can get a picture of something that he wants and bring it to you. This is better than having him pull you to what he wants. After practicing awhile, he should be able to learn how to tell you what he wants.

Let me know how this goes. We can try other things as well