|
Talking In Labels and Commands ... "Reference" Communication... The Autistic Child's Preferred Ways to Communicate! What I failed to realize for a long time was the fact that all of Zachary's speech now simply consisted of labels (words) and/or commands. He knew "what certain things were" and he had figured out that basic commands always produced the same outcome... commands like: "juice please", or "let's go". There were also the "yes" and "no". Because he could respond with "yes or no", I made the mistake of taking this for "conversation" for a long time. His world became one that consisted completely of labels, commands and one word answers...these I came to understand were just variations of "labels"... not actual conversation Conversation was still very much absent. I now truly became aware of the fact that, for Zachary, "talking" was in "labels and commands". I realized that like labels, specific commands represented or "produced" very specific outcomes. "I want water", "open the door", "let's go walking", "car ride"... as did "yes" and "no" - all of these things produced very specific results... and the results were always the same. Thus, all these things, to Zachary, were no more than variations of "labels". It took no time at all for Zachary to figure out the fact that like labels, commands and "yes" or "no" always produced the same outcome... it had taken me much much longer to actually see that for Zachary, these were just extensions of "labels". Labels, commands and one word answers quickly became his "preferred" mode of communication... not only did they produce a specific result, but he could "get things" through commands and "have someone else do the work"... positive reinforcements indeed... for more than just the autistic child! :o) Labels, commands and one word answers provided for Zachary concrete things and as such, he quickly learned to "tuck these away" for future use... what I have come to term "reference communication"! Reference communication was something we all do, but, for the autistic child, "reference communication" can become a huge tool as the child continues to "decode communication", as we will see under the language section addressing how to teach conversation and the concept of a "sentence" to the autistic child. Reference communication played a critical role in terms of helping the autistic child understand "Safety Issues". I strongly encouraged all parents to read this section, for in areas of "safety", incomplete or inaccurate reference communication can be a matter of life and death! |
|