CAS is a very specific disorder with a very specific profile, and is thus different from “typical” speech sound disorders. The hypothesis of CAS in ASD (the CAS-ASD hypothesis) is that “CAS contributes to the inappropriate speech, prosody, and/or voice features reported in some children and adults with verbal ASD” (Shriberg et al., 2011, p. 405). For this to be true, the speech, prosody, and voice findings in children with ASD must not only be unusual or disordered, but they must also fit into the particular profile of CAS. McCleery et al. (2006) studied the speech sound development of minimally verbal and nonverbal children with ASD and compared their development to typically developing children who were matched for language production and comprehension skills. Their findings indicate that children with ASD, even those that are severely language delayed, show the same general consonant production patterns as typically developing children. Moreover, the production pattern of children with ASD is practically identical for sounds produced spontaneously and sounds produced in imitation....
For example, our text describes two symptoms of ASD; 1. social communications and interactions 2. and limited patterns of repetitive behavior, interests, and or activities. This was all evident in the “Neurotypical” documentary. For example, Nicholas was unable to interact with girls or form relationships he believes he has nothing in common with them. Wolf suggested that autistic children are good at mimicking others and that nonverbal cues are important to watch out for. Violet, on the other hand, has a habit of repeating behaviors; she will repeat anything her parents say. In the text it also says severity of language problems vary child to child. In Violets case she does not fall under the mute category but instead she is able to speak in a few words, cry, and even laugh. Our text introduces the term for repetitive speech, echolalia. Violet tends to repeat a word or words her parents say either right away when she hears it or later
Tarbox, Madrid, Aguilar, Jacobo, and Schiff (2009) researched this behavioral technique in a study involving three children with Autism who had echoic language deficits. Each of these students (ages 3, 5, and 7) could only produce single-syllable approximations of words prior to this study (Tarbox et al., p. 902). Three child-relevant, di- and tri-syllabic words were selected as targets of mastery for each student. A chaining procedure was then utilized by in-home ABA therapists to allow gradual, yet effective mastery of the words. Each word was broken down into sounds, and each sound was a step in the chaining process. The therapist would then verbally model a component of the word. Once that step was mastered, immediate reinforcement was provided and the next step would begin. The final step linked all of the components together in order to form the entire echoic. Out of the nine words total between the three participants, eight were mastered within only nine sessions. One word took a participant 35 sessions to master; however, all of the words reached mastery level and eight were maintained long-term (p. 903). These findings suggest that chaining procedures can be effective methods of increasing word-lengths in children with Autism who struggle with echoic language. Since language-production is a common deficit for those with ASD, this method of chaining is often utilized in ABA for language acquisition and is many times deemed effective (Tarbox et al., p. 904).
The “deaf and dumb” stigma as well as the delayed language and cognitive development of some Deaf children concerns this topic. “Ninety percent of deaf children have hearing parents, and usually there’s a significant communication gap” (Drolsbaugh 48). Therefore, it is not that being born deaf or hard of hearing that makes children unintelligent. It is the lack of access to language in the critical early years, as hearing parents often do not know sign language, that causes later issues in education. This can be seen from the fact that the brain’s plasticity, or its ability to acquire new information and establish neural pathways, is the greatest at birth and wanes throughout development. Therefore, if a child does not have sufficient access to language before five, significant language, and thus cognitive impairment, can result (100). Additionally, children learn about the world around them and develop critical thinking skills through asking questions. However, hearing parents often “wave off” such questions as unimportant due to difficulty explaining them (48). Therefore, early exposure to an accessible language such as ASL is crucial in developing language and cognitive abilities. When hearing families are fully aware and understanding of this, it can greatly facilitate improvements in education for Deaf
Take a second and imagine a life without social skills. You wouldn’t have the ability to tell when someone is being sarcastic or funny. Mean or nice. Simple things like this is out of your grasp for reasons you will never understand or be able to change.
Children who suffer from ASD usually have the appearance of normal development and then become withdrawn and regress from social interaction (Melinda Smith, 2013). The impaired social interaction of the disorder affects communication both verbally and non- verbally (Melinda Smith, 2013). Their communication with others and the world around them is also affected, as well as their thinking and behavior (Melinda Smith, 2013).
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Web. The Web. The Web.
Children with autism have multiple characteristic impairments in their social interaction skills. This results from the lack of “Theory of Mind” in autistic individuals. Autistic children have difficulty interpreting what another person may be thinking or feeling. Social impairments may cause the child to act inappropriately in social interactions and prevent the children from truly taking part in interactions. The children have difficulty recognizing social cues and responding to cues. Autistic children have a hard time forming relationships as a result of these impairments. Social stories, Applied Behavior Analysis, and Pivotal Response Training are three therapy techniques that help children with autism learn appropriate social behavior. Social stories allow the children to practice the situation in a lower stress environment. Applied Behavior Analysis utilizes positive reinforce to teach desired skills. Pivotal Response Training allows the child to learn social skills while in a natural play environment. Learning social skills through these techniques enable the children to have more meaningful relationships and engage more in their community.
Adamson, L., Bakerman, R., Deckner, D. & Romskey, M.(2008). Joint Engagement and the Emergence of Language in Children with Autism and Down Syndrome.
Her phonetic inventory is well developed. She has no troubles creating the age-appropriate speech sounds. The child is just above normal because she can produce more adult-like sounds than her peers. She has control over her articulators and she knows how to manipulate her oral cavity to produce the correct sounds.
...the fast growing body of research should encourage clinicians and educators to consider PECS for similar children (e.g. children with ASD with some speech but limited use of this” (Travis & Geiger, 2010).
Van der Meer, L., Kagohara, D., Achmadi, D., O'Reilly, M., Lancioni, G. E., Sutherland, D., & Sigafoos, J. (2012). Speech-generating devices versus manual signing for children with developmental disabilities. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 33(5), 1658-1669. doi: 10.1016/j.ridd.2012.04.004
...g the time period of being born and turning five, a lot of language development did not occur, as it was suppose to. With my hearing not being diagnosed, I could not pick up on a lot of sounds a normal hearing toddler could. I had a hard time saying my constants since they are a high frequency tone.
Autism is a problem that people have with communicating. It can affect many contrasting types of people in divergent ways and there is not yet a complete cure for it. People need to know about this disability and what people can do with people who have it.
Uneven language development is one of the biggest red flags that indicate ASD. For example, a normal child consistently learns new words and continues to learn how to arrange them into cohesive statements, whereas a child with ASD learns a few words and then have long p...
Audiologists, C. A.-L. (2012, October). Early Identifacation of Speech adn Language Disorders. Retrieved from CASLPA: http://www.caslpa.ca