2. Helping your child to communicate what they want
Why?
- Autistic children can find it hard to communicate to others what they want.
- You can help them practise this skill by offering them choices throughout the day.
How?
- Start off with offering a choice between 2 objects e.g. 2 snacks or 2 toys.
- Hold the items in front of the child (just below eye level).
- Hold the objects about 30cm apart.
- Ask the child what they would like e.g. “orange or banana?”
- As you say each word, move the object to help your child look at each of them.
- Your child may make their choice by looking at / reaching for / pointing at / saying the item they want.
- When they have made their choice then name the object they have chosen and give it to them.
- If your child wants both items, try offering them a choice between something they like (e.g. biscuit) versus something they are not interested in (e.g. onion).
- Click here to watch a video showing how to do choice making.
When?
Choices can be offered at:
- Snack time: choice between two food items
- Play time: choice between two toys
Singing time:
- Have an object or picture that represents a particular song.
- Introduce objects/pictures for at least two songs over a period of time so that your child learns which object/picture goes with which song.
- Then offer your child a choice between two different songs.
Story time: choice between two books Dressing time: choice between two items of clothes
Bath time: Choice between bath toys/soaps etc.
In a ‘What’s in the Box?’ activity:
- Put some different motivating toys (e.g. bubbles, balloon, sensory toys) and some less preferred toys in the box (e.g. a spoon, a block)
- Offer your child choices between 2 toys from the box at a time.
- Let the child have a short play with the toy they have chosen
- Take the toy back and give them another choice.
What's next?
If your child can make choices between two things but is not using words to do this, you can help develop their choice making skills further by helping them to make choices between two pictures.
- Start off by having the pictures alongside the objects when you offer a choice – so your child learns which picture goes with which object.
- Then after a while see if your child can make a choice just when they are shown the two pictures.
- Once your child can make a choice between two pictures then slowly increase how many pictures you show them, so they learn to make a choice from a wider range of options.
Last updated20 Jan 2025