Ep. 68: Best Ways to Support Nonspeaking Autistic Children
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Why do some autistic children remain non‑speaking and how can families recognize early signs?
What's up everyone and welcome to Making the Shift for Autistic Kids.
We're an SLP couple from California with four boys. And we're here every week to bring
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Hi everyone, welcome to Making the Shift. Today we're talking all about how we can support non-speaking autistic children. And I will tell you, this idea for the episode came to me after a couple of calls that happened within a day or two in my clinic. As a lot of you know, I own a speech clinic here in Los Angeles, and I do all of the intake calls for new families. families and in the same week I had a couple of families call who had such a similar story. Um and one I'll tell you for example was a dad calling, he said My four year old is nonverbal and he's autistic and we want to get him some extra speech therapy. You know, he's in class, he is on an IEP. And I said Okay, so is using any AAC? And the dad said, What's that?
And to me, that was just so heartbreaking because this child is already in school, already, you know, on an IEP and already has all of these supports in place, but no one had thought to, you know, introduce him to AAC. So today something we really just want to talk about is how can we best support non-speaking children? We're gonna give you a few of our best tips on places to get started and I also thought a good place to start would be talking about the difference between You know, the word nonverbal and non speaking and why we default using the word non speaking.
Yeah, I wanted to follow up with that too. I I see a lot on social media too and within comments. Um nonverbal being used a lot. And so this is just for educational purposes, um, for you know, learning some alternative ways to change language but perceptions and how um that helps guide goals and and the process to help others. That's really the ultimate thing.
What is the difference between “non‑verbal” and “non‑speaking” and why does language matter?
So it's not to say, hey, you need to stop saying this or stop saying that. It's more of a here's just a different way Of looking at it, here's a different way of uh using language so that way we can get the right supports in place.
Mm-hmm. And I posted about this recently. I said, here's why you should use the term non-speaking instead of nonverbal. And people just some people just went nuts. Like some people were in the comments just saying, This doesn't matter, you know, but it does matter. And when a community comes together and tells you, hey, this is how we prefer to be addressed, we need to listen to that community. It's not our decision to um call them what we want. It's up to them to tell us here's what makes me comfortable. So let's talk about why
I didn't even see that by the way. I didn't know that you didn't share that with me. But yeah, I mean I'll just uh to double down on what I just mentioned is interesting because although it just seems like uh a subtle change. The reality is that the language that we use can really help drive the reports that we write, the therapy that we use, the discussions that we have, the perceptions of people. And that's why it's important. It really um might seem like such a surface level thing. So we'll we'll uh dive into it.
Yeah. And, you know, a lot of people W what people will say is that the word nonverbal implies non communicative. And there's such a, you know, negative connotation associated with the word nonverbal. And it's the assumptions we make about a child when we hear they're nonverbal.
How can Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) be introduced without hindering speech development?
And it's whether or not you mean it. Like when you are saying, oh, this kid's nonverbal, you're probably not trying to say he's not smart and he doesn't understand anything you say, but that's how another person oftentimes perceives it.
Yeah, like nonverbal can sometimes come across to people as not having language and that's just not the case. I uh came by a comment that is by an autistic individual. Her name's Jordan Pallet. And she said this. I think this really resonates. So um she said, nonverbal brings forth a slew of assumptions about me that are entirely inaccurate, including lack of understanding language.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Why do some autistic children remain non‑speaking and how can families recognize early signs?
0:08–2:27
2
What is the difference between “non‑verbal” and “non‑speaking” and why does language matter?
2:27–4:05
3
How can Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) be introduced without hindering speech development?
4:05–6:01
4
When is the right time to start AAC for a child and what early‑age strategies work best?
6:01–8:11
5
What does “presuming competence” look like in therapy and everyday interactions?
8:11–10:28
6
How does supporting sensory regulation boost language learning for non‑speaking autistic kids?
10:28–12:28
7
What practical classroom and home modifications help non‑speaking children thrive?
12:28–14:41
8
What are the three most powerful steps parents can take right now to support their non‑speaking child?
14:41–16:22
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from The NeuroAffirm Podcast
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Ep. 122 Screen Time Considerations for Autistic Kids
Ep. 121 The Biggest Sensory Mistakes SLPs Make
Ep. 120 Why Anxiety is So Common in Autism (And What Actually Helps)