how do you teach *asking*?! | Autism PDD
I realize this is probably one of those "wait it out" things where ASD
kids are concerned, but as most of you here probably understand, we are
increasingly anxious to hear our son ASK us something. The closest he's
ever come was when he used to say "where go mama," and that was about a
year ago (now he just says "more mama," or "more daddy").
Anyone had any success with teaching an ASD kid to ask questions? Or
input as to how long we can expect to wait for it to happen?
Our boy starts speech therapy next week, and we're of course hoping
that will be the start of good things in this area, but I can't help
but tap the experienced minds here! 
Oh, and pardon me if I don't respond for a while... going out of town on a long weekend. Have a good one yourselves!
MARK_DAD
my son 3.5 autism/adhd/ did not start to ask for stuff in the correct way until a year into speech. and then as everything is, it is going to be different for every child. they tought him some signs that he picked up very quick-does great with his hands. and he used that for almost 6 months before he started asking in conjunction with signing.
my son starts preshcool spec. ed in 1 more week and i can't wait to see what he can do after that.
good luck and we are always here for you.
Thanks for that input, 2bsybys.
I should have clarified that our son DOES request things... it's just never in "can i have..." form. It's always "more this," "more that." In fact, the "more" phrases are some of the only "real" speech he has. He just never asks the "W" questions... "Why?" "What is that?" "Where is such and such?" Etc.
It's frustrating, because I'm full of answers!
When Anna had just turned 3 she wan't very verbal at all. I think what helped her w/sentence structure best is the sign language. When she wanted a drink she would shout "DRINK DRINK DRINK" and signing made me stop to sign/say "I....want....drink".
Having the visual helps her to connect the idea somehow. She understands want but still won't use it much when asking. Sadly she still will shout "Drink" but I don't respond to it. If she wants a drink I hold out until she says it right...prompting her to say what she wants.
I have to say now that she is turning 4 she is has increased her vocaubulary a lot but she can't express her thoughts well, nor, hold a back and forth conversation unless it is very very simple. example: "Anna did you color at school today?" and then she will interject a thought about something non related or not say anything at all. I just keep prompting and fishing for her thoughts.
Have you seen the book "More than Words" by Fern Sussman? I think it's been reccomended on this board by several people, but it was also reccomended to me by the director of my son's new school program. I got it from Amazon, and practically read it in 2 days...and it is wonderful - full of ideas for parents to build the communication/language skills of their spectrum children. And it does have lots of suggestions for teaching answering and asking questions. It's also nice that it describes what techniques to use as your child moves through 4 different levels of communication ability - starting with very basic. I'll just share a couple that I've been working on with Elliot.
Fill-in-the-blanks: When he asked "want juice" I would say - very slowly, "Elliot, ask Mom....Can I have some _____" then look at him expectantly. My Elliot did fill in "juice" - I cheered. Then gradually you start filling in less and less, "Ask Mom, Can I..." Now with certain questions, I can get away with just reminding him to "Ask Mom". You can do this with other kinds of questions like "Will you..." or "Can I go to the..."
Playing Games: In trying to get him to ask me "What's that?" or "Where's the..?" we've been playing games. For "where"...hide and seek is great (if he'll play) either with us or hiding a stuffed animal of his and we hunt around for it saying "Where's monkey?" This still hasn't translated into him genuinely coming up to me outside of a game and asking me where something is, but I'm hoping it will. With "What's that?" I ask him the question all the time, which he loves to answer, so I started doing the "Ask Mommy, What's that?" He loves to play it with me now, and he'll ask me, but still is only playing it like a game, he asks about things that he already knows what they are - or even asks, then answers the question himself but again I'm hoping it will eventually translate. And generally he is just looking at something, and I'm trying to teach him to point at it when he asks.
Rachel
I ditto getting the More than Words. It is an excellent book. We pretty much do the same thing w/ filling in the bank and playing games tp teach our dd how to respond to questions. After many weeks, we have Finally got her responding to the question "How many are there." She counts the objects.
Some kids on the spectrum have problems with "w" questions. Where, what, when, and who is not words to use when asking a kid on the spectrum a question. They don't know how to process it. To this day Jeffrey still has problems processing those types of questions. For example, if I was to ask him "where is the IDS Center?" , he would look at me and hesitate before answering me. Now if I asked him "is the IDS Center located in St. Paul?", he would answer me immediately with the correct answer. I know his neuro never asks him questions starting with the "wh". And yes it is hard to keep those words out of questions. I have to stop and think before asking Jeffrey any questions. And I have noticed with him I have three chances to ask a question before he will quit responding to me.
Tammy
My son Takoda is HFA and when he was first learning to talk he didn't ask questions and answered all my questions, "WHAT?" He still says WHAT but not nearly as much.
Also he started asking questions like, "Can you want a drink of water?" It took the longest time to get him to use the right pronoun. Then he still said, "Can I want a drink of water?" instead of, "Can I have a drink of water?"
My son seemed to understand questions much better when he hit age four and had been in ST and preschool for a year it really made a huge difference. He does very well now at almost five but he still mixes pronouns. I don't know when your son became verbal but my sons Dr. pointed out to me that Takoda only became verbal at age three so when you consider other NT kids have had alot more pactess at their langage skills it does make sense. Our kids often have alot of catching up to do. Nelle PS. Hope you enjoy your weekend! If your child likes videos, the "Watch Me Learn" videos are very good for modeling asking questions and many other skills: http://www.difflearn.com/prodinfo.asp?number=DRV%20312&t op=28 http://www.difflearn.com/prodinfo.asp?number=DRV%20340&t op=28 Like the others have said you need to do a lot of prompting and modeling, do not just "wait it out". Typical kids just seem to absorb language skills from the air, ASD kids just don't. They need someone to tell and show them this is the way you do it. Then depending on the kid and the skill, they will need lots and lots of practice with that skill. By all means, contrive situations to practice. Here is a link to a training manual "Teaching the Child to Ask Questions" http://www.mariposaschool.org/programs/TrainingManual24.pdf There are many training manuals at the Mariposa School Site. You may want to read the "Terms and Definitions" manual before reading the above manual. There is some verbal behavior terminology in it that is not commonly known. http://www.mariposaschool.org/programs/?PHPSESSID=7a80dc5d1b bc4aff314aaee152ba1615 I concur with all of the above. Paul started ST at two. He is HFA. He understood w questions way before he asked them. I did the fill in the blank. He still has trouble with them but can do them with rephrasing. He gets them confused with eachother. I don't have to fill in the blank any more but I will ask him to "ask me another way" etc. He began using them around 6ish. He understood them (the concrete ones "where" etc.) at 3 or so. We're workin' on "how" and "why". He's getting it. You're a diligent, good dad. Keep it up. The only promise I can make is that the hard work has a payoff. How much...depends. But worth it I think. pat we just did it over and over again jack would throw his beaker at me when he wanted a drink,when he learnt to sign a little we wouldn't give him a drink until he signed it harsh some may think but i believe if i hadn't done that i would still be ducking beakers now when his verbal skills improved we began with getting him to say drink please mummy and this is the same template we use now if he squeals for paper to draw i prompt him and don't give until he says "paper please mummy" i don't for a minute think he "gets" what please means but he now knows that he needs that word to get what he wants it doesn't always work somedays it is a battle but i think this is probably the one area i have really stuck to my guns with him i know he can say it and i do think that he understands that is what expected of him along with thanking whoever has given him what he needs again i don't think he understands thankyou (he still signs them along side the word)but i think it is important for him to beable to express his needs i'm not sure how well he would do without the prompts but this has been a LONGGGGG process but soo worth it it is wonderful when he comes and asks for something without prompts and it usually accompanied by the cutest smile that just melts me.He doesn't really ask questions he is still at a level were he makes demands ie he will tell us he wants to go home rather than ask when we are going home but considering this this was a little boy who never made a sound till he was 3 and a half (other than screaming) i think he has done amazingly well to get where he has in the last three years.To get back on topic because i have waffled once more i really think just going over it in the same way time and time again is the best thing good luck Dee
I also recommend "Behavioural Intervention for the Young Child with Autism"
It has discreet trial based activities to teach all the wh ?'s.
I found that very effective.
I also did lots of work using books and "What's that?" modeling what I wanted and then prompting my son.
I would set up situations at home where he would need to ask "What's that?".
e.g. a bag of unusual objects and known objects. Use just known objects
first. He can put in his hand and take one out and you can ask
him "What's that?". When he answers reward him. Once he can do that add
the unusual objects and then you can prompt him to ask a 3rd person,
"What's that?". It is important to have someone else help with this
because if you ask him the question then supply the answer then it
isn't pragmatically correct.
I used to do things to get "Open ..." like put a piece of chocolate in
a container my child couldn't open that he could see in and then give
it to him. When he would hand it back to me to open it I would prompt
"Open" and of course he could then have the treat.
I then did the same for want but put the container on a high shelf. Hopefully you get the idea how to set things up.
One therapist told me to do things like put out the cereal in the morning with no milk or no spoon and then prompt want ....
The great thing is that this also helps them learn to use their words rather that tantrum when things weren't quite right.
I hope it works for you.
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