Communication Issues in Autism and Asperger Syndrome

Professor Olga Bogdashina, MA, PhD, DEd, CO-founder of and Programme Leader (Autism courses) at the International Autism Institute, KSPU and co-founder of the International Consortium of Autism Institutes.
She has worked extensively in the field of autism as a teacher, lecturer and researcher, with a particular interest in sensory-perceptual, cognitive and communication problems. She is a Visiting Professor in Autism Studies at universities around the world, develops university (Autism Study) courses and training programmes for professionals and parents, presents at national and international autism conferences and is an autism consultant for services for children and adults.

Olga has an adult son with autism and lives in Yorkshire, UK.

Providing a theoretical foundation for understanding communication and language impairments specific to autism, Olga Bogdashina explores the effects of different perceptual and cognitive styles on the communication and language development of autistic children. She stresses the importance of identifying each autistic individual's nonverbal language with a view to establish a shared means of verbal communication. She offers an explanation of why certain approaches, for example PECS, might work with some autistic children but not others. Offering real in-sights, the 'What They Say' sections enable the reader to see through the eyes of autistic indi-viduals and to understand their language differences first hand. 'What We Can Do to Help' sections throughout the book give practical recommenda-tions on what to do in order to help autistic individuals use their natural mechanisms to learn and develop social and communicative skills.

Introduction. Part 1: Definitions, theories and hypotheses. 1. Communication. Language. Speech. 2. Language acquisition: The theories. 3. From sensations to concepts: Via different routes. 4. Cognitive styles and functions in autism. 5. Autistic culture? 6. What language are they speaking? Part 2: Language characteristics, learning styles and development in autism. 7. Language learning styles. 8. Speech and language development in non-autistic and autistic children. 9. Impairments of social communication and language peculiarities specific to autism. 10. Fluent speakers. So what's the problem? Part 3: Key strategies to enhance communication in autism. 11. Communication/language assessment strategies. Communication profile. 12. Communication environment and interaction styles. 13. Selecting communication systems. 14. Teaching communication. Conclusion. Glossary. References. Subject index. Author index.