Addressing Social Communica�on Development in Au�sm Spectrum Disorder Presented by Emily Rubin, MS, CCC-­‐SLP Educa�onal Outreach Specialist Marcus Au�sm Center The neurology of social communication
—  Contemporary research in the
neurodevelopment of social competence has
fostered a greater understanding of those with
vulnerabilities in these areas.
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The neurology of social communication
—  When neurotypical children look at peoples
faces, regions in the limbic system “light up”
with endorphins and reward that child.
The neurology of social communication
—  By 6 months of age, a child begins to follow gaze and
can recognize when they have lost a caregiver’s
attention
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The neurology of social communication
—  By 10 months of age, a child begins to shift
gaze from a caregiver to objects of reference
to predict and anticipate the actions of others.
The neurology of social communication
—  By 12 months of age, a child will initiate
shared attention on desired items or items that
are of interest to the child.
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The neurology of social communication
—  These capacities foster expertise about the
social world.
Unique neurological differences in social
communication development
—  Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder show
limited neural sensitivity to social stimuli and
tend not to look toward people’s faces.
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Unique neurological differences in social
communication development
—  Children with these vulnerabilities tend to look
at the mouths of the speaker. They miss gaze
shifts between people and objects. They have
difficulty predicting actions and initiating bids
for engagement.
Unique neurological differences in social
communication development
—  Similarly, when neurotypical children hear
speech sounds, these are processed as social
or intentional stimuli, while children with
vulnerabilities simply hear sounds, making the
intentions of individual words more ambiguous.
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Unique neurological differences in social
communication development
—  Individuals with social and emotional
vulnerabilities may process social stimuli (e.g.,
faces, speech sounds) in regions of the brain
typically reserved to process images and sounds
that are non-biological.
—  This makes predictions of actions, intentions,
and emotions less efficient and more intellectual.
Unique neurological differences in social
communication development
How do these neurological differences impact pre-symbolic
communication (before words)?
—  Difficulty with initiation - Neurological differences limit shared
attention and the intrinsic reward for engagement with others;
thus, reduced rates of spontaneously initiated communication are
evident and compromise language development.
Implication – Increase functional, spontaneous
communication
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Pre-symbolic stages;
sample intervention goals
Child will communicate for a range of functions across
activities, contexts, and partners including:
—  Initiating bids for interaction,
—  Sharing negative and positive emotions,
—  Requesting desired objects,
—  Requesting help or other actions,
—  Protesting undesired actions or activities,
—  Requesting comfort, social games, and greetings,
—  Commenting on objects.
Pre-symbolic stages
sample intervention goals
Child will share intentions across activities,
contexts, and partners using:
—  imitation of actions or sounds
—  proximity to others
—  simple motor actions / physical manipulation,
—  a give gesture, push away, a touch gesture,
—  a show gesture, a point, or a wave gesture,
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Unique neurological differences in social
communication development
How do these neurological differences impact the development of language
at the emerging language stage?
—  Difficulty with expressive language - Neurological differences limit gaze
between people and objects and awareness of what others are thinking;
thus, children with ASD may learn nouns and noun phrases, but struggle
with subject + verb sentence structure, which is essential for creative
language acquisition.
Implication – Increase language related to people and
actions
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Emerging language stages;
sample intervention goals
Child will communicate for a range of functions across
activities, contexts, and partners including:
—  Securing attention prior to expressing intentions
using others’ names
—  Comments on actions or events
—  Sharing emotion and interests
Emerging language stages;
sample intervention goals
Child will share intentions across activities, contexts,
and partners using:
—  words, pictures, or signs to represent people, action
words, modifiers, and a range of object labels.
—  Combining words, pictures, or signs to form creative
word combinations such as subject + verb and
subject + verb + noun sentences.
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The Picture Communica�on Symbols ©1981-­‐2009 by Mayer-­‐Johnson LLC. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Used with permission. The Picture Communica�on Symbols ©1981-­‐2009 by Mayer-­‐Johnson LLC. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Used with permission. 11
The Picture Communica�on Symbols ©1981-­‐2009 by Mayer-­‐
Johnson LLC. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Used with permission. Unique neurological differences in social
communication development
How do these neurological differences impact the development
of socially conventional language at conversational language
stages?
—  Level 1 - Social orienting – Orienting to the social world.
—  Level 2 – Social seeking – Initiating bids for social functions
of engagement.
—  Level 3 – Social maintaining – Engage with others over a
sustained period of time.
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Unique neurological differences in social
communication development
—  “Social motivation can be described as a set of
psychological dispositions and biological mechanisms
biasing the individual to preferentially orient to the social
world (social orienting), to seek and take pleasure in
social interactions (social reward), and to work to foster
and maintain social bonds (social maintaining).
—  At the ultimate level, social motivation constitutes an
evolutionary adaptation geared towards enhancing the
-2(-:-(9%0B7C82)77-2'300%&36%8-:)#73'-%0$
environments” (Chevallier et al., 2012).
Level 1 - Social orienting - Preferentially orienting to the
social world.
Sample objectives:
-  Monitoring the attentional focus of others,
-  Student uses a variety of sentence constructions,
including subjects + verbs + noun phrases,
-  Student uses behaviors modeled by partners to selfregulate,
-  Student uses language modeled by partners to selfregulate.
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Level 2 – Social seeking – Initiating bids for social
functions of engagement.
Sample objectives:
—  Student will share intentions for social interaction (e.g.,
greetings, turn taking, calling attention),
—  Student asks for help, a break, or coping strategies
from others,
—  Student provides and requests information about
immediate, past, or future events (e.g., engages in a
variety of conversation about areas interest),
Level 3 – Social maintaining – Desire to engage with
others over a sustained period of time
Sample objectives:
—  Initiating a variety of topics, related to partner’s interests
—  Providing needed information based upon partner
—  Student uses appropriate body posture and proximity for the
context
—  Student uses appropriate volume and intonation for the context
—  Student responds to coping strategies offered by partners
—  Modifies language & behavior based upon partner’s emotional
reaction
—  Student uses metacognitive strategies to self-regulate during
transitions (planning and preparing ahead for routines and
changes)
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Unique neurological differences in social
communication development
Strategies for Differentiating Instruction –
Checklist
Reference:
Contact the presenter: emily.rubin@choa.org or Emily@commxroads.com American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2006).
Guidelines for speech-language pathologists in diagnosis,
assessment, and treatment of autism spectrum disorders
across the life span. Available from http://www.asha.org/
members/deskref-journal/deskref/default
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Accommodating Students with Autism
by Creating a Universal Design for Learning in the Classroom;
Checklist for Supports
Student Name:
Date:
Follow-up Date:
Target Activity / Subject:
Describe what the student did well…
Visual Structure & Organization
Is the student predicting…
the purpose of the task (sensory
exploration / cause & effect / tied to special
interests or functional outcomes)
the sequence of activities (activity
the steps within the activity (count
their role in the activity (clear visuals
What supports are
working
Next steps
What supports are
working
Next steps
What supports are
working
Next steps
baskets, photo/picture schedules, written day
planner)
down strips, visual timers, written help box)
indicate expectations, turn-taking, and roles)
Social Communication Supports
Is the student predicting…
when to initiate (the activity includes
what to say (visuals such as objects, photos,
opportunities for student participation)
pictures, written words remind the child how to
ask for help, comment, respond to questions,
etc.)
Emotional Regulation
Is the student predicting…
how to regulate their emotions
that others are responsive and a
source of emotional support
(access to sensory supports, visuals choices of
coping strategies)
Copyright 2012 – All Rights Reserved; Prepared by Emily Rubin, MS, CCC-SLP
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