Have you ever wondered what your child is thinking or how they process your words when you speak to them?
Many children on the autism spectrum process their thoughts in pictures. They use visual thinking in everyday life to understand language, relying less on inner language and more on visual strategies. For them, words and phrases must form a cohesive image to comprehend language clearly.
Some children on the spectrum can have difficulty focusing on what others say to them when they cannot "see" the words they hear as related, descriptive pictures. The message gets lost in translation when a visual mental representation cannot be created.
This simple story may help friends and family better understand how to communicate with their autistic children.