Autism & Communication

For most of us, talking to people and taking non-verbal cues along with the spoken dialogue makes conversations more enjoyable and understandable. For most people on the autism spectrum this is not so easy. I recently read an article about an autistic college student who has taken notice of how many people respond to non-verbal language (hand motions, eye movement, facial expressions, etc.) and how she understands that they exist and work, but not for her. All she can do is compile data to try to better understand this unspoken language. And this made me think about the future of my dear son, Noah.

As he gets older, will his social understandings get even a little better? Will he be able to develop some understanding of non-verbal communication? Or will he, like most people on the spectrum, never fully understand or develop this aspect of language? My hope is that someday he will be able to make the necessary connections to link non-verbal cues with spoken language to make more meaningful, more robust conversations with others. My fear is that the level of understanding he now has will be all he gets.

We humans are strange creations. There are no two exactly alike (though some identical twins are scary close), and each person has some interesting talent or gift to provide. Not quite sure yet just what my talent or gift is, but I’m working on it. For Noah, he provides me with smiles, laughs, and a big dose of humility from time to time. He soaks up information in bits, but can spit it back out in large chunks. He has a propensity to remember small details, and can graphically retell all about those small details, but his ability to take social cues is lacking.

I don’t really remember being taught how to read a person’s facial expressions; happy, sad, scared, afraid, etc., but I am learning that this is something that many autistic people do not fully grasp. Sometimes they can see the face, know what feeling or emotion is going on, but do not comprehend that feeling or emotion themselves. If you have a few minutes I would highly recommend reading the article I mentioned. While I can’t say it was an eye opener for me, it made me think more about the future of my wonderful son and his ability to communicate with the rest of the world. I hope it sheds some light on autism and communication for those who read it . . .