How music helped my son's speech & language development

Some autistic children struggle to express what they want to say verbally (expressive) while others can speak with clarity, but have trouble processing and understanding language (receptive). In some cases, autistic children need help with both expressive as well as receptive speech and language challenges. Studies indicate that over half of children with autism have some level of speech and language delay and this became deeply relevant to me through personal circumstances.

Before my son was diagnosed as autistic, his nursery picked up his speech and language delay. In my son's case, it was the receptive side of language he wrangled with the most. We went to several classes, all of which helped give us the tools to help our son break down language while encouraging him to use his speech more frequently. It was a slow-burning process that required commitment, consistency, and patience.

Of all the tools that I feel helped to accelerate my son's communication, however, music was one of the most effective. It was a really fun way to communicate, too.

My son has always loved singing and dancing—the combination of rhythm, rhyme, and melody has mesmerised him for longer than I can remember. So, adding melodies to certain words and phrases in the right context, encouraged my son to try them out for himself at various times throughout the day.

Singing a few songs to my son while I was playing on the guitar and turning various words and phrases into musical melodies gave us a platform to practise language in a way that was fun and engaging (despite my occasional screeching bum notes). So, I decided to buy a Casio keyboard.

This green little melody maker quickly became an essential part of everyday life. As my son had a keen interest in shapes and colours at the time, I decided to label the keys with dot stickers. I would write out colour sequences in words (my son

About the author

has been able to sight read individual words since he was two years old) to use his special interests to his speech & language learning advantage.

I encouraged him to tap out melodies on his keyboard using his colour keys (some were fragments or nursery rhymes and some I made up), before adding simple phrases to them. I started with repetitive two to three-word phrases and gradually built little conversations into the mix. Doing this a little every day at my son's pace really helped to bring his speech and language on. I believe it helped him get to grips with both expressive and receptive language in a way that he enjoyed. Most of all, it was fun—and where fun lives, communication thrives.

Rhythm and melody are a universal language, an inclusive medium that resonates with almost everyone fortunate enough to have hearing. Using music to help my son develop his speech and language skills not only proved to be a success for us, but it also taught me that while it's important to put the time in, making sure what you're doing is relaxed and engaging is the most important thing by far. If you don't appeal to an autistic child's interests, you're unlikely to gain their attention for long. You can make the experience more interactive by using a musical instrument like a keyboard, guitar, triangle or maracas. Try throwing one of your child's special interests into the mix (for instance, if they're into cars, sing about cars or use toy cars to carry out actions when you're singing). Work at your child's pace, going as slowly as you need to while enunciating your words with as much clarity as possible.

I'm not a professional speech and language therapist. I'm an SEN parent who stumbled across something I found valuable and wanted to share my experiences. I hope this helps you and your child and if you want to run anything by me, feel free to get in touch. Best of luck.

Environment and behaviour

Cheryl Bedding looks at environmental audits for children with sensory integration needs.

Environments tell us what to do, and they can be arranged to make you feel and behave in a certain way. Shops and restaurants enter the mind of the consumer to sell their products. A restaurant may want a fast turnover of people, so they have hard plastic fixed seats. Supermarkets put the milk at the furthest end of the shop, to make you walk past other items that may catch your eye. They may move food around in the store to make you change your usual route and discover other products.

How you feel in any environment will affect how you behave, how long you stay, how much you engage with it and whether you want to return. The same applies to children. For children with sensory integration needs, it influences them even more.

In creating an autism friendly environment, we must try to reduce the negative impact of sensory differences and enhance the positive effects. Environments can have a physical and emotional impact on us and for young children with diverse needs, the emotional impact can result in a child feeling anxious, stressed, unengaged and dysregulated. If we get it right, they are more likely to feel calm, connected, with a sense of belonging and able to be their true authentic self.

Anxiety can be a significant barrier to children's mental health, engagement, participation and can result in children isolating themselves, masking their self regulation behaviours,

A calming corner, a place to breathe

and preventing them from thriving. An environment that is unpredictable, noisy and over stimulating, is likely to trigger behaviours that stem from an overwhelmed nervous system and the body's natural response to move into the fight or flight response. These observable behaviours often result in sanctions or consequences when our perspective as adults does not match or provide insight into these responses. We react to what we see, not what causes the behaviour.

An environmental audit is a way of assessing the physical environment to ensure that it provides a safe and supportive learning space for all students. Noise, temperature, lighting and seating arrangements all have an impact on learning and participation. Adult and child perceptions of their environment may differ. What some people take for granted can be overwhelming and upsetting for others, and an effective audit can support a child's emotional development and wellbeing.

Audits are not one-off exercises, but a continual process of detection and reflection to determine if an environment is supportive and enabling for the individual children it serves. This requires adapting and meeting the individual needs of each child and not the label or diagnosis. An audit might include questions such as 'how is Fred responding to the current routine?' or 'how is Emily reacting to the sound of the

More audit questions

Are the colours in the environment low arousal such as cream and pastel shades?

Have you considered the smells of cleaning materials used, such as sprays?

Are noise levels a concern at different times of the day?

Do you plan for changes to routines, staff leaving, breaks, new people in the room?

Are there sensory materials available for children to explore and touch in the environment?

Is a wide range of foods available of different textures and temperatures?

Are there opportunities to move indoors and outside without restrictions?

Are routines flexible for those who need regular movement, with enough time given for movement breaks in the day and an awareness of how long children are required to sit?

About the author

Cheryl Bedding is a consultant and an award winning trainer working nationally and the parent of two neurodivergent children. She is an advocate for true inclusive practice, enabling ALL children to be heard, to be given the tools and connections to thrive and be accepted for their uniqueness.

aperiontraining.co.uk

@aperion_training

@aperion_training

@cherylbedding music for tidy up time?', or 'Is George engaging in story time in a large group?'.

A sensory audit requires a little time and effort but can have a far reaching impact on a child and their family, while preventing behaviours which result in stress and anxiety for the child and the educator.

The understanding that children can be hyper- or hypo-sensitive is a good place to start when considering visual stimuli, smells, touch and pressures, auditory stimuli, a child's expectations, transitions and accessibility. We can aim for the surroundings to be 'just right' or as close as possible to an environment that can meet the needs of all.

Despite regular auditing and adaptations, children with diverse needs may still require a calm, quiet place of escape, a space of their own, a place that offers an illusion of privacy where they can decompress and self-regulate if feeling overstimulated or overwhelmed. When auditing your environments, consider where and how you could provide this. Where can you place a tent, or little corner nook for relaxation and comfort, surrounded by familiar objects, self-soothing resources and dim lighting, offering an opportunity to bring their nervous system back to a state of calm.

We can all too easily become used to an environment, so that we become unaware of how it might be impacting on children. By being alert to this potential complacency, we can either schedule regular audits, or spend some time experiencing our surroundings as Fred or Emily.