Communication

All children communicate in ways that are meaningful to them. It is important to recognise, respect and support all forms of communication, whether a child communicates through speech, AAC, gestures, movement, echolalia, vocalisation, stimming or through gestalt language processing.

Each communication style represents a valid and meaningful way of expressing needs, connecting with others and participating in the world, and should be valued equally.

Identifying needs:

All children require a means of communication in order to have their basic needs met, to express emotion, and to communicate their views and preferences.

Frustrations can arise when communication attempts are misunderstood or misinterpreted due to differences in neurotypical and neurodivergent communication styles

Parents and practitioners should be aware of the child’s communication preferences in order to ensure the child’s feelings and needs are known, and to support their interactions with others. The Autism Good Practice Guide for Schools identifies the key areas for gathering information on children’s language and communication skills as Attention, Receptive language, Expressive language, and Social/Pragmatic language:

Every child has the right to communicate, to express preferences, emotions and ideas, and to be understood by the people around them. Communication takes many forms, and each form is valid and meaningful.

Communication can be impacted when different communication styles are not recognised or supported. When neurodivergent communication forms are misunderstood or overlooked, it can affect connection an interaction (see: Double Empathy Concept).

Families and practitioners benefit from understanding the child’s preferred communication methods so that their needs, thoughts and feelings are recognised and respected. The Autism Good Practice Guide for Schools highlights the importance of understanding communication across four key areas: attention, receptive communication, expressive communication and social or relational communication.

Communication Profiles and Respectful Practice

Attention
Focus and shared attention can look very different depending on a child’s neurotype and communication style. A child may engage through looking, pointing, object sharing, movement, parallel play or other modes, all are valid. It is not neuro-affirmative to expect joint attention to follow neuro-majority patterns such as eye contact or gaze alternation.

Receptive communication
Reception of communication may vary: a child might understand spoken language, respond to visuals, AAC, gesture, touch, rhythm, or environment cues. It is not neuro-affirmative to frame understanding in terms of compliance with verbal direction. Instead, receptive communication should be understood in whatever form the child demonstrates comprehension or engagement.

Expressive communication
Children express themselves in diverse ways: speech, AAC, movement, echolalia or gestalt-language processing, sounds, gesture, play or other sensory-motor means. The aim should not be to shape expression into “speech” but to recognise and support whichever mode the child naturally uses. Encouraging expression should never mean expecting a child to adopt neurotypical communication styles.

Social or relational communication
Social connection and participation can happen in many ways beyond neurotypical social scripts, turn-taking or conversational norms. Engaging in parallel play, offering objects, using AAC, observing, exploring, or participating according to one’s own rhythm are valid and meaningful ways to be present and connect. It is not neuro-affirmative to demand that a neurodivergent child conform to neurotypical social expectations.

Expecting children to follow neuro-majority expectations for communication or social interaction reinforces ableist standards and overlooks the legitimacy of neurodivergent modes of being and relating. The theory of the Double Empathy Problem reframes misunderstanding not as a deficit in the autistic person, but as a mismatch between different communication styles, so supporting inclusive communication requires mutual adaptation, not forcing conformity.

Therapeutic approaches rooted in neurodiversity-affirming philosophy, such as those advocated by Julie Holmes and BeMe Therapy, demonstrate that communication support works best when it is child-led, strength based and responsive to each individual’s profile, whether they are speaking, nonspeaking, using AAC or processed language differently.

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