Joe Butler shares her ten practical tips for how to be more inclusive of different communication styles when asking questions or giving instructions to autistic pupils.
Any education professional will recognise times when an instruction given or question asked to a child or young person has not been responded to in the expected way, if at all. When communicating with an autistic child or young person, it is all the more important to consider whether what we think we’ve asked or said is clear. Unclear communication can cause avoidable frustration for both the autistic pupil and ourselves. When questions or instructions are misunderstood, or even completely incomprehensible, this can add to a child or young person’s anxiety. It is not easy in busy working days to always review what we’ve said as professionals, and then take the time to own our miscommunications and thereby ease this anxiety experienced by the child or young person.
So how can we address this? By adapting our language and communication style through simple steps, we can make our interactions with pupils easier and more effective. The onus is all too often on the autistic child to learn what response is expected and make changes (or ‘mask’) in order to survive in what is a predominantly neurotypical world. But communication is a shared responsibility. As allistic (non-autistic) people, we can—and should—adjust the way we interact to be more inclusive and validating of the different ways autistic people communicate.
In this article, we focus on questions and instructions and on the next page we give ten practical tips for making them clearer. Of course, every autistic person is different, so it is important to learn from the individual child or young person what works best for them. However, these tips, contributed to by autistic adults, can make a real difference, and ultimately benefit everyone.
Ten practical tips for making questions and instructions clearer
1 Begin with the name of the person you’re talking to. Instructions such as ‘Class 4, queue up by the door’ might not be acted on by an autistic pupil. Some autistic children and young people will not realise the instruction is directed at them if their name isn’t included first to get their attention.
2 Use visual aids to make instructions clearer. Many autistic children find visual information easier to process and retain than spoken information. We can add visual support to our instructions through pictures, symbols or written words, as well as through using digital technology such as smartphones, tablets and laptops. Signing and gesture (if their meaning is consistently understood by the individual and not too overwhelming from a sensory perspective) can also add some clarity to the otherwise fleeting transience of speech.
3 Allow processing time where needed. Remember to pause after asking a question or giving an instruction. As a general rule, give at least 10 seconds processing time, though more or less may be needed depending on the pupil, how regulated they are, the environment, and how familiar the context is. It can take time for autistic people to process information, so if we don’t get a response straight away, we shouldn’t always assume that we haven’t been heard or are being ignored.
4 Use the same words when you repeat instructions. Don’t feel pressured to ‘fill the silence’ by repeating a question or instruction too quickly. The pupil might be working hard in that silence to process and filter what has been said and how to respond. If there is a need to repeat the instruction, use the same words, unless it is apparent that the child or young person does not understand them. Rephrasing means the pupil may have to go right back to the beginning of reprocessing what has been asked—taking even longer to understand and respond. Only rephrase instructions if there is still confusion, and try backing this up visually, with processing time.
5 Keep instructions and questions short and manageable. Less is more. Avoid overwhelming the child or young person with too much language or information to process. We should ask ourselves what the important message is and try to keep to the point.
6 Avoid unnecessary words. Consider the words that don’t add any meaning to our messages and may cause confusion. Examples of these are ‘filler words’ such as I mean, to be fair, actually, you know, to be honest. Think of the key words we might emphasise if drawing or signing, as they are usually all we need in getting our message across.
7 Avoid multiple questions or instructions. In everyday speech, we often end up asking a series of questions in one go, eg Do you want to go outside? Or stay inside? Shall we go to the library? Or the gym? This can be overwhelming, with too much language for the pupil to process at the same time, and it is unclear which questions require an answer. They may just answer the last question and ignore the first, or vice versa. This is the same with multiple instructions, so always break down lengthy instructions into small, manageable steps. Pause after asking a question or giving an instruction and check if it has been understood (through what the pupil says or does) before continuing. How much this is needed and is useful depends on the child or young person and their needs in that moment (eg stress levels), and context, (eg environment, familiarity of the instructions and their relationship with who is making the request).
8 Prioritise instructions according to importance. Be clear about what is expected and the amount of time and effort that is reasonable to achieve it. We should be careful about the language we use, as vague expressions such as ‘in a bit’, ‘for a while’, ‘later’ can be unhelpful for autistic children, who may feel anxious not knowing exactly what is expected of them and by when. Try to use more specific time expressions. Instead of ‘Put your game away, you can play it later’ we could say ‘Put your game away, you can play after dinner.’
9 Where possible instructions should be about ‘what to do’ rather than ‘what not to do’. Another potential challenge for autistic children and young people is the use of negatives in instructions, eg Don’t run down the corridor. This could easily be heard as Run down the corridor because run and corridor are the key words in the sentence. Asking the pupil to walk is much clearer—although recognise that they might need a safer and more appropriate place to run in that moment, or a sensory alternative, in order to regulate.
10 Use short, direct question forms (Can you/Will you/Do you/What is/Where is etc.) We often use indirect language when asking questions. For example, ‘You haven’t seen my pen, have you?’ This can be confusing for some autistic children and young people as it is harder to filter and process what is being asked and to formulate an expected response. Where possible, and appropriate, try and use a simple direct form for questions eg ‘Where is my pen?’ Please note however, that direct instructions may not always be the best approach for some autistic children and young people, particularly when their anxiety levels are already high. This can affect their ability to tolerate real and perceived expectations and they may not be able to cope with what they see as direct demands. Instead, at these times, always give the child space and time to self-regulate, and soften or make indirect requests, using visuals and offering choices so that they feel they have some control and autonomy.
As the above shows, the most important thing to remember is that every child and young person is different, including in how they best communicate and process information. Validate, accept and celebrate the different ways autistic people communicate, and recognise that what an individual needs from us will vary with context. Everybody’s use of language is instinctive, but with these tips and by making some small adjustments, we can all become clearer, fairer and more effective communicators with autistic children and young people.
Author: Joe Butler
Joe Butler
Joe Butler is an education/autism consultant, teacher and trainer for her company SEND Support.
Website: www.sendsupport.co.uk
Twitter: @SENDsupportuk
Facebook: SEND Support
