N is for No

It seems that one of the first words after mama and dada that a child learns is “no”. Followed closely by the first question…”why?”

Autism can affect speech, language development, and social communication in many ways. If you are interested in a brief explanation, I found this article, “In autism, speech and communication are not the same thing” to be helpful.

Speech/communication was and still is extremely difficult in Riley World. When he was little, not being able to find the words would often lead to ummmm…challenging behaviours. Screeching, yelling, and meltdowns.

Yes, this was at HIS birthday party before he was supposed to open HIS presents. 

When Riley was first learning to talk, we were big on him using “Yes please" and "No thank you”. Especially when he was protesting. We had hoped it might take the sting out of being screamed at just a little bit.

Riley would learn “chunks” of language/phrases from videos he watched or his environment. So, his repeating “Yes please” or “No thank you” was just a group of words he learned as one chunk.

As he’s gotten older, his verbal communication has improved. We have noticed some significant changes over the past couple of years since his group started having speech therapy sessions focussing on social interactions.

As adults, we tend to elaborate/are more subtle with our answers to questions as opposed to a straight “Yes please” or “No thank you” in order to have a social interaction.

In Riley World, less is more. He realizes “No thank you” is actually three words and has dropped the last two words from that “chunk” almost completely these days.

For example, answers to the question “Want to go for a walk?” might look like this: 

Me:  Hmmmm...it is beautiful out but I think I will take a pass thanks.
R:  No.

OR

Me:  The pollen count is extremely high so I’d better stay indoors.
R:  NO!!!

OR

Me:  I’ve got a hang nail but maybe next time.
R:  Nonononononono...NOOOO!!!

Personally, I think I liked it better when he thought/spoke in “chunks”.