An Introduction to Speech Disorders and Training Methods for Children with Autism Abstract: Language is a unique form of advanced neural activity that is a tool for human communication and thinking. In modern society, human communication activities are increasingly frequent, and the importance of verbal communication skills has increased significantly. Verbal interaction is an important form of human adaptation to society, and verbal ability is an important determinant of interaction. Children with autism are also part of the human race, and training for their presence of language communication disorders is imperative. However, children with autism, due to their deficient brain function, have a significant speech and language impairment. The degree of speech impairment in children with autism can range from little vocabulary and repetitive sentence patterns to complete inability to speak or understand words. In this paper, we analyze and outline such phenomena and briefly introduce a few practices of the author in language rehabilitation training. Keywords: autistic children, speech disorders, training I. Introduction Autism, also known as autism, is a syndrome of severe long-term developmental disorders caused by brain dysfunction, usually detectable before the age of three. Able-bodied children usually begin to speak around the age of one, and by the time they enter school they have largely mastered expressive language skills and are able to use verbal language relatively fluently to express their thoughts and emotions. Children with autism, on the other hand, develop language at a much lower level than able-bodied children, both in terms of auditory discrimination and the development of expression and comprehension of words and sentences. The more severe the degree of autism, the lower the level of language development. Some do not speak simple, poor and ungrammatical sentences until they start school, and some cannot even articulate their names. Training is the only corrective pathway that has proven to be effective. Decades of research and practice at home and abroad have proven that children with autism are highly malleable, and that good training can enable them to gradually acquire the ability to adapt to society, to take care of themselves, to interact with others, and even to become self-sufficient after receiving training to do a certain job. If left unchecked, children with autism often develop increasingly severe emotional, psychological, and behavioral disorders, making them increasingly intolerable to society and even to their families. As a result of being rejected by others, children with autism will experience more and more frustration, which will further push them into a more autistic state. Language is an important tool for human communication, and the importance of verbal communication skills in human interactions has increased significantly, so language rehabilitation training for children with autism is necessary. In order to better equip children with autism with social adaptability, self-care ability, and the ability to interact with others, our school also conducts a series of training specifically for them. There are 30 students with autism in the school, with a high number of boys. Only about 10 of these students, thanks to early training and coaching by their parents, are able to write and count. The rest of the students with autism are simply unwilling to communicate with the outside world, do not respond to anything they say, and have problems even taking care of themselves. Often they talk to themselves, parrot the words of others, and repeat them. For this reason, the school started an early individualized training program to train children with autism in all areas of their lives. The children who have gone through the training have made very significant progress, with most of the students being able to hold simple conversations with others; their ability to adapt to life has improved significantly. Three students with autism participated in the national “Amway Cup” painting competition and won the first and second prizes respectively. Some parents may even feel that their children can say everything, but they do not say what they should say, and they say what they should not say. They don’t talk when they should, but always talk when they shouldn’t. Children with autism have speech disorders that are manifested in the following ways. (1) Speech has obvious abnormalities, in terms of volume, speed, rhythm and pitch, slurred words, speaking too fast, too high or too low pitch, and often omitting words when speaking in sentences. For example, when saying “I want to go downstairs to play.” This sentence, they will often say “downstairs, play.” They also speak very quickly and are often inaudible. When speaking, the vocal cords do not vibrate, but only speak with air. (2) Abnormal speech forms, the most characteristic is parroting language, repeating what others have said, repeating others’ questions, and answering questions in a stereotypical manner. For example, when asking questions in class, ask them, “What does 3 plus 3 equal?” They will also repeat your question, “How many times does 3 plus 3 equal?” (3) Mixing personal pronouns. The most obvious one is the confusion between the concepts of “I” and “you”. For example, when doing language training, the teacher asks, “What is your name?” The child with autism will answer, “Your name is XX.” (4) Confusion in the use of words and confusion about the topic of the conversation. The most characteristic feature is the utterance of words that are not relevant to the situation. For example, a child with autism will suddenly talk about train schedules when everyone else is talking about sports. (5) Despite being able to say a lot of things, the ability to interact with others or carry on a conversation is clearly impaired. For example, they talk to themselves about a topic for a long time or stubbornly ask others to talk to them about a topic without paying attention to others’ reactions or opinions. For example, during class, a child with autism will suddenly sing a song and must ask the teacher to sing it with him/her, and if the teacher does not sing it, then he/she will cry and make a fuss. (B) Main causes of speech disorders The main reasons for this disorder are due to brain damage or brain underdevelopment, lack of language representation, unusual life experiences and lack of internal devices for learning language in autistic children, resulting in the presence of social impairment, lack of visual contact, stereotyped speech and movement and strong resistance to change, and lack of necessary language interaction skills. Speech impairments in children with autism may occur at various linguistic levels, but the common feature is the inability to use language comfortably for interpersonal interactions and communication. This shows that language remediation training for children with autism is very necessary and important. (3) The principles and strategies of language training for autistic children 1, the basic principles of language training for autistic children (1) The principle of gradual progress Language training for autistic children should not be rushed, but should be done slowly, step by step, to master. For example, when teaching the word “flower”, first teach the recognition of “flower”, then transition to “flower”, and finally evolve to “beautiful flower The word “flower” can be used to describe a flower. In this way, from words to words, and then from words to phrases, step by step, the accumulation of less becomes more. The effect of speaking to children with autism is not immediate, and must be given time to blossom, so you must be patient. (2) The principle of gradual development Parents who ask their children to say the same words five or ten times in order to make them learn to speak sometimes make their children with autism refuse to speak. Just say the same thing more than the average child for about one or two times, and don’t repeat the same thing more than twice in the same place. But when you encounter the same thing or the same situation happens, repeat the reminder again. There is no need for deliberate teaching, as long as the child is constantly and naturally spoken to in an appropriate setting so that he or she understands the meaning of language, he or she can be expected to speak gradually. (3) The principle of analogization In fact, most of the language of autistic children is imitating the speech of others and rarely has its own language. Therefore, we should take advantage of this feature and make good use of it, and learn to speak other sentences based on one sentence pattern. For example, “I miss my mom”. You can use the sentence pattern “I miss–” and fill in some common words in life such as “drawing, eating, aunt, going to class, going downstairs” and so on. (4) Motivation and Promotion Principle Students with autism seem to have a strong point, some like to play piano, some like to listen to music, some like to play computer games, some like to eat plums, and some like to draw. We need to get a handle on what their strengths are and use it as a powerful reinforcer to help students with autism train their language. Stimulate the verbal skills of students with autism through exogenous rewards and encourage them to express their desires. Children with autism also need the care and encouragement of their parents and teachers. When they make progress they should be praised and encouraged in a timely manner to increase their confidence. If they perform well, they can hug them and give them some rewards so that they can perform better. 2, the basic strategy of training (1) action training method. That is, choose appropriate movement items, make the child move, and infiltrate language training while talking in the activity. Because autistic children do not understand semantics very well, it is difficult to link language and semantics, so getting the child moving and forming a bridge between sound and meaning is a good start to developing language. (2) Life training method. This means that language is integrated into all aspects of life. There are many aspects of life in a day, from waking up to going to bed, which are all good opportunities for language training. Especially the training of daily language, but also by training in life to learn to master. You should take your child to say whatever he or she does in life, so that life is training and training is life. Purposefully let the child say the people and things around him or her, first simple and then complex, so that the child’s language develops in a gradual manner. (3) Create a language environment. The environment has a subtle influence on the child. This can be done by watching TV, listening to music, telling simple stories, etc. Let your child feel the language and help them relate people and things in their lives to the language to enhance their understanding of it. Never let your child off the hook because they don’t want to talk, but try to inspire them to talk more and fully motivate them. (4) The game approach. Games are good companions for children, and they are no exception for autistic children, except that they are a little more simple. A certain amount of verbal training can be incorporated into the game. For example, when playing with animals, imitate the animal’s call, and when playing with driving a car, imitate the car’s sound and the conductor’s speech. Because the game is interesting, the child is also interested in learning, but the same game should not be too long. (5) Memory imitation method. This method is often used to train simple cognition and some normative language. For example, ask “What is your name? One person will say “**” and repeat it many times, then the child will remember the sentence to answer the question and be able to answer by himself without others. The syllable training starts with a single syllable of one word. (6) Activity training method. Taking the child to public places such as parks and fields to perceive things in large numbers will provide them with more opportunities to imitate, enrich the vocabulary and life experience of the affected child, and will also enhance the child’s understanding of language. Just because these children have poor initiative, teachers and parents have to work very hard and constantly to guide them to perceive things around them and teach them to express the things they see and observe. This will definitely promote language comprehension and expression skills. In addition, the following points should be noted in order to carry out training for autistic children: First, establish a sense of trust with the autistic child. In order to carry out language training for autistic children, trust is a prerequisite, and the autistic child must be able to accept the trainer inwardly and trust the trainer, and only then will he/she follow instructions and accept the training smoothly in the future. Second, design a variety of activities. Most autistic children are easily nervous, especially when they are alone with others, they will be very nervous and some of them will hurt themselves. Therefore, it is necessary to design activities that are suitable for them, so that they can receive purposeful language interaction training from teachers in a pleasant and relaxed state of mind, and at the same time, promote the development of a healthy mindset in autistic children. Again, the focus is on the role of the group. Children with autism all lack the ability to interact with others, and if left to their own devices, then their condition will get worse. The power of the group is infinite, so in general, deliberately look for cheerful and lively partners to drive children with autism to play together and integrate into the group. Finally, try to create a specific context. A relaxed and pleasant environment is conducive to better training of children with autism. Most children with autism tend to be nervous, and when they are nervous, they cannot train well. It has been proven that creating specific situations for children with autism is a very effective way to stimulate their expression. Our school’s training methods and results In the interest of student development, our school has developed a one-on-one individualized training approach for children with autism. Individualized instruction is a one-on-one training model for students with special needs, usually in 15-minute training periods. During the training, teachers use stories and games to train children with autism’s verbal skills and encourage children with autism to talk and do more. It is very difficult for children with autism to participate in group activities, so this single training approach is very effective for them. In the training, we also summarized a set of language rehabilitation training drills for training children with autism based on various materials. Part I: Constructive Organ Movement Exercises (1) Mouth activities: 4 sessions in total. Make the students’ mouth muscles and joints coordinate together to complete the movement. A. Pouting mouth B. Grinning mouth C. Puffing up cheeks D. Opening mouth wide (2) Tongue movement: 6 sections in total. Fully mobilize students’ tongue muscles to make the tongue more flexible and able to find the correct position during pronunciation. A. Stretch out the tongue B. Lick the upper lip C. Lick the lower corner D. Lick the upper jaw E. Lick the teeth F. Top two cheeks (3) Lower jaw movement: 4 sections in total. Improve students’ control of the jaw during pronunciation. A. Open mouth and close mouth B. Move left and right C. Move back and forth D. Snap teeth up and down Part 2: Pronunciation children’s songs, according to the position of the tongue when pronouncing into a children’s song, the children’s song involves the tongue tip sound, tongue surface sound, tongue root sound and curl tongue sound, and with the action, let students say the children’s song while doing the action to assist pronunciation, improve students’ interest. You can also stimulate the acupuncture points by pressing, kneading, rubbing, flicking and pinching, thus improving the motor function of the various parts of the muscles involved in pronunciation. Through these methods, students’ articulation organs are exercised, making their pronunciation more clear and complete. For the above training methods, I selected four students with autism to conduct language rehabilitation training with different strategies, and their training is shown in the following table: Subjects: Zhong X, Tong X, Chen X, Gu X Description of the basic situation in the previous period: Zhong X, moderate autism, no autonomous language, clear pronunciation, fast speech speed Tong X, severe autism, no autonomous language, fast speech speed, only following can say words Chen X, severe autism, no Gu X, severe autism, no speech, can only make “ah, ah” sounds Training content: correct use of personal pronouns correct speech speed correct pronunciation of words pronunciation practice Training measures: use contextual dialogue, create situations, make up stories to help students understand correct pronouns. Use word cards and slow down the speed of speech with the teacher. The teacher first demonstrates the correct pronunciation and lets the students observe the mouth shape. In the game, use a small mirror so that the students can observe their own mouth shape and correct the pronunciation. Find a small partner for him, take the initiative to play and communicate with the student, and encourage him to speak and pronounce more. Overview of the situation after the training: Under the guidance of the teacher’s gestures, he was able to complete the exercises better Pronunciation was clearer and the speed of speech was slowed down a lot Pronunciation of words was well corrected, but the distinction between ‘C’ and ‘ch’ was not very standard yet. They are able to follow the instructions of their partners and have made some progress, and are willing to open their mouths to pronounce words. Analysis: Due to the creation of a situation that meets the cognitive level of autistic children, together with a vivid story, the students’ training had remarkable results. Through the game activities, trust between teachers and students was established and cooperation was accomplished in the training. Good activities stimulated students’ interest in learning, and mini-games corrected students’ pronunciation while relaxing them physically and mentally. Influenced by their classmates, they received constant stimulation and began to try pronunciation. Through comparison, it was found that after the training of language rehabilitation, the children with autism had developed their speech and language skills and were happy to participate in various activities. This shows that the effect of training is still obvious. During the training, I also found that although autistic children have poor expression ability, they also have times when they want to talk and express themselves, and this is the time when adults should have patience to listen to them. When they ask the same questions over and over again, adults should also answer carefully. And teachers should adjust the slope of students’ learning to reduce the difficulty of learning according to the situation of students’ learning in time. The teacher should try to summarize new knowledge into easy-to-remember content and consolidate it in time, and give full play to the learning initiative in games and practical exercises. The language rehabilitation training for children with autism is a difficult task that requires a persistent attitude. Children with autism are a group of patients with a special condition, and the problems they exhibit will vary with age and at different stages. It needs to be integrated into the richness of life. It needs to be integrated in various activities and in a loving community, from which the trainer seizes the opportunity to train in time. In education and teaching, teachers must also take appropriate training methods according to the physical and mental characteristics of each autistic student to help them eliminate withdrawal behaviors, help them step out of their closed space, step into a new environment, and accept a new life. Second, teachers must be patient. When autistic children ask the same questions repeatedly, teachers must also answer them carefully, and when teaching, the content of the teaching is often forgotten. At this point, the teacher must not be too hasty, but teach patiently and use the usual time to consolidate the training frequently to achieve the purpose of strengthening memory. Finally, to carry out language training, the teacher plays the leading role, while the parents play the main role. Teachers and parents should first pay attention to establishing family and friendship. In other words, after establishing a good interactive relationship, our training can be effective. Teachers can invite parents to observe the training, and give parents a demonstration, so that parents can also be trained continuously in the absence of the teacher. The two-pronged approach of home and school and perseverance will yield twice the result with half the effort. Most of the language expression disorders of autistic children are linked to their backward intellectual development, so the training of language expression ability should also be combined with intellectual development and thinking training. At the same time, we should also know that most of the children with autism who are enrolled in school have already exceeded the critical period of language development, and it is more difficult to develop better language expression ability, but we should have confidence and not be impatient, so as not to “speed is not enough”, we should keep exploring and be brave to innovate and practice, so that their language expression ability can be better restored and developed.