Sign language: an advantage when working with autistics?

Post Reply New Topic

I am taking a co-op program, where I will be working at an autism centre with all sorts of people who are on the spectrum.
Now, my question is: Is it possible that at the interview, I will be asked whether or not I know ASL? Should I consider taking a course in sign language before attending the interview?
Thank you in advance.

im quite sure they will some autistics are non-verbal then again im not sure will they want anyone being able to do it

I've never heard of that. I think the usual hope is that nonverbal people will be taught to speak. But I googled it and got some stuff: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=au ... a=N&tab=iw so maybe learning it will give you an edge.

ASL made it easier for my non-verbal daughter to deal with the anxiety of communication. She learned ASL first and then would make signs and stim on those signs to calm down while she practiced saying the words. When she first learned ASL, it finally dawned on her that her life would be easier if she tried to communicate.

It's not hard to learn the ASL she needed because she will never need complex ASL language. She also feels more in control knowing ASL. Such as the sign for Stop. She says "stop" while using the sign for emphasis or comfort. It empowers her.

Am recommend learning makaton over ASL,it's more widely used amongst Autists-it's a more easily accessible form of sign [based on actions,not words as with ASL/BSL],even if are not asked about knowing a form of sign it would be a help-will come across it at the centre.

The only problem with this,is the learning is aimed at support staff,carers,teachers etc and the actual learning stuff isn't as readily available in the mainstream like ASL/BSL is.
am was taught it by a few different people over the past few years but mostly by ST and support staff,if were interested in makaton-maybe the staff at that centre could teach self [being very likely they will all be trained in alt communication]?,am have an old WIP intro to makaton video on YT showing a few of the basics if want to have a look,there's a lot of visual teaching out there on ASL/BSL but not of makaton [unless its to sell a dvd].

i use a lot of sign to communicate, i think its a great idea for you at least to take a crash course to learn basic signs, a lot of nonverbal and verbal autsitics use sign language. heres a couple sites you can learn some basics on... http://www.aslpro.com/cgi-bin/aslpro/aslpro.cgi and www.lifeprint.com can be a start. Or jus go to a local barnes and noble or borders and see if you can pick up basic asl book. ITs always good to be prepared either way. Hopefully helped ya some. I love sign language helps soo much in my life, i use texting, sign, and my pecs to communicate especially if im anywhere outside of my house/

can i ask if sing language is same u use when u speak to deaf ones? if so then i can talk it even i rarely use it if i talk to someone whos deaf ill use text message its far more faster for me

Hmm, text messages cost money, you know. And, probably not that many people with nonverbal autism have cell phones. Although writing notes is a good way to communicate with non-verbals, sign language is far more practical. After all, it's not like you're always going to walk around with a pencil and a pen...

KingdomOfRats, I've never heard about makaton. If you're saying that it's more widely used, then I'll do some more research on it. Thanks for telling me about it.

And thanks for all of your replies so far.

There is a difference between ASL and merely using some signs to communicate a limited number of concepts. ASL is a fully realized language with its own grammatical rules, just as complex as any other foreign language, such as French or Japanese, and for some more it is more difficult to learn since the grammatical structure is so different from your native language. Signing single words or small combinations of words with nonspeaking kids is not "ASL".

Sorry for the lecture- it just bugs me that people frequently don't realize that ASL is not just a collection of signs, but rather a language every bit as complex as English, and it would take at least 3-4 years of dedicated, intense study before you would "know ASL"- not just a single course. Imagine taking a single course in Spanish and then telling an employer that you "know Spanish."

Taking a class in ASL is no different than taking a class in another foreign language, so if your purpose is not to learn ASL as a language, I would not recommend an ASL class. If you just want to learn some signs to use with autistic kids, I would probably check an online ASL video dictionary to look up the necessary words (you can probably guess which ones will be most useful), or ask at a local school for kids with autism if they have classes for parents or something similar. Taking an actual ASL class would be overkill I think, and most of what you would learn would not be applicable to your work with autistic kids.

not really i think u got me a bit wrong u can write text message but u dont need to send it ,just show it off the phone and let em reply thats what people do in my school at least and we have lot of deaf ppl^^