How to Communicate With Your Autistic Friends

The annual World Autism Awareness Day is on April 2, 2016. ASD is the name used for a specific set of behavioral and developmental problems and the challenges that go with them. A person diagnosed with ASD will mean that the person’s communication, social, and play skills are being affected in some ways.

Here, we celebrate the big day of World Autism Awareness Day 2016 by sharing tips to you on how to communicate with our autistic friends. It’s not hard, we only need to understand them.

 

1. Presume competence.

 

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Assume that your friend can understand you, even if they don't look at you or react immediately. Autistic people can normally think, listen, and speak better when they don’t make an eye contact with you. Talk to them using the same level of language that you use to their siblings or your classmates. Respectful communication does matter.

 

 

1. Get their attention first.

 

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Most autistic people won’t start the conversation. Say their name so they know you're talking to them (and not to someone else). Wait for them to look at you or in your direction. Pay attention to everything they say. If they say it, then they mean it.

 

1. Speak clearly to your friend.