In addition to social and communication impairment and restricted, repetitive behaviors, children and adults with autism may experience other symptoms that contribute to disability. These concomitant symptoms can include motor and motor planning deficits, sensory deficits such as impaired hearing and vision, sensory processing and modulating disorders, and specific learning disabilities. These impairments can limit an individual’s ability to function and participate in home, leisure, school, and work activities. In early intervention, preschool and school programs, children with ASDs are often referred to speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, and other related service providers to remediate core and co-occurring symptoms. The present chapter will review some characteristics of core communication deficits and frequently accompanying motor and sensory deficits in autism. It will also describe interventions that are conducted by speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists in contexts of comprehensive and focused treatment programs, and address the use of assistive technology.

ASD characteristics affecting communication skills

Impairments in communication are a core deficit in individuals with autism spectrum disorders. These impairments affect a person’s ability to communicate in a variety of contexts and limit adaptive functioning. Speech and language impairments in ASDs may manifest in how an individual is able to form words and to understand and produce meaningful language. Many individuals with autism never develop the ability to speak, and a large number of those who do acquire speech do not use it in a meaningful way. Some studies have suggested that one-third (Bryson, 1996) to one-half (Lord and Paul, 1997) of children diagnosed with autism may fail to develop functional speech (Bosserler and Massaro, 2003). Even for those who do use language meaningfully, social skills and conversational skills can be areas of great difficulty, and communication milestones are often delayed.