Communication Tips
Simple tips for everyday communication.
These quick tips might help you communicate more clearly and effectively with autistic people, including family members, children, pupils at school, colleagues, and friends.
Getting and keeping their attention
- Start your sentences by using the person’s name, so they know that you are talking directly to them
- Before asking a question or giving an instruction, make sure the person is paying attention to you. Remember that this looks different for each person, for example someone doesn’t need to make eye contact to be paying attention.
- Using someone’s interests and passions, or an activity they are engaged in, can help too.
Processing information
Autistic people can find it harder than others to filter out information that is less important, and too much information can result in ‘overload’. This means that no further information can be taken in and processed, but there are ways to help avoid this:
- speak slowly and use fewer words
- use key words, and repeat them as needed
- pause in between key words or phrases, as this will give time for the person to process what has been said and respond in their own time
- keep questions to a minimum
- do not rely on non-verbal communication, such as eye contact, facial expressions, and body language
- in some circumstances, visual supports such as timetables, symbols, and Social Stories may be helpful
- consider the environment you are in, as sensory differences in autistic people may impact how much information they can process
Avoiding open-ended questions
- Keep your questions short and to the point
- Only ask necessary questions
- If possible, offer the person options to choose from
- Ask specific questions rather than open ones, e.g. ‘Did you enjoy the maths lesson today?’ rather than ‘How was your day?’
Ways of asking for help
When appropriate, give autistic people a visual card which they can use when they need to ask for help.
Being clear
Autistic people may take irony, sarcasm, idioms, rhetorical questions, figurative language, and exaggeration literally, which can cause confusion. Try to be specific with your language, and remember that you may need to explain any non-literal phrases you use.
Distressed behaviour
- Keeping a behaviour diary can help to work out if the behaviour is a way of communicating something to you
- Offer the autistic person other ways of expressing ‘no’ or ‘stop’
Reactions to ‘no’
- Try using an alternative word or symbol
- There may be some confusion as to why you said no. For example, if it is related to an activity which the autistic person can do later that day or week instead of right away, try showing them that on a timetable.
- If the ‘no’ is related to a safety issue, either for themselves or someone else, look at ways of explaining danger and safety to explain why you said ‘no’
- You may be saying ‘no’ because someone is behaving inappropriately. In this case, it may be helpful for you to change your reaction – i.e. try to give a calm response rather than shouting or giving the behaviour too much attention – as this may help to reduce the behaviour over time.
- Give clear boundaries, and provide clear explanations about what is and is not acceptable behaviours in certain situations, as well as why.
Related guidance
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