How to teach child to point

Post Reply New Topic

I second (or third, can't remember) the vote for technology. Anything with a touch pad could help. For my boys, there was ASD, but also a fine motor issue where they didn't have the physical coordination to point. iPads helped tremendously - they started navigating with their middle fingers, and that's the finger they started pointing with too (embarrassing, but hey, they were pointing!). Eventually, they transitioned to a traditional index finger point.

Modeling will be key as well, as others have pointed out. I was a bit gentler in my approach, though. I didn't make them point off the bat. Instead, a hand gesture was fine, and I didn't make them do it independently. If they were very upset, I would grab their hand and quickly point their whole arm in the direction of what they wanted (didn't care what their fingers were actually doing), then I would get it for them. With my boys, I tried to keep the frustration to a minimum, while still modeling the behavior. The good news is that your son is very young, and you've still got loads of time! Good luck!

I think it is unnecessary for a 2.5 year old to point.
I never pointed when I was that age, and I turned out ok.
If the child is not communicating, teaching some language like reading is much more important than pointing at that age.
It is not necessary to follow the NT developmental program for autistic children.
They will be better off without pushing them onto the wrong trajectory for them.

That sounds frustrating... and loud.

He's almost pointing in his own way, by pointing you at the thing he wants.

You could try interjecting the gesture you want into the very end of his "point" by consciously taking a step back and pointing at the thing he's dragged you to before retrieving it for him.
But if he's not responsive to communication at that point, the delay may just make him worse.

You could also try modeling the behavior for him when he's not a part of the social interaction. I imagine there may be things that you do that he watches? If you can do those cooperatively, with another person, and you both utilize pointing before giving each other objects, he may pick up on the structure of the interaction easier than when he's involved.

My son would bring things to me or move my hand to the thing when he was little. I really did not make a big deal out of it. He was verbal, but it was easier for himto do this, and I would simply repeat what he was saying non-verbally in a converted verbal form when I gave him what he wanted or opened it, or whatever.

At that point, trust was a more important issue for me, as opposed to making him communicate in more NT/expected ways. We were having a lot of meltdowns due to miscommunications so I felt like when we did click in communication, I should positively reinforce it by giving him the thing promptly, so he could see it was worth making communications in whatever form.

YMMMV

Pointing isn't that important. Communication is important, not which particular gesture you use.

And the best way to teach communication skills is to treat his behaviour as communication. Try to guess at what it means and then say what you think he's saying and respond to it. (Eg he rubs his eyes, you say 'oh, too much? let's go somewhere quiet and you can rest'.) If you respond consistently like he's saying something when he does a certain action, soon he will use that action to communicate with you.