What is a social communication delay?
Children with social communication delays have difficulties with social interaction, social communication and have restricted or repetitive behaviours or impaired imagination. Social understanding and imagination help us to understand and predict other people’s behaviours, make sense of abstract ideas and imagine solutions outside of our daily routines.
- Difficulty understanding why they need to communicate.
- Difficulty understanding the thoughts, feelings and behaviours of others.
- Difficulty understanding spoken language, both the words and the meanings of words in different contexts.
- Difficulty understanding all the other ways that people communicate including facial expression, body language and gestures.
- Children may show a lack of interest or enjoyment in interacting with other people.
- Problems focusing on others and taking turns.
- Children may resist change and prefer routines.
- Limited or no pretend play.
- Difficulty sequencing and organizing, thoughts, events and time in the correct order.
How can I help my child to interact better?
- Encourage recognition of the child’s own emotions.
- Encourage recognition of another’s needs.
- Observe carefully what your child is interested in and use this as a starting point for joining in with him/her.
- Play alongside your child with a similar toy.
- Imitate what your child is doing.
- Play at your child’s level so you can be face to face with them and see what they are interested in.
- Exaggerate your facial expressions and play with the loudness and softness of your voice to help your child notice you and stay interested in you.
- Make sure to pause to give your child a chance to respond to you.
- Most importantly have fun.
How can I help my child to communicate better?
- Understand that each child has communication needs.
- Use less language.
- Use language that is clear, simple and about the here and now.
- Say what you mean and mean what you say.
- Get the child’s attention before speaking to them
- Give time for processing instructions or comments.
- Don’t use metaphors or sarcasm.
- Present information visually, show as well as tell them.
- Use directive language, e.g. ‘write on the paper’ instead of “don’t write on the wall”
How can I develop my child’s imagination and reduce restricted behaviours?
- Try to keep a daily routine on weekdays and on weekends.
- Try to inform your child of changes ahead of time using communication strategies that match their understanding.
- When playing with your child don’t be afraid to play differently with the toys than they are intended. If your child is very engaged in play and interaction with you, you can introduce new ways of playing with toys or new ideas for playing together.
What about preschool?
- Children with social communication delays learn best in highly structured environments.
- The preschool curriculum should include a full range of activities appropriate to your child’s developmental level.
- The preschool curriculum needs to focus on developing the child’s attention to a task, imitation, comprehension and use of language, ability to play with toys, social interaction and daily living skills.
- Children need to be taught how to use their skills in different ways in different situations.
Sensory Processing Difficulties
Children with social communication delays often have sensory processing difficulties. Processing sensory information gives us feedback about the environment and ourselves. It allows us to make sense of the world around us and how to respond to it.
We all know the five senses (touch, taste, sight, smell and hearing) however there are two other systems we need to be aware of: the proprioceptive system and the vestibular system. See the chart below.
Behaviour Management
Challenging behaviours often present as a result of anxiety or communication difficulties.
How can I help my child with challenging behaviour?
- Maintain consistency between situations, environments and people as much as possible.
- Find ways to have fun together and strengthen your relationship with your child.
- Recognize your own stress and find ways and times to relax.
- Praise small steps, participation and attempts to get things right.
- Have realistic expectations and make them clear to the child.
- Use visual cues to support spoken language.
Useful Resources
- Affect Autism
- The National Autistic Society
- Profectum
- Understood
TRIAD Families First Program
September 17, 2025