Teaching Child Communication Skills

My son is non-verbal.  Recently he has begun screaming.  This is not out of anger, but to hear his own voice.  It is quite loud and can be very distracting at home to his siblings and out  in public.  I don’t want to discourage his trying to communicate, so am not sure how to handle it.

I am a student working with a child with classic autism. This child is a seven year old male who is mostly nonverbal. His family and therapists are currently exploring whether PECS or ASL will be most functional for this child to develop language. However, the mother expressed that he does use echolalia occasionally, and often times with communicative attempt. For example, he repeats the phrase “only at Walmart” when he wants to go to Walmart. What are some strategies I can share with this family  for expanding or shaping these behaviors into purposeful communication?

How can I prevent a student from being non-compliant during groups or activities?

My student has a melt-down when there is a change from outdoor play/recess to indoor play. How can we make him understand the visual picture change to his schedule?

What do you do with a student who continually asks questions unrelated to the topic being discussed? When they are not allowed to ask off topic questions they become upset or angry.

I can’t get my student to request something without providing a verbal prompt or model. He is so dependent on me and waits until I ask him to talk.

How do I get a student to tell me what it is he wants?

I’m a Middle School FACS (Family and Consumer Sciences) teacher and I have a student with special needs in my class of 20 general education students.  She’s not disruptive, but she also doesn’t participate very much.  How can I help her get more out of my cooking classes?

There’s a student in my class who tends to focus only on the “bad” things that happened during the day. She then goes home and becomes upset as she relives the negatives with her mother. Is there anything I can do to help her see that there are many positives in the school day?

My daughter has delayed language skills and I am looking for a fun language activity that we can do at home in the evenings. She is at school all day so by the time she gets home, she is pretty exhausted and really doesn’t want to do more work!