Much like eye contact, pointing at things in the environment, or rather the lack of pointing, is one of the early red flags for diagnosis for autism. So what is this link between pointing and autism?
Pointing matters. It shows that the child is noticing the world around them and that they want to share that with someone else. It is the first indicator that socially mediated reinforcement is important to the child. But it’s not just that. Pointing, and gesturing in general, is a huge building block for language. It is also one of the earliest purposeful actions a child can engage in to have an impact on their environment.
For children, pointing is one of the first ways they experience control. If I point at this item, someone will get up and give it to me. When I point at that item, someone gets excited and starts talking to me and clapping. This is how children learn that the things they do can change their environment.
As we mentioned, pointing is not something that comes naturally for children diagnosed with autism or developmental delays. Early intervention helps.
The core deficit of autism to avoid social interaction makes pointing much less valuable to them. Children with autism often must be taught to point and to respond to pointing.
Teaching pointing
When pointing doesn’t happen naturally, it has to be learned, sometimes step by step. There are all kinds of opportunities to shape pointing when playing.
Wait until your child is interested in playing with a favorite toy. As they are playing, place the toy slightly out of reach, gently bend the child’s hand into ‘point’ and direct it towards the toy while simultaneously labeling the toy.
“Truck,” you say, as you guide your child’s hand to point at the favorite truck.
As soon as they point, give them the truck with as much excitement and extra zooming noises you can muster. Your child will quickly connect the dots: pointing at the truck is rewarded with playing with the truck.
This is also a great skill to practice with toys that have an on/off switch. Kids love to activate the sounds and lights. Play with the toy for a few minutes and make sure your child is interested, then switch the toy off. Help your child to form a point with their finger, and then reinforce their hard work by switching on the toy.
Over time, the child will learn to point independently and you can respond by turning on the toy. With this process, pointing becomes a very valuable behavior and will hopefully increase in other areas naturally.
Kids who have begun to independently point at some items should be encouraged to point by offering them choices. Maybe it’s a red cup or a blue cup or crackers or cookies. Hold up both options and ask your child, “Which one?”, prompting them to point to the choice that they prefer.
If your child gestures towards the one that they prefer, help them to form a pointer finger and then give them item with some encouraging words. “You want the red one! Good job pointing!”
Once children understand that pointing can be powerful, we can encourage this skill by creating opportunities where children will be motivated to point.
The easiest way to do this is to keep some of the favorite toys or items out of reach so that the child will need to point to gain access to the item. When they are motivated and the action gets them what they want, we help them to learn that their actions are valuable to them because they help to get them what they want.
Building upon pointing: responding
Teaching a child to respond to pointing is also a valuable joint attention skill, and there are many opportunities throughout a natural day to practice responding to pointing.
Try to consider your child’s motivation first and foremost. What are they interested in and are likely to attend to easily? If you are giving a bite of a very favorite food, use that opportunity to practice pointing. As your child is looking eagerly at the food, point and label the food, and then give the yummy bite with lots of excitement.
In doing this over and over, you teach your child that your extended finger indicates something worth paying attention to and something that they are likely to enjoy. In the future, they are likely to look at the things that you point to if you practice in this way.
When you are linking your pointing finger with items, choose items that are 1) interesting to the child and 2) close in proximity to the child. Start by pointing at items that are within two feet of your child, labeling them, and making it fun for your child to pay attention to that item.
You can also begin to introduce the term “look” into your child’s repertoire, so that they will begin to understand that when someone says “look” they should follow the pointing finger to the item of interest.
Start by putting your finger next to your child’s eye and helping them to follow the finger to something interesting. Then, you can bring the item back to your child, point and label the item and then have some fun playing with the item together. You may need to bring an item very close to your child’s face to gain their attention, then move it away, point, and say “look”.
Always remember to consider motivation when learning a new skill. Use the point and look lessons when you are playing with something that a child really enjoys.
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