00100	    (WORKING MEMO FOR KIDS PROGRAM)
00200			THE PROBLEM OF "YES" IN CHILDHOOD AUTISM
00300			KENNETH MARK COLBY
00400	
00500	
00600		It has been frequently observed that  autistic  children  say
00700	"no" without difficulty but seldom if ever say "yes" until they reach
00800	perhaps seven or eight years of  age.  Why  is  this  the  case?  Can
00900	anything  remedial  be  done about it to help a child affirm by means
01000	other than echolalic repetition?
01100		In normal children "no" usually appears a few weeks or months
01200	before  "yes".  Although  the terms look like simple opposites, there
01300	exists a great difference in the frequency and function of the  terms
01400	in  a child's experience. He hears many "no"s because this represents
01500	the the main way parents stop a child from doing what he is doing  or
01600	about  to  do.  Such  prohibition  at  a  distance  by verbal command
01700	protects a child from something harmful or potentially harmful. "No "
01800	usually  means you should not touch or cannot have. (I am indebted to
01900	Margaret Dewey for this perceptive observation).  A  child's  ongoing
02000	activity  which  is not disapproved is not interrupted. When positive
02100	approval is expressed, terms other than"yes" are used, e.g."good"  or
02200	the  parent  simply  smiles  to encourage continuation. A child hears
02300	lots of "no-no" but no "yes-yes". Even as adults we  say,  "that's  a
02400	no-no"  but  we never say "that's a yes-yes." A child will hear "yes"
02500	if he listens to others attentively but  a  dissymbolic  child  tunes
02600	others out.
02700		The other main situation in which a normal child hears  "yes"
02800	is  when  he asks "yes-no" questions. Dissymbolic children seldom ask
02900	questions using language.When they wish permission to touch  or  have
03000	something  they  guide the other's hand to the object and if he picks
03100	it up, the child will then take it from him.
03200		The  terms "yes" and "no" are anaphoric and elliptical.  Thus
03300	if I ask you, "do you want a cookie?" and you answer "yes" you  mean,
03400	"yes,  I  want a cookie." The affirmation refers back to the question
03500	and asserts elliptically an assent. To signify "no" to this  question
03600	an  autistic  child may say "no" but to signify assent he will simply
03700	repeat the question because he does not understand  the  function  of
03800	"yes".
03900		The term "yes" has two common usuages.  The  simplest  is  in
04000	response to a request for permission.
04100		CHILD - "Can I have a cookie?"
04200		ADULT   -   "Yes".   
04300		A more complex meaning of "yes" involves the
04400	truth-status of a proposition embodied in a question. A child may ask
04500	"cat?"  meaning  "is this a cat?" and an adult will say "yes" lending
04600	his authority to the truth of of a correct set identification.  These
04700	two  meanings  of  permission  and  set  membership can easily become
04800	confused by autistic children who tend to stick to one word-sense  of
04900	a word or expression.
05000	
05100	
05200	
05300				REMEDIES
05400	
05500	Parents
05600		Parents should use "yes" as much a s possible with the child.
05700	beginning with the simplest usuage, that is, granting permission.  If
05800	the child says "cookie?" the parent should reply- "yes, you can  have
05900	a  cookie".  In  commonly  recurrent  situations in the child's life-
06000	eating, bathing, dresssing and undressing, travelling, going to  bed,
06100	etc.  the  parent  should  emphasize "YES" even though no question is
06200	asked. For example, "now we eat, want eat? -YES, I want eat",or "do I
06300	want  milk,  YES ,I want milk". Because the two meanings of "yes" are
06400	confusing to  a  dissymbolic  child,  the  second  meaning  involving
06500	correct  identifications  should  not  be stressed until the first is
06600	mastered.  If the child asks a yes-no question ,  then  always  reply
06700	with  a "yes". For example, if the child asks "go store?" then answer
06800	"YES, go store". If the term "yes" is not  adopted  by  a  child  try
06900	affirmation  equivalents  one  at a time such as "ok", "yup", "yeah",
07000	etc.
07100	
07200	Program
07300	
07400		We should have a game in which an animal is displayed  and  a
07500	question  asked such as "want cookie?" and a voice answers "YES, want
07600	cookie " and the figure gets a cookie. Several variations  of  giving
07700	permission to touch or have should be illustrated.
07800		Identificaation questions should first involved wanted things
07900	such  as cookies. Later use common objects such as a dog and ask, "is
08000	this a cat?" and answer "NO, this is a dog."
08100		Another  game could display ice-cream and the voice asks, "do
08200	you like ice-cream?" and another voice says "Yes, I like  ice-cream."
08300	It  is  worth  noting  that  these  games  also  exercise the "I-you"
08400	pronominal functions.
08500		Perhaps  we should separate the senses and use, say, "ok" for
08600	the sense of asking permission and "yes" for  truth-status.  Although
08700	this may strengthen a belief that a word has only one sense, it helps
08800	communication between child and parents.