How to Teach Children to Respond to Their Names (Works for Autism)

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Why children ignore you
Many parents report that their child used to respond to their name and somehow they have unlearned to do so. We have to think about why you’re calling for your child’s name. Sometimes, parents are calling for their child’s attention for self-serving reasons (don’t worry, we all do this). Once we get their attention, we look at how cute they are and that’s it. Slowly, delayed children who derive no social reward from this interaction will learn that there isn’t really anything in for them and not react to you. I can bet that most children do react to their names when you’re holding their lunch (especially when they’re hungry).

Other than that, parents are actively teaching children that ignoring is actually acceptable. When you call him once, he ignores and if you keep on repeating his name… What you’re actually teaching is that you can be ignored. So try not to repeat.

Praising and rewarding attention
How then? You might ask. Well, we need to praise and reward whenever he actually does respond to you or look at you. Whenever you’re holding something that is of interest to him, that’s the perfect time to call his name.

Set up activities that are fun and call his name to show him different things. Praise him for it, say “good answering me” and tickle him. If he ignores you, you can provide some feedback and say “you didn’t answer me” and you don’t have to repeat yourself. The more times she gets a good experience from responding to her name, the more likely it’ll happen. Don’t push it.

Avoid artificial attention
Some parents will go as far as to clap their hands, raise their voices, speaking in a higher tone or make silly sounds. That’s teaching your child to look paired with those cues. You cannot do this all day, and it’s certainly not something that can be easier faded away. Stick to your normal way of calling then praise and reward whenever do get his attention. Remember, always think about what’s in for your child in the beginning. Once it’s a pleasant experience attending to you, it will happen naturally. For more help, join our micro-course for parents (link above).