You's In First? June 2008
by Sue Sokoff
In learning his conversational skills, Kyle is introducing me to the world of pronoun reversal. It only took one conversation like the following for me to realize that Kyle uses "you" to refer to himself and "I" to refer to his listener. Does this sound familiar?
Mom: What did you eat for lunch today at school, Kyle?
Kyle: You ate Frito chili pie.
Mom: I ate a salad for lunch, what did you eat?
Kyle: You ate Frito chili pie.
Mom: I ate a salad for lunch and you ate......?
Kyle: Frito chili pie.
Mom: You?
Kyle: Yes.
Mom: Who ate the Frito chili pie?
Kyle: You ate the Frito chili pie.
Mom: Who me?
Kyle: YOU!
Mom: Who ate a salad for lunch then?
Kyle: I ate a salad.
Mom: (Model) I ate Frito chili pie today for lunch. (Attempts to correct pronoun reversal)
Kyle: (Echo) I ate Frito chili pie today for lunch?
Mom: (Model) I ate Frito chili pie today for lunch.
Kyle: (Echo) I ate Frito chili pie today for lunch.
Mom: Kyle, who ate the Frito chili pie for lunch?
Kyle: You did.
Mom: Okay, let's try this again.......
It is common for children to confuse first person and second person pronouns in speech. It is especially challenging for children with autism to master pronomialization. For me, when teaching Kyle this concept, Abbott & Costello's "Who's on First?"comes to mind. I take great delight in our (now condensed) private rehearsals of "You's in First?"
Mom: What did you eat for lunch today at school, Kyle?
Kyle: You ate Steak fingers.
Mom: (Model) I ate Steak fingers.
Kyle: (Echo) I ate Steak fingers.
And until Kyle grasps that "you" and "I" can be anyone, depending on who is talking, anyone listening in might think we are working on our own comedy routine. Where else can you be a mom, comedian, and a model all in one conversation?!