Do you hear a 'Friendly Tone'?
by The Speech Ladder © 2026
Price: $3 USD
Subjects: pragmatics,socialAspectsOfCommunication,voice
Grades: 4,5,6,7,8
Description
Decoding aspects like tone, prosody, or inflection of speech to understand deeper intent can be challenging for kids on the autism spectrum. It involves multiple layers of hidden meaning, context, and perspectives, etc. These are all areas where students on the autism spectrum may need explicit support. This deck is an attempt to provide our students with clear, simple, relatable scenarios where they may need to understand that the tone of speech is more important than the actual words. It can help heighten their awareness of tone of speech and the ability to identify it correctly. They're given two auditory examples on each task card with a simple scenario and asked to find the one with a 'friendly tone'. Be sure to scaffold their understanding by taking a deep dive into explaining the 'why' in case they pick the wrong one. Research shows that direct instruction improves figurative language comprehension (e.g., Leaf et al., 2012). Questions or comments: thespeechladder2019@gmail.com
Acknowledgements
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/krista-wallden-creative-clips-clipart-and-design https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/rainbow-sprinkle-studio-sasha-mitten https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/dazzling-clips