Most who are familiar at all with ASD understand that there is a difference in the wiring of the brain. Some areas may work exceptionally well while other areas are compromised. The QEEG (Quantitative Electroencephalogram) showed this to be true in my case.
When I am put on the spot my mind goes totally blank. Totally blank. Even when trying to have a conversation where I am not put on the spot, I can have a thought completely formed in my head and cannot get it from mind to mouth.
Last night I saw this happen to my grandson. He had a special part in front of an audience. He had rehearsed and knew his part very well. When it was his turn to speak, he froze. He was able to recover with a prompt and I was so proud of him.
Now imagine the effect it might have had if he was scolded for not speaking when it was his turn. How can a person, especially a young child, control something that is out of their control? I have never consciously thought about whether or not to speak in such a circumstance. It just happens and the thought is right there waiting and the connection is lost.
Children and indeed adults also, who have difficulty getting thoughts from brain to mouth need support and encouragement, never criticism. It does not matter if the person is able to give a whole verbal essay under different circumstances. If the person shuts down when he needs the words under any circumstance, he did nothing wrong deserving criticism.
When I was a child in school, I could ace a written test with no problem. If given the same test orally I would probably fail it because of this fault in my wiring. Was that a fault I should be criticized for? Was it something within my control? No!
Encourage, encourage, encourage!