Is this normal for ASD?

[spursmum]

I've spent the day with my best friend and her ds and she mentioned something that has been worrying me for a while.
I know it's a sign of ASD when your child "loses" their first words and resorts back to babbling but it is normal for them to keep forgetting words that they have learnt?
My ds(3.5) used to be able to count to 6, say juice, toast, car and a few other words and I have noticed that he doesn't say them anymore. He used to count if I prompted him but now he just looks at me like I have grown an extra head or something.
Is this normal or will he always be "forgetting" and should I resign myself to him never being able to speak?

[misdee]

i think you need jimjams or davros.

[jayzmummy]

spursmum...this is what happens with J.
As a toddler he had really good speach and then lost it over night when he was 2.7 months....by the time he was 3.6months he was completely non-verbal.
He's fast approaching 10 and over the past 18 months his speach has improved immensly.
He "forgets" his words and then either reverts back to miming for what he wants/needs or else he uses made up nonsense words....think the correct term is negloisms(sp?)
The SALT explained to us that the thought process is just to hard for J and that is why he shuts down and looks at us as if we are using a foreign language when we talk to him.

At age 2.6months J could tell us the alphabet without any problems at all...now he can only sing it in the style of barney and only if we give lots of prompts along the way.

Our SALT has devised a programme for us to try and build on the "pegs" in J's memory.Hopefully it will help him to store and retrieve info a little better.

Im sure the others will be able to give you some sound advice and point you in the right direction for help and support.
Apart from self referring to a SALT I cant think of anything else to share with you....just wanted you to know you are not alone.

[spursmum]

Thanx jayzmummy. It just brings me down a bit to see him do so well and then go backwards.

[jayzmummy]

I know its painful but try to focus on the good things he can do....Ive wasted far to many nights crying in my pillow
ive learnt to accept that each and every day is going to be different. Some days I look at J and wonder if Ive got it all wrong...he appears to be so HF and then the next day he can be like a babe in my arms and is locked away in a silent world that I cant gain acess to.

Today has been a shite day but tomorrow could be worse, could be better....who knows???

[Jimjams]

ds1 did this. I recently watched a video of him at 2 and was surprised at homw much he was saying (poor pronounciation but still speaking). At 6 he's pretty much non-verbal (although plenty of children I know who were non verbal at 3 speak well at 6). He undertands more than he did at 2 though. The only thing I can say is that his lack of speech doesn't really feature with me any more (when it used to be the thing I thought about all the time). It doesn't really get to me anymore.

I think 3 is early to resgin yourself to anything. Do you use PECS or other methods of communication.

[spursmum]

I am using PECS with him. He's picked it up really well and he's showing signs of copying sounds(ecochlia..sp?) can sing along at nursery and to thomas the bleedin' tank engine!!