DD 5 has odd speech, pronunciation .... ASD?

[wordsandmusic]

My DS has Aspergers. DD (aged 5) has some similar traits but I think at the moment it's only me that's seeing them. She is socially awkward/anxious but copies other girls so masks it fairly well. She is obsessed with numbers and learned to read ridiculously early. She also has really odd speech - lots of vowel sounds as well as consonants that she still can't pronounce correctly. Plus often talks far too loud (apparently her hearing is fine), misses ends of words, sentences are garbled, etc. She can be quite hard to understand unless you're really tuned in. NHS SALT doesn't really seem to be helping.

I am just confused about what to do to help - if anything. Am I worrying needlessly because of DS... Or should I seek assessment? Are these just minor quirks that won't hinder her int he long run? What support would really help? Would private S&L help? What would be causing odd speech sounds? What about friendships/social stuff? Should I alert school to my concerns or will I just sound neurotic??

Any thoughts? Thanks for reading

[orangepudding]

I think as your DS has a diagnosis you should have your dd assessed. Don't worry about sounding neurotic.

My DS has verbal dyspraxia. He couldn't pronounce all sounds (after speech theraphy he is much better), his speech is inconsistent, can be hard to understand. He saw an nhs salt for 18 months without diagnosis, when she left a new one spotted his verbal dyspraxia and pushed to get more time allocated. With more help he is getting clearer.

I wish I got a private opinion as I feel a lot of time was wasted, if you can afford then I do think it would be worthwhile.

[wordsandmusic]

Thanks for your reply. I had thought of verbal dyspraxia. Are they doing anything different with him since diagnosing that - or just more of the same? I spoke to the NHS Salt yesterday and she wasn't very helpful so I have been looking at private options but so hard to know who to go to.

[orangepudding]

Once DS had his diagnosis his SaLT started using the Nuffield dyspraxia programme. It's very repetitive but DS doesn't generally seem to mind. He has an EHCP to ensure he gets the time he needs, Since January weekly (during term time) salt input and daily from the schools TA. There has been an improvement.

DS also has ASD but I think his verbal dyspraxia is a separate issue.