GLP and autism

That's great news, I'm with you especially with family. My MIL constantly tells me he will grow out of it, even one point said I'm negatively labelling him! But autism is always and by minimising, pretending that these symptoms don't exist means he won't get the support he needs.

My child is globally delayed in cognition, social, communication, self help. He is developing in these areas at about half his age. Global delay was the easiest of his conditions to diagnose, basically behind significantly in two areas or more is global delay. The reason and whether he will catch up is much harder but because of his diagnosis we have been able to apply for an ECHP and had lots of support from other services such as portage.

My son also has suspected autism which is separate to his global delay ( he has it but on a waiting list for it to be confirmed- doctors have already said it's pretty much a done deal) they could be linked but not necessarily.

I think it's a case of changing your mindset towards family and friends- they are saying there's nothing wrong because they want to believe that your child is perfectly healthy rather than to be difficult (that's hard I know). As for diagnosis and support you are definitely heading in the right direction and remember developmental delays can change so much! Fingers crossed you get the help you need x

Sensory processing issues are not only related to autism.

I think that's not a bad move, if only to reassure you. By the time you get an appointment, she'll either have developed and grown out of the difficulties you see, or she'll have more areas of concern.

I was really triggered by this post and angry and I deleted it, but having time to reflect I think my anger was misplaced and dismissive. I was angry because you basically listed the features of a typical child and then tried to make links to conditions my child has. Now I initially thought, wow if my three year old could do what you listed I would be on cloud nine! So as a result I was quite dismissive of you in my first post.

But on reflection I think I was wrong and I'm sorry about that. You see I'm a parent of a globally delayed, autistic, gestalt communicator and that doesn't give me the right to make a judgement about any other child. But I can support. There is a great person called autisticdad on insta who sums up support and being part of a community that is caring because the decisions we make and our children are judged so much!

Unfortunately the system in my view is incredibly flawed and under funded, everything is a long wait, funding is a huge battle, then you get family and friends who I band 'everything will be ok' dismissing everything you have fought for as he will grow out of it, there's nothing wrong with him. Etc etc. which as well meaning as they try to be it's so dismissive of the worry, the battle for anything medical, the help you receive, the sleepless nights, the tears, the road of acceptance you need to go down.

You seem like a fantastic mum, you are observing your daughter's progress and you feel concerned about some aspects. Keep monitoring her and if you feel worried please do make a GP appointment. My health visitor put me in touch with a service called portage who have been wonderful, sign posted next steps and what I needed to do to get further help and guidance.

So I'm sorry I was dismissive, everything child is uniquely different, and therefore my experience of these conditions are not always the best way forward for everyone x keep doing what you are doing, you are doing a great job your child is lucky to have you x

Your daughter may be autistic. She may be a gestalt learner. She may not. Either way, she is who she is and you can’t change it. Just keep parenting the child you have. Even if the HV and GP agreed, what are you hoping for? Because I can promise you that there is no real support or miracle that will change anything. I think your instinct will always tell you if there is something going on and you are obviously reading about it so just keep going as you are.

My daughter only had 5 or 6 words at age 2. I didn't know this was an issue at the time. She was later diagnosed autistic. The speech levels etc you describe seem very normal.

Why are you worried about autism? My son is severely affected by autism but I didn't really think about it seriously until 2

Gosh, they were advanced if they were applying for Oxford at 21 months…

(sorry! They sound great and you must be proud)

Just a minor gripe also about some posters on this thread, Aspergers is not a 'disused' term at all, it is the working diagnosis of many people, including family members of mine.

And as others have pointed out, there is plenty of concern about all ND being put under one category now, from professionals and clients alike

Sorry to digress OP

my children didn’t speak at all at that age, both applied / applying to Oxford University. They were close to 3 before they spoke in sentences. In my opinion your daughter sounds quite advanced / normal for her age. Don’t spoil the younger years worrying over nothing.

Gestalt is a very new term for a type of language development and nothing to do with Asperger's. Gestalt language learners tend to focus on sound and chunk language as opposed to developing language by building up a word bank.

My three year old son is a gestalt learner. He babbles and adds English words at the end, he is three and has a vocabulary of about 20 words, new struggles to process new words but I think that is part of his global delay.

He is also autistic and can not do pretty much any of what you listed in your first post.

I really don't think that you have any thing to be concerned about. She has a large vocabulary so o wouldn't recommend seeing a speech and language therapist/ the wait times are huge (took six months to see mine) and an autism assessment is a two year wait in my local area.

I think because she is meeting expected milestones, social, communicative, has clear cognitive abilities and motor skills. I'd wait it out and see how she develops over the coming year.

I mean this kindly, but I really think you might need to deal with your own anxieties rather than trying to find a problem in your child that doesn't sound like it exists.

I think you might need to step back from social media and try to enjoy the child you have. As others have said, she sounds very like other children her age.

She also can’t make a choice between two options that i offer her
She isn't even 2!!
I'm sorry but you come across as wanting her to have a condition, she sounds just as she should be.
Stay off insta!

Understanding "Where..?" is 1-2 years. Which doesn't mean she has to have mastered it by her 2nd birthday, just that most children will understand it some of the time at roughly that age.

Step away from the rabbit holes.

The internet often seems to suggest that most kids are neurodivergent. Most are fine. Even most ND kids are mostly fine. Don't look for trouble. She has years and years of development ahead of her and most kids will have some kind of wobble along the way.
But most of them will be fine.

Children repeat what adults say. They rehearse it because they're playing and practising language. Her language sounds functional and her development sounds like it's following a typical pathway.

Your post starts with telling us that you've consulted GP and HV and "have gone nowhere".

They've told you there is no cause for concern. They won't refer you because they have no concerns. This isn't nowhere. It's a good place to be.

I have worked with children with complex needs for over 30 years.

Your child sounds fine.
All the professionals who have seen her say she is fine.

Yet you have clearly decided that there is something wrong that you need to worry about. Please listen to the professionals who have actually seen her rather than looking for validation from strangers on the Internet.

Relax and enjoy your child. Very few signs imo.

I am a SALT and passionate NLA (another term for GLP) practitioner.

Your child has some features but it's really early days. Plus its a difference in language acquisition not a disorder or problem. They may just work through the stages on their own with no problems and develop a full language system

Use rhyme rhythm and songs to help them learn and have a look at meaningful speech - on most social media platforms for more information. They even have an on demand parents course you can purchase which to be honest will tell you as much as.most therapists can as it's still relatively early days in my profession in the UK

Just to say, my DS was nowhere near this stage at 21 months. He's 7 now and absolutely fine. Xx