If you had a non-verbal child at 7

[bryceQ]

Did they go on to develop spoken language?
Or did you just know it wasnt going to happen? …. we have no words at all, lots of rich vocalisations, likes music.

please only share stories if you had a non-speaking autistic child at this age and beyond…. Thank you.

I’m afraid I’m going to break your rule - I don’t have a child who was non verbal at 7 - but I do have a close friend with one who was non verbal until about six and a half who I know well.

He had lots of speech and language therapy and she did a lot of work with him. Ultimately the thing which made the biggest difference was he had a developmental leap and became interested in other children. Hard to know whether the language came because he desperately wanted to communicate with his peers, or because of the development leap itself.

Now, at 9, his speech is clear and can be understood by a stranger. He still doesn’t use full sentences and can’t do the social back-and-forth of speech but he can get his needs met and share his feelings. His mum is now confident that that it will come - he’s definitely getting there with both those areas.

No. he's adult now and is still non-verbal.

But the likelihood of developing speech depends on the reason for speech not developing typically.

Communication is about a lot more than speech and focussing on areas other than speech can be very rewarding.

My son is 23 and has no spoken language, though he clearly understands a lot. Your description of your son now sounds a lot like how he was at 7. He really loves music and has many vocalisations that indicate his mood. He also has some limited sign language and an uncanny ability to get his point across

That's neither helpful nor funny.

wtf?? What a horrible thing to write on someone's post about their child.

My sister's son was pre verbal until about aged 7. He has now developed speech but is a gestalt language processor so learns complete phrases and uses them as a "best fit" to get his point across. I think as an observer the best thing they did was sort of accept he wouldn't speak, they used PECS and a very expensive programme on the ipad and speech sort of slowly grew around that. Also, despite having a learning disability alongside being autistic, he has learnt to text message which has been a real game changer. I suppose my best advice would be that progress isn't linear and it certainly isn't smooth. It comes in sudden bursts and then plateaus, for ages, or regresses slightly.

I know he is only 7 too but if you are in England make sure his EHCP is robust and precise, it's not that "Jimmy would benefit from a speech therapist" it's that "Jimmy requires two half hour sessions with a speech therapist weekly" (frequency just made up but you get my point -.SMART objectives) to really pin down need and ensure it is met. Sunshine Support could help with this.

What is wrong with you?

Reported

I didn’t see you whatever someone wrote that was deleted. Cant imagine why you would write something mean.

thanks everyone. He attends a Specialist School, SLT is rolled into his daily tasks.

I feel like he isnt interested in trying any words, which makes it tricky to predict if they will come. I was just interested in stories because I often read about a minor delay (start at 2/3 years old) but rarely hear stories beyond this point.

appreciate all your shares thank you

That’s brilliant that he’s at a specialist school, daily SLT will be really helpful.

If he loves music I’m wondering whether he might like a karaoke machine? That feels like it might push language development forward without the pressure of social communication if that’s an area he finds challenging…

He has a learning difficulty and sensory challenges he would likely not understand a karaoke machine. But he opens our mouths when he wants us to sing his favourite songs and stims happily when we do it!

Awww that’s cute!

What does he do if you put his favourite song on and open his mouth? Will he try to form the sounds? Or not yet?

He makes his own sounds, and he will be really happy, and he will enjoy us singing, but it’s almost like he doesn’t realise that he too could make the same sounds

That’s really interesting, and mirrors how my friends little boy was at six and a half.
Fingers crossed for you that he gets there. He sounds lovely, and like he communicates really well, just not using his voice yet. X

Oh he is absolutely beautiful. And very loved. But the unpredictable nature of the future is hard for me. The not knowing what it could look like….

I have been a Senco for many years so dealt with many non verbal children. They almost always do not speak as they get older, but they do communicate in some way. Communication is key.
Have you started signing yet? Even if he does eventually communicate verbally, being able to communicate by signing will reduce any anxiety he may have around speech as he gets older.
If you think in terms of how he communicates rather than ‘will he speak’, you may find it’s a more positive mindset - “Junior BryceQ communicates by signing / writing / texting” is more positive than “Junior BryceQ doesn't speak yet”

Daughter is 18, still mostly non verbal- although she will verbalise to advocate for herself if pushed. She has an iPad to communicate with, that she can’t really be bothered to use.
She had lots and lots of speech therapy input, I paid for one to one PECs training, went to an autism specialist special school from 11-16 - still no real speech.
It doesn’t overly bother me anymore- only thing I really find hard is not knowing if she is in pain, or upset about something.
Her receptive language is brilliant though, and she can follow quite complex instructions easily.

You’re significantly restricting the advice by asking for replies only from parents in exactly your situation.

there are many professionals on here that work with autistic children who would have a much better overview of these problems. What worked for one particular child may be irrelevant for you.

anyway I dithered answering as you clearly don’t want my advice, but I agree with @Namechange822 . It depends on the child’s motivation.

my stepson was non verbal, until he worked out it got him what he wanted. He doesn’t care about other children or social relationships, but at some point he learned if he asked for food/tv/computer/money he’d get it.

he used to watch a lot of tv and film. Same ones over and over so the language was there, he just couldn’t/didn’t use it.

he’s an adult now and speech is still very limited and restricted to request/demands. He will sometimes respond to “how are you” or basic enquiries, but usually following a script- how are you, I’m fine- more a call and response than a conversation. He simply has no interest in other people beyond what they can do for him.

Im also going to break your rule. My godson was non verbal at 7. He went to a special school and had daily salt. I would say he is pre verbal now? I dont know the exact term for a tiny bit of speech.

This developed when he hit puberty. He is early twenties now.

He can say 'no' which is actually really useful and most people can understand it. He can also say about 5 other words which are pretty useful, but you need to be tuned in. They are basically words thst indicate he needs to be changed, he needs a feed, he wants tv, he wants an outing, he wants you to sing. Then he has some random words of things he likes like train or dog.

He understands so much of what people say to him though and can read is it pecs?

My son was none verbal until 4 and then pre verbal, we started using makaton and pictures.

We went privately for SALT and got a comms device. Sentence structure on the comms device eventually came into speech.

The key for our son was finding any way we could communicate which helped his frustration. The comms device was key for him as it seemed to help him build sentences in his mind, which were initially single words. He uses supercore on an ipad.

His level of need is still very high and he can’t communicate everything but he can let us know basic needs we didn’t know before. Also he uses it to be cheeky, like asking for chocolate at bedtime and giggling about it. Huge leaps and bounds.

I wasn’t making rules about who could answer, I was just looking for people who had experience of children with a significant delay, rather than those sharing experiences about 2/3 year old.

He was diagnosed at two, we have worked with lots of professionals over the years, it’s just difficult in real life to meet children with a similar profile. In his class lots of the children have scripts or echolalia so they are on a different path/stage. We do try to use a multi communication approach and I understand communication isn’t just about spoken speech.

If you want to PM, OP, feel free to. My child has a similar profile and a similar age. I don’t have anything helpful to add here, but can chat about experiences if you want.

I know it’s not easy OP.

I find the uncertainty of the future emotionally paralysing some days.