To ask for your very late talker success stories?

[YoucancallmeBettyDraper]

I don’t know if I’m being foolish to hope. My child is nearly 2 1/2 and basically non-verbal, and probably autistic. I’d love to hear stories of children that talked very late, especially autistic children. I mean are able to hold a conversation.

I just need to counter my feeling that my child will never speak to me, which is my dominant fear at the moment and which feels inevitable.

Thanks in advance

My DS15 was a late talker... almost silent until he was around 3. He's also autistic. He is now the most verbose and eloquent young man I've ever met (admittedly biased) and is confident speaking in public too.

My ds non verbal until passed 3 by 3.5 he was talking. He is on the pathway for autism and now at 7 very gifted in maths, slightly behind on handwriting/reading and socially very young. He is awesome.

My extremely clever uncle didn't talk until he was three. After that he was the youngest to pass all sorts of exams and was applying for jobs in his early twenties where they said he was too young and couldn't possibly have the qualifications but he did.

My son didn't speak until he was 3, he wasn't using full sentences that could be understood by most people until he was 5. He has seriously made up for it now and can talk for hours!
He's autistic and was diagnosed when he was 5.

My sister now in her 30s didn't speak till she was 7 (or nothing comprehensible that made sense to anyone other than her)
She is autistic and has LD and still has huge challenges but is now very verbal, in fact her conversational skills are so good they often lead to professionals significantly underestimate her difficulties (not literate, can't cross a road, live in any way independently)

My autistic DS didn’t talk at all until he was 4. Once he started, he started talking in full sentences and it turned out that he could also read. We never knew!

Husband, didn’t speak until he was around 4. He has a successful career and is a great husband and father, I suspect he is on the spectrum though.

DC1 (pretty but not 100% neurotypical) refused to speak until nearly 2.5 when DC2 was born and suddenly we weren’t making the effort to understand the mysterious noises & pointing. Went from non verbal to full sentences in a couple of weeks out of pure necessity.

DH was non verbal til nearly 4.

A friend of ours didn't say a word until around school aged apparently. He is almost certainly autistic, has never had a partner, and his manners are a bit rough, but he has an independent and full life.

My husband spoke very little before aged around 2.5 and he's done pretty well in life, quite clearly autistic and very probably dyspraxic but as long as you don't mess with his routines and you're willing to sit through the odd monologue about his special interests, he leads a very "normal" life.

My 9 year old didn’t say a single word until he was 4, and he’s literally never shut up since.

It’s very difficult, OP.

My DB was a late talker, not speaking more than a few words until well after his third birthday.

He caught up fast.

He went on to a STEM PhD from a top university and a fabulous career including many lecturing invitations.

Dc3 didn’t talk until nearly 3 (she’s not autistic) as she rarely had to. She had speech therapy in reception class, she’s in year 3 and thriving, exceeding in all areas, a great friendship group, talks & giggles her way through life.

That’s wonderful. Was there anything you did that really helped?

I’m so happy that he found his voice. Did you do anything with him that really helped?

Wow! That’s amazing

I’m so happy for you that both your kids overcame their difficulties! What were the signs of speech dyspraxia that you noticed?

My little one! Didn’t start talking until 3 months before their 3rd birthday, totally silent before then, no attempt at talking. Now, they’re turn 3 tomorrow (so this is all very new for us!) and my god are they making up for lost time!! Pronunciation still a little off, but now talking in sentences, explores words every day, copies etc. No ASD, but did have 11 brain surgeries before their 1st birthday!! We’ve been under the care of paediatrician and SALT and they were both really relaxed about no words before 3 - I think it’s something that parents get more anxious about than the professionals! Having said that, there were things we did (though who knows if it helped, maybe they just talk when they’re ready).

• talk LESS. The SALT we had said I talked too much (almost constantly) and that I was filling in the space for my child where there might be an opportunity for them to talk
• Choices. Don’t make it too easy for your child - when handing them something give them a choice e.g. do you want milk or water? Then, be really patient and wait until they indicate a preference
• play ‘sabotage’. If your child is playing with a toy, or getting ready, eating dinner etc then gently ‘sabotage’ an element of the game. For example, if your child is playing with a toy (ours was always cars) and it makes a noise, then switch the noise off. Your child will probably become frustrated and hand you the toy to fix. Then, you model what to say ‘you want me to turn it on? On? Toy on. On. Toy on’ so your child can see the language they need being modelled
• create language maps - repeat the same key phrases over again in a simple way e.g. if your child needs a nappy change always use the same short phrase (ours was ‘clean bum time’), and this can be for almost everything that’s in their daily routine, really model the language.

Our child was/still is utterly obsessed with books, and we read to them accumulatively 60-90 minutes a day which I think has also helped. I’m sure there are other things we did, I’ll go back and peruse the notes we were given and update if I do!

it’s so hard, I worried so so much and you long to hear your little ones voice, I so understand. Stay calm and positive, it will all be ok!

I have autism. I didn’t speak at all until around 4. Then the first thing I said was apparently “top of the pops” when I was watching it on TV (Mum and Dad always used to let me sit in front of the TV really closely and watch it as I loved it). Mum thought she’d imagined it when I first said it. I then carried on as if I’d always spoken. I was reading Road Dahl books out loud to my Mum after that from about 5 onwards. I had all the language skills etc for some reason I just didn’t verbalise anything!

My son spoke his first word at 3.5
“buh” (bird)

Just scored 40/40 in his phonics test at end of year 1. It’s hard but there is hope. Makaton helped me break through

Dh was a late talker and walker. He didn’t do either until 2.5, then took off speaking in sentences. He is mildly dyslexic and did need some support with that in school. But otherwise completely ordinary. He did fine in school. Got a 2:1 at university. Is a successful company director. Not autistic, but some children really just need to go at their own speed.

Can’t believe I forgot this one, I took online Makaton classes which helped unbelievably well - my little one was able to
communicate with signing long before they could talk, and it really helped support language development

Yes, I can absolutely understand looking for answers but don’t build your son on false hope. Being non verbal doesn’t mean he won’t learn how to communicate and that is just (if not more) important. I have one child who developed full speech between 2 and 3 after not meeting verbal milestones at all. I have another who was using words by one but can’t communicate well at all by 7. Agree with this post, intervention and communication therapy as early as possible, and as hard as it is, go with how things go OP.

My beautiful boy was non verbal until about three. Made noises and screeched a lot. Once he turned four I was on a countdown until he started school because by then he was talking but it was just gibberish, almost like his own language and I was so worried the other children would laugh at him.

An educational psychologist came to do a home visit and said there were no signs of autism. When he started school his teacher laughed and said he was a lot clearer than some children. He was fine, he started talking because he had to, to get by.

He’s in his twenties now with a first class degree and a good job but more importantly he’s a wonderful person and we laugh together about all his “dah dah” language and silent years.

That’s great for your son! But my 7 year old also passed the Year 1 phonics test and yet can’t answer ‘what did you have for lunch today’. I think the op is looking for signs her son will be able to talk to her, not just repeat given words (obviously it’s a start).

That is incredible. What do you think contributed him in overcoming his early challenges? Was there anything you did that helped?
Good luck to him with his results