4 year old possible autism ?

[Atjlove]

Hi ladies.
Just wanted to have a little chat or maybe some re assurance. Our Little boy is having speech and language at the moment. He can say most words but doesn't seem to hold a conversation like the other children in his school group. He repeats many things off the television and will keep repeating it. For instance will keep saying ' chase, sky, Marshall' (yes loves paw patrol!!) He will put his hand over his ears and now does a little fake cough when I'm trying to have a conversation with him. Speech and language say it's too soon to diagnose anything but I have to say I have do have a feeling that it could be slight autism? Is anybody else in the same boat? It just upsets me as he cant engage with the rest of his friends as well..... any tips would be helpful

Is it just his speech? Are there any other noticeable issues.

I have DS who is on the spectrum. He was non verbal until four but had a range of other obvious signs. Lack of eye contact, obsessions, sensory issues, severe fears, behavioural issues, no sense of danger, issues with food etc etc.

DD is 3 and has a significant speech delay. It is only her speech at the minute and she is not believed to have autism as there are no other major issues. Late speech on its own isn’t usually autism.

It’s not too soon to diagnose if it was. My son was diagnosed just after his fifth birthday. It can take weeks, months and years of assessments to get diagnosed with asd.

It could be just be a speech delay though!

Thank you for you reply. He doesn't seem to have any major signs. Main thing concerning me is the repetition of programmes or would you say this is more of a delayed speech? Any tips on how I can improve this? Do you mind me asking if your 3 yr old will repeat words etc. I wonder if this happens because of the delayed speech....

Neither of my two really repeat things of the telly... I guess repeating words he has heard can be a good thing. I guess all children probably hear quotes they think are cool on the Tv and repeat them but DS never heard and copied anything at that age. Sorry I’m not much help... DS’s autism meant he was non verbal until around 4 and his speech is still a little immature but has come on leaps and bounds lately.

DD is a strange case. Like I said she has a significant speech delay but no obvious signs of autism. She is under speech therapy but they can’t pin point why she doesn’t want to string words together 🤷‍♀️ They mentioned and expressive speech disorder but nothing has come of this as of yet. Despite her speech issues she has some great non verbal communication skills and good understanding.

Has your son had an overal asessment to see where he is in his development?

How is his understanding of things? Does he get frustrated when he cannot communicate with his peers?

Has his speech therapist mentioned using visual aids to help him communicate?