Anyone who can reassure me about my DS, nearly 4. Could he still develop normally?

[Luckydog7]

Is there anyone who can tell me about their child with speech delay? good or bad?

My son (4 in feb) is wonderful, sweet and cuddly, lovely behaviour but has always been very very quiet. Never babbled, never seemed interested in us speaking. While his understanding is good at basic instructions he has very little expressive language and all his words are the first sound only. We have had some success with sign but it feels like we are getting further and further behind especially compared with his sister who is two years younger.

My frustration is that no-one is telling us anything. He is under a SALT course currently which has been good but it feels like they are refusing to give us any specifics in case...i don't know, we get our hopes up, in case they are wrong. I just want them to tell me if, in their experience he is likely to get there eventually or not. There are a number of suspected autism cases (my dad is absolutely classic Asperger's) in the family so that is a possibility. I just don't know, I just want answers either way. Can anyone offer advice?

I'm guessing they don't have enough information to make an informed guess yet. My son was classically autistic and it was pointed out to me at 5 months by a relative. We went through 2-3 years of professionals telling us we were wrong/over anxious/let's wait and see/"he is on the cusp of being normal".

We eventually found a team who knew what they were doing around 3 years old and even they didn't want to make a formal diagnosis until he was 6.

They brought it forward to 4.5 years old to help us with school.

I honestly dont know much about the diagnosing process of language delays versus autism. My guess is that they want to see how he reacts to interventions? My DD failed her 12 month check a couple of weeks ago and they want to give her 3 months at nursery to see if she catches up.

Can you get a consultation with a SALT worker to explain their processes?