DD (5) still non verbal

[Ionasmum19]

My daughter, who turned 5 on Tuesday, is currently still non verbal. We have a diagnosis of global developmental delay and awaiting referral to NDAS for an autism assessment. Have seen speech and language therapist 3 times so far due to the length of the waiting list. Does anyone have any advice or tips on how to encourage her speech?

Watching with interest ( but wonder if more traffic on SEN boards?)

my DD also turned 5 this week! And is non verbal too. She did have some language before a regression around 20months. She has an autism diagnosis.

we did read the Hanen More than Words book and followed a related parents course which I think did help to build interaction but hasn’t resulted in any language for her. I am finding it hard to remain hopeful of her picking it up so hope others are along with encouraging stories.

I have put in SEN as well, thank you! It's tough as you don't know what to do, and when they get frustrated because you don't understand what they are trying to communicate to you is heartbreaking!

yes really hard. DD’s meltdowns have got a lot worse lately and I’m sure a large part is not being able to communicate with us.

her daycare has arranged for us (via health insurance - we are in NL not UK) to get an iPad with the program where you click on things and it speaks either words or phrases - we will get that soon and hoping if we use consistently it may help. But then I’ve also heard some say it removes the incentive for speech. At this point I guess we are looking more for communication more generally.