Autism? Is a speech therapist the right person???

[lilimama]

The speech therapist has said she can't see any reason why DS isn't talking yet (aged 36 months)
Would she be able to spot autism signs?
Very worried and wondering who I should take him to next...

thanks

We have just started the Hanen program - "More Than Words'. I think it will be very useful but as DS1 (ASD) is 4.6 now , I wish we could have done it earlier but there do seem to be long delays in the system and it also seems that parents who demand it are prioritised above those who wait patiently in the system. It was very interesting though to watch videos of children at the various stages - 'Own Agenda', 'Requester', 'Early Comunicator'. It was like a trip down memory lane to see what DS1 was like when he was younger - and also it gave me hope that he might move on from 'Early Communicator' to 'Partner' and beyond. It can look wishy washy from the outside particularly if you have a 2 year old at the 'Own Agenda' stage (the goals for this stage are very limited) but it does look to be based on extensive knowledge of and research into ASD children. Also, they recognise that ASD children are very different and that they have different learning styles. Visual learning is included but they don't push it in a fanatical way.

Nikos, I think it's really important for us to talk outside the special needs board.

There are parents out there with kids similar to mine/yours who are too scared to even CLICK on the special needs board.........and some of them will be reading this thread and hopefully feeling supported.

Cyber - do you think I would benefit from the "More than Words" book? You know I've got a "cheerful denial" stance re ASD but I really want to make the most of this "window" that we're having with DS2 at the moment - he's like a shop that's suddenly open for business - and I have so much respect for how well-written the other book is. I know for instance that his non-use of "yes" is something you'd see in autistic kids and that therefore he might benefit from techniques.

I could cross out the ASD word on the front so as not to scare DH!

It does sound as if your DS ( wee lingle) has made great progress since you first started posting so whatever you are doing must be working well for him. There are parents on the Hanen program who have children already at 'Partner' stage (nothing to do with law firms) and those children can converse/speak in sentences but still need help to bring them on. So you can enter Hanen at a high level if that's what you want to do. I also think Hanen focusses on the actual problems rather than theorising about what ASD children are supposed to do according to the textbooks.

We went on a More than Words course run by our local speech and language therapist. Might be worth contacting your local dept to see if they run one.

Lingle - I know, but it just reminds me how homely and comforting it is on the sn board. A great group for support.