Speech delay possible autism 25 months old

[Itsmee12329]

Hi, I’ve wrote previous threads before about concerns regarding my daughter, although at that time she was a lot younger. She had speech regression that started around 16 months, she stopped saying anything at all other than ‘no’.

we are currently in contact with speech and language, they believe there is a high possibility of autism and are getting the ball rolling to have her asses, her sibling has been diagnosed to but he didn’t ever have any regression or loss of words or any speech issues at all and still doesn’t.

Currently she will use around 10 words, but they are few and far between, some days she may say ‘juice’ 5 or 6 times and other days she won’t say anything at all. She can say mummy and daddy, but she will call anyone mummy or daddy, she will call my husband (her dad) mummy, she will call me daddy, she will call my sister daddy or mummy. She knows I am her mummy as if anyone said to her ‘go to mummy’ she will walk right over to me. She has understanding, but her way of communicating isn’t with speech.

she will say 1 word things like ‘jucie’ ‘shoe’ ‘sassie’ she says sassie for sausage and that’s her way of saying she’s hungry she doesn’t necessarily want a sausage lol! but again this is few and far between, some days she will say 6 words over and over throughout the day and other days she may only say 1 word or none at all.

she hand leads and points to what she wants, we try to encourage her to say the word like juice or food but she just won’t unless she wants to.

we feel she has the ability to speak, but chooses not to. I’m not sure if that is common with autism and communication issues as I have no experience with it at all.

i will add she can be very aggressive, she bites, nips, pulls hair and had hour long meltdowns. When things get to noisy or to much commotion she will lash out and hit or bite, she cannot keep her hands down she’s always hitting other children and it’s not because she is not socialised because she is around children and is taking to groups with other children but we usually have to leave because she gets upset or hits out.

does anyone have any experience with this? What does this sound like to you?

My 3yo is on the pathway for autism diagnosis. He says no words at all. Just incoherent babbles still. He's very aggressive and lashes a lot and pretty much everything you've said is my DS to a tee. We have such and language too but no alot they Can do when he has no words and limited and understanding. My advice would be to watch and wait until you can have he assessed properly. Then the right help will be available to you. We've been waiting over a year now.

My DD is now diagnosed as AuDHD with ARFiD. She sounds quite similar at that age although she wasn’t speaking. She did start to speak when she had just turned 3 and started with full sentences so there might be some hope Thats your DD has the capacity to soeak more when she’s a bit older, especially if you have the support of SaLT.

If groups are a particular problem, does she have anything to help her like ear defenders? Are the groups specifically for DC with SN? If not, I would consider dropping some of the groups, it sounds as though she might be finding them too overwhelming.

Have you had referrals to OT and Portage too?

@Sellingsunsets hey sorry I'm just replying now.
aww bless him, i hope yous get sorted out really soon. The thing i find daunting is we will be expected to apply her to nursery school in just over 1 year, and currently we’re unsure how this will look, do we go to mainstream nursery or a nursery for children with additional needs, and I know to even get a place in a nursery for children with additional needs you first need a diagnosis or at least a lot of evidence and medical support to show your child has additional needs. But obviously in the UK waiting lists are very long and we’re worried a diagnosis may not be given by the time she’s due for nursery, but what I do no is how my little girl is right now she would never manage in a mainstream nursery, and a mainstream nursery would most likely not be able to cope with her. She is a handful, she doesn’t like noise or commotion, she hits and bites, and I haven’t even thought about potty training yet as she is no where near ready to even understand the concept of using a potty.

can I ask how you are finding this with your little one? Have you been given any idea of which nursery school you should apply to for your little boy?

@BunnyRuddington aww well that is reassuring, I feel as though my little girl could speak but she chooses not to. She regressed and wouldn’t say anything other than ‘no’ she does say some words now but they’re few and far between.

currently we’re just on the road to getting help, and the only referrals she has had is SALT and child development, we haven’t heard anything back jsut yet from child development but SALT has started, so we’re seeing where to go from there as I know they can help a lot and make referrals for the right help.

would you mind me asking at what age your little girl received her diagnosis and how long the whole process from referral to assessment was for you?

also is your little girl able to attend mainstream school and nursery?

My lad goes to a normal mainstream nursery he started in January this year. You do not need a diagnosis, just apply to a normal nursery and tell them that you suspect your child has SEN, that's what I did. Even main stream nurseries have things in place for children that require more learning help etc. For a specialist school you would often need a EHCP or a firm diagnosis and plan. But I'm not sure on this tbh. My lad is getting on okay at his mainstream school for the moment. I'm awaiting an EHCP so when he is die to start school next September I can apply for a specialist school where he can go all the way up until teenage years. A referral for a GDA from your health visitor and to the local authority scheme for SEN in your area will be enough to prove for a mainstream school. I didn't think the nursery would cope with mine but they've been really accommodating and understanding and we recently got funding for 1:1. Have a shop around and ask about, alot of nurseries as soon as I said he has SEN they wouldn't take him as they didn't have enough nursery workers as obviously a child with SEN needs more attention. Your DD might surprise you. I didn't think my son would cope but he's adapted really well and it's now part of his routine.

Awww that’s amazing! My son is in mainstream, his school had a meeting with us at the end of p1 about implementing a PSP or an IEP depending on his progress and how he settles in to p2. Currently they have a plan in place to support him, he took a good while to settle in and suffered with a lot of vomiting due to sensory issues, but his school was really good with him & nearer the end of the year things settled down but they feel he might be unsettled again when he starts back as it’ll be a new class room & new teacher. But he is doing very well given his differences he still manages and does well.

my little girl on the other hand is very aggressive and I think this may be her problem with mainstream, she hits, bites and really looses it and takes a long time to calm down, she will hurt herself by banging her head or slapping herself, I feel so bad for her, she’s very different from my son although he has autism but he isn’t aggressive at all, he has his moments but he wouldn’t hit out.

Would you mind to share how did you or nursery applied for 1-2-1 support funding please?
We are in a simmilar situation and DS is moving to a new nursery in October for Preschool as his current private nursery bluntly said that they most like will not be able to cope with him even through he went there since age of 18 months full-time and getting on amazingly.

I know that current nursery got a grant from local council and SECo team for him but it's not for 1-2-1 and it's covery costs of extra sensory toys etc.

It was through the local authority, I believe my health visitor referred me there. It will be the local authority SEND offer. The team we have in my area is the schools and families team.

It took a long time and I really wished I’d pushed more at a younger age. HV was worse than useless. GP and school wouldn’t listen. So yes she did attend mainstream but we had an awful lot of school refusal at High School and it definitely wasn’t the right place for her.

Yes! This describes my youngest daughter.

She would use my hand to guide to things. She was non verbal .
She would hit, bite other children and scream .
She used to hate people pointing and would wipe it off by dousing herself in water. It got worse and worse ,then she started pooing and using it as clay and I found it in the bookcase.
Then she would just lie on floor and scream covered in water.
Would only eat toast and milk 4 times a
day ,,playgroup would not take her as she just made noises and hit out,trashed the room.
Basically came to a crunch where I was having to lie on floor with her,both drenched ,her screaming and me trying to calm her.
Got to a specialist who prescribed Risperidone ( for her sister too who was 20 months older and who was also violent).

Now, she is 25 years old and guess what? she never stops talking and lives with support ,has loads of hobbies and is bright and bubbly.

There is hope !!

Yes, my girl used to bang her head deliberately over and over

Had support at nursery. School had support but couldn't cope, she got excluded