Will my son ever talk?!

[mumofatoddlerhelp]

He's 3 and still doesn't talk and I'm honestly exhausted by it. I never know what he wants and the tantrums are just constant 😩 it's so hard and draining and I'm at my wits end. Still waiting to be seen by SaLT and he's had his hearing checked. When will he talk 😢

I can't give you the answer but I will say so much can change once the right support is in place.

The only experience I have is of a family friend's son who got an autism diagnosis at 2 and further assessments meant that he came to start school it went straight into a SEN school. He wasn't quite 4.5 when he started and non verbal and his mum had been told to expect that this might not change. By half term he could say a few words. He is in his second year now and thriving. He still has significant communication issues but can use some verbal communication and they are generally more optimistic about what he will be able do with time and specialist support.

Is your son completely non-verbal, or does he say the odd word here and there or communicate using gestures / other means?

I know your pain with the tantrums and struggling to communicate needs. It is extremely draining and takes a lot of patience and energy.

My DS was behind with communication at his 2 year check. Even as a baby he didn't babble at all, just preferred to sit quietly and take it all in. He was meant to have something like 50 singular words at 2 yo and he only had about 10 at the time. Health visitor wasn't concerned and said that it will come, some don't speak until they are ready. I honestly felt so distraught that he wouldn't ever speak properly and what it meant for him moving forwards. I also used to feel so upset if we met with friends with kids the same age and they were speaking fully and coherently. We did get a hearing test and all was clear on that.

He is 3 in January and in the last 6-8 weeks it's like someone has suddenly flipped a switch on him. He randomly came out with a whole sentence while I was driving and my jaw literally dropped to the floor. It came out of nowhere. People kept telling me it would all come on at once and it truly has. A lot of it is incomprehensible still, he gets things like yes/no's mixed up often, and some of it only I would understand from spending so much time with him but he is definitely getting there. I'm hoping pre-school in Jan will be that further nudge he needs.

As PP has said, no one can tell you exactly when it will happen. But with the right support, I'm sure he will excel very quickly. My brother was very poorly as a child and lost the ability to speak but once he got SaLT appts he progressed back very quickly. It's amazing what they can do. Hang in there, you're doing everything you possibly can to help him ❤️