non verbal child

[ilovesprouts]

anyone else with non verbal dcs ,my ds2 is 4.3

he knows a few signs like please and thanks ,hes got a mac major elite pushchair,he does not say much maybe mum mum wen he mostley babbles etc dont think he gets any salt at school they use pecs tho

Hi my ds aged 10 has severe autism and is completely non verbal. they are working with him in his special school so that he can eventually use PECS. Never say never. He is very vocal makes lots of sounds but no words at all.

Hi my ds is 4 - non verbal - poss verbal dyspraxia but has normal hearing, understanding etc. He uses Makaton (thank god for Mr Tumble ) and is perfectly capable of making himself understood. He has SALT which is also reinforced by his pre-school SENCO and is slowly starting to try words but its been a long hard struggle. His main problem is that he can say individual letter sounds but is incapable of blending them together eg he says "C....OW" for cow. Still he is improving which we are chuffed about! Came out with "apple" last week from no-where and has retained it which is even more wonderful. We were referred to SALT through our HV so it might be worth giving them a shout.

my dh and i think hes got autisem but doc @cdu says no can they test for that ,we are going bk to the cdu on monday to see where we go from here

my ds has ASD and (they think) a mild to moderate learning disabilitiy, he was pretty non verbal (had about 7 words) until recently, when words started popping out all over the place, he will be 5 in Nov. What did it for him was (i believe and the SLT agrees) is that he signed (got to about 300 signs, and is still adding them now) so he had communication... He uses a mix of signs speech and his communication book (symbols) but he gets his point across! .

Hope that helps?

My DD is pretty much non verbal at 4.5

Dd2 was non-verbal until she was 3.5, she's now 5 with a diagnosis of Autism and severe language delay, she will talk now but only when she wants to (she hardly talks at school unless she's reading), PEC'S really helped start her speach, she never took to signing although she will now sign as theres a boy with hearing problems in her class (so the whole class sign). She started with babbling (for 6 months) and then started saying random words such as 'buiscuit' and 'cake' (very important words), we also found music therapy helped (gave her confidence to make noise).

DS1 is 4.4, ASD and non-verbal although like signandsmile since Xmas his language has come on amazingly. He had absolutely no words at 4; now he is trying loads of words, copying, repeating and trying new things. I am so proud of him.

I have to confess we are rather lax on the whole signing / PECS thing and perhaps he would be doing even better if we were more committed. I thought he would never say "mummy" but it is probably his favourite word (said rather too often in a whiny voice!) .

It certainly hasn't been and isn't easy. Good luck for the future.

My dd 4 has social communication difficulties/speech and lang delay, no formal dx as yet and though her speech is very good when she wants to, she is not good at social communication (making social interaction), though she is getting better now and is more confident around people she knows. I just want to know what PECS is, and how it can help.

I'm sure someone will have a link.

Basically, children with social communication issues don't see the point of any sort of communication, including speech or signing. They can have the tendancy to believe that everyone already knows what they are thinking. They see no need to tell you they are thirsty, you should already know, etc. This is called Theory of Mind.

Also they can find abstract concepts, such as feelings etc, much harder to understand than concrete ones that they can see and touch, like a biscuit or a cat etc.

Words can seem much too abstract to them. How can a sound that is fleeting and invisible signify something they can see and touch? Similarly sign language can be too abstract for some children (better than words though, as they can see the sign at least)

That's when PECS can be useful. It stands for picture exchange communication system. You have a picture of an object on a small card. We started with something DS wanted. A small piece of a biscuit. You needed 2 adults to start it off. A card with a picture of a biscuit (starts with maybe a photo, can eventually be more of a symbol as they get the hang of it) is placed on the table. One adult sits with the child on one side, the other adult has the biscuits on the other side, out of reach. The child hopefully wants the biscuit and does his/her normal thing to get it. The adult with the child shows them the picture of the biscuit, takes their hand and helps them pick up the card. They say, "Biscuit, I want a biscuit". they 'help' the child gives the card to the other adult, who takes it, and says "Biscuit. I want a biscuit" and gives the child a biscuit. (Small bit!)

This is repeated ad nauseum until the child gives the card on his/her own. Reward is a small bit of biscuit. The hope is eventually they say themselves "I want a biscuit"

You use the words they should use, don't confuse by saying "You want a biscuit" as they will then repeat that.

You go on to making choices, a picture of a biscuit and a crisp. They get to choose, they have what they have chosen. You expand to include choices of games or activities.

The point is, it is communication, even if very basic. The picture signifies the object. It is concrete, they can hold it. You back it up with words, but you don't expect them to speak at first. Never withhold the reward if they give you the card, don't expect words. Words may come later.

The frustration that was alleviated, my DS could be in control to a small extent. We expanded to include more symbols. "I want" PEC followed by a game PEC, or the park etc.

This system taught my DS the purpose of communication. We stopped using it after about 6 months. He went on to start asking for things, usually still after I gave him the words in the choice question, but he was speaking, within months. I could say, "Do you want milk or juice?" He'd answer "I want juice".

If I'd said, as I used to, "Are you thirsty? What do you want to drink?" He didn't have the words to answer. He needed to hear the choice. He still does a little.

All this was when he was 3.5. He's now 11 and will be going to MS Secondary in Sept!

What an epic! If you've got to the end, well done.

Thanks Ellen though dd aks for things and makes herself known, its the more abstract concepts like feelings, concepts, and awareness of people/children around her. She will happily play on her own (just starting to take an interest in other children) until she wants something than asks for that thing.

My non-verbal child is only 2 but SALT and Paeds are pretty confidant the eventual diagnoses will be oral dyspraxia so it's unlikely progress will be impressive in the near future.

We're learning Lámh (Irish SN sign language, equivalant to Makaton) so we can communicate a bit now and his next block of SALT will be trying out a differant approach specifically designed for oral and verbal dyspraxics.

Hi Piglet, I don't think she'll need PECS then, she's already past that stage. Which is great! Abstract stuff is so hard to explain. Pictures of facial expressions may help a bit.

hi all went well at cdu,hes had blood tests,chromo tests and mri brain scan all came bk fine,doc says he has no concentration at all but said he was going to write to the childrens disabled team,so where nxt i dont know,