Hanen more than words. Have you used/ when did you start?

[TrucksAndDinosaurs]

Hello

We are about to start Hanen more than words 6 week x1 hour course with HFA DS is two and a half.
He knows lots of words and can talk but doesn't really communicate very well. Joint attention issues, pragmatic language concerns - for example he will march into an empty room and say 'open the curtain' - but I'm in a different part of the flat! His play is solitary and he uses language more to comment on himself than to communicate.

He's having ESDM play sessions twice weekly and attends a PRT playgroup 3 mornings. Now DH and I need to learn how to get him communicating and playing - hence Hanen.

Has anyone got positive stories to share? We are feeling quite stressed and sad since dx in March but desperate to do it right and help DS.

Thanks v much :)

Hi, we went on a Hanen course, but it was 'It Takes 2 To Talk', as DD has Down's & is deaf.

I know it's not quite the same course, but the one we went on was excellent, genuinely made a huge difference to DD & she is now an 'age appropriate communicator' - I've heard similarly good things about the course you are going on.

Good luck, hope it helps.

Blimey. That's pretty good provision for a 2yr old for the UK.

Are you funding privately?

I don't live in UK, it's all private here.
It's bloody expensive and insurance will not cover ASD as its ''a pre-existing condition' :(

We did more than words for DS. Started when he was 2 and a half. That was almost a year ago.

When we started he had 250+ words but all were nouns. He was very good at labelling things but he had never put 2 words together and did not communicate with us, even to have his needs met. He was somewhere between the "requester" and "early communicator" stages.

He is now probably somewhere between "early communicator" and "partner". Not quite full blown conversations but certainly exchanges that are more than him just responding to a question. He uses full sentences. He will point put things of interest. He'll comment on what other people and children are doing. He'll ask for juice or something to eat. It's fantastic!

We did it privately while waiting for nhs to triage his needs. The nhs aren't currently offering it where we live but they were until about a couple of years ago, I think.

proudmum that's really great to hear it made a huge difference! Thanks :)
All this is costing loads and we are desperate to hear of stuff that's worked to give us hope.

It's generally not available in the UK even if you have the funds. And if you can get it, all the 'professionals' will try and make you out as abusive lest you try and get them to fund any.

lookslikerain thank you! So great to hear its made a difference already and that you started same age and stage as us :)

Actually, just reading that back I should probably clarify that it sort of felt like doing more than words kick-started his speech. It definitely worked for us, but he also began saying things that we weren't focusing on.

Star that's really sad and awful. Despite paying all those years of UK tax and then moving abroad when we had DS we are lucky I guess that great provision is available here if you can find the money for it.

DS was given an autism dx in March and the speech therapist said that it probably wouldn't have had the same effect if we'd started at 3 and a half vs starting when we did. It also fitted really well into our everyday life. We'd rate it very highly. Good luck!

Can I hop in and ask a question please? My DN is soon we think to have a DX of HFA and he's 3.3. WOuld Hanen help him? He's delayed in his S&L, his social interaction and fine motor skills. His Mum is desparate to hear him talk...he labels things but no sentences and he's full of echolalia.

The evidence points to ABA as being the most effective intervention in the early years. The ESDM and PRT are versions.

Hanen isn't ABA but it is behavioural and a good start.

At that age, DS2's SALT noticed that I was pretty much doing Hanen with him, without even knowing about it, so she lent me the book to work through. It's all pretty much common sense and not daunting at all.

Neomaxi - there's a big focus with Hanen on using whatever means of communicating the child has to interact and build on that interaction to make it purposeful.

Ouryve thank you....so as DN can label things...I can use those labels to mention stuff to him as they happen or as he does them. It's very intensive isn't it? I had a look at the Hanen site....lots about getting stuff done in small steps and letting them do lots for themselves. I will be passing the info to his Mum. It is vry useful here. Thank you very much.

I have a copy of "It Takes Two to Talk" that anyone who wants is welcome to - all I ask is that you cover the shipping cost.

I was indoctrinated in the Hanen program early - I cared for a boy 4 years older than DS who had therapists from the original Hanen program (at the Geneva Centre for Autism). I learned SO MUCH from them - and it translated into how I interacted with DS so much that his ASD was not even uncovered until he was older as I had been using the therapeutic tools with him since he was only about 4 months old as it had become habit.

All of the Hanen programs are excellent. Very intense, and they do seem a lot of work until it becomes second nature, but they are not daunting - just reinforcing some of the best parental interactions.

I bought the book when DS was 3 1/2 and I found it very good, but I really wish I'd got it sooner. They stopped providing the Hanen course locally a year before my DS was DXed (in 2003) but the SS he went to used Hanen and his in house SALT was the Hanen trainer, who gave us so many tips. Definitely worth it. I'd say. DS2 also used PECS which was a fabulous kick start to his communication.