ABA for a a bilingual 3 y.o, do we need to drop our second language?

[Wiolla]

Hello,

Originally misposted my message in Bilingual section, my apologies.

I would really appreciate any advice on or experience on how things may work out.

I have a 3 y.o who has been raised in a bilingual environment, sadly he is running a developmental delay and main issue speech and language (not just a late talker) which greatly affects his communication and social side with peers.

We are about to start and ABA programme for him and our consultant recommends against using a second language until DS is fluent in English. Same advice was given by a private psychologist.

Which of course breaks my heart as it means dropping my language, switching into English for at least couple of years and it feels so unnatural for me. However, I do not want my son to get stuck in his progress because of my own feelings, on the other hand it does make me sad and worried that I will have to speak a foreign language to my own child.

At the moment his Expressive English is more advanced than the other language but still way behind where he should have been even if to consider the bilingual component which may sometimes slow down things. His receptive language is about 6-8 months behind and general development is about 1 year behind, though not in all areas.

Any thoughts and ideas are welcome. Did anyone have a similar case?

Thank you moondog, very interesting to read.

I guess this is our case then:

Are the parents fluent English speakers, bilingual as well? - If the parents are fluent in English they may choose this language over the native one until the child demonstrates the ability to communicate proficiently in English.

I think this is what our consultant suggests in our case, but I feel that during out-of -office hours I will be willing to speak my language to DS, as do not want him to loose the links completely. Obviously we will see how it all goes.

Wiolla, you are most welcome.

Sorry for not replying earlier, but briefly, here are some further thoughts:

1. Communication with the rest of the family. Both sets of our grandparents live abroad. We used to go several times a year to visit, but when DS got diagnosed, we made the decision that until the ABA is truly in full swing for him and us, we will not leave the country and asked the grandparents not to visit, as in our opinion, both would be disruptive for DS on top of massive changes in his life and increased demands being put on him by the programme. I have to admit, my parents didn't take it very well, but at the end of the day, it's what's best for our child first and foremost, and then the hurt feelings of the grown ups.

2. We have a full-time (35 hours/week) programme run by UK YAP (www.ukyap.org). They are excellent.

3. As I mentioned earlier, we mix and match both languages day-to-day now that includes books and cartoons. As is common with other ASD children, the reality is that he gets "stuck" on certain characters/themes and that is to the exclusion of everything else. So it may be "Masha i Medved" for a few months, and "Bubble Guppies" thereafter. Currently, it's all about Sponge Bob Square Pants though :)

4. His understanding and fluency of language has increased massively since we started. He started asking "wh" questions sometime in late January and from February he has been going to a private nursey with his ABA shadows. Initially for an hour a time twice a weak, and it's now up to four sessions of 2.5 hours each. Socialising with kids is still very much a development area, in his words he finds them "a bit boring". He much prefers adults and babies. We are working on it, and the shadows have been essential in creating lots of different situations for him to apply the skills they've been building at home.

Hope this helps!

Thank you very much for your response it has been very helpful. I have been swamped by all the information and now trying to get my thoughts around it, lots to thinks of!

35 hours a week! That is great! Do you do any tutoring yourselves? I am afraid in our case it will be mostly myself doing the tutoring, though I am not sure how I will manage with the newborn and the new programme, and maybe I will have some luck recruiting at least one tutor to help.

I think stucking on certain things is not only autistic, I think it is pretty normal for toddlers /kids when they get so interested with a particular theme/characters. We also have a change of topics from time to time:)

Can I ask how this shadowing is structured? We are currently trying to find a person who could do couple of hours a day whilst he is at the nursery to support the programme and also help him to get involved with the peers more, like maybe inviting one child to play with him. But I head a lot about shadows and not sure whether it is the same thing.

One positive thing so far is that over the past week suddenly smth clicked in his brain and he started understanding better,and you can actually be sure now that when he answers your question with yes or no, he really means it:)

Sign up on the ABA uk yahoo group and put an advert for a tutor, you should receive some responses (include your area)

Good luck

Thanks Sammy, I have done so, so far nothing:( Probably not the most popular location:(