ASD language disorder and delay

[Sparkle41]

DS, 5 is in MS reception, EHCP, 30 hrs 1:1. We his annual review next week and I would really appreciate some advice.
He has made great progress this year with sitting & attention/reading/maths, writing, cognitively no issues and most importantly is very happy in school. He participates fully in everything going on with help from his 1:1 support. I help in his school with reading/trips etc. When I am in and they are on the carpet, he doesn't take in most of what is being said. He has real difficulty processing verbal information. He has learnt to sit better albeit very fidgety and can get a bit noisy. There seems to be so much requirement for this, assemblies/shows and whole group learning etc. I went on a trip the other day where they had to sit and listen and answer questions for long periods. It just seems like he is not getting anything out of these sorts of lessons. unless simply participating happily in the trip is enough? His language delay and disorder is by far his biggest issues at the moment and although his current school are great I can't help feeling that he needs a more specialist S&L environment as so much stuff is over his head. In terms of his language he uses a lot of delayed echolalia (in context) scrips from TV programmes a lot (whole other thread). Uses learnt phrases, lots of 2/3 words but difficulty in answering questions. We know he has difficulty sequencing language. He has private SALT every 2 weeks in school and occasional NHS but it is a very slow process.
I am not sure if I should just be happy that he is happy at school and making progress or that if a child has quite a severe language delay and disorder they would do better in an environment where S&L is central to learning. Obviously no guarantee he would get a place elsewhere. I am unsure if it is a case of always wondering if a SS would be better.
Any advice appreciated.

Thank you zzzzz for replying.

Hi Sparkle, our kids sound very similar! We are not considering moving our son at the moment. He is happy at school and learning albeit he very much needs his 1:1 and small groups. We are working on his sitting still in the hope that this may help him concentrate and learn in large group environments. At the moment when his TAs see he is getting lost (e.g. On the carpet) they often take him
Off for some extra language or motor skills work.

I had this dilemma when DS was in reception but made the decision to move him to a specialist S&L provision in the end. In DS case, he had a very severe speech and language disorder/ delay with an additional diagnosis of verbal and oral dyspraxia !

Everyone loved my DS at his Ms school, the children and staff were very lovely and DS was very happy. However, I was selfish, I wanted DS to communicate, I wanted him to make actual friends instead of friends who saw him as a baby ( they children were very nice but he was babied a lot), I wanted him to gain verbal speech and communicate effectively so that he can navigate the world etc. Speech and language provision at his MS was very insufficient. At his specialist S&L school he gets speech and language therapy every day delivered by an SLT.

I could of waited to see how he did at his MS. But I didn't want to take the risk. It also helped that I used to work with teenagers who had very severe speech and communication difficulties and displayed very severe behavioural problems. Some of the staff members confided in me that when some of the teenagers were younger, no one taught them any forms of communication or worked on their speech and language difficulties ( whether in their specialist or mainstream school) and as a result have very severe behavioural problems due to the lack of communication skills. This swayed my decision even more.

DS went from saying 5 words to around 200 when I moved him. We have come conversations and arguments . Which I thought would never happen. He is however still severely delayed compared to his age. Also, if we hadn't gone to the socialist school I wouldn't of known about high tec technology, which has helped DS tremendously since his got it.

However, I think DS has suffered socially since attending his SS ( I don't know it this could be because he goes to an out of borough school) But the majority of children come from all over the borough, so it's difficult to arrange play dates. The children have different needs which can be quite difficult to accommodate. DS loves going to noisy places ( cinemas, fun fairs etc). Some of the children can't tolerate loud noises so for their sake I have to accommodate to their needs if I plan to take them and DS out.

It also goes in your favour that your DS is academically keeping up with the curriculum. There are some children with severe SLCN that are exceptional in their academics. DS wasn't like this, even though he was above average cognitively, due to his SLCN he wasn't able to access the MS curriculum. Also in reception they seem ok, it's when they got older within the primary school years, social demands and expectations increase that may have an impact. Though you may never know.

I don't know if I did the best thing for DS, I guess you have to look at your current situation and see from there.

Just to add. Even though I chose a specialist provision for DS. I visited 16 specials and there was only two that I actually thought would be a best fit for DS !

sausagepickle123 that's great your DS is doing well and comforting to know I am not alone. notgivingin789 your DS sounded like he was in a very similar position to my son. The children and staff are great and very lovely with him but he is definitely babied. I may also be being selfish in wanting to push the SALT and like you were concerned that his communication and language delay/disorder may lead to behavioural issues further down the line. I am very aware that reception has been great for him and he has come on leaps and bounds but concerned that the step up to Y1 will be tough. I guess I will see how his review goes and how Y1 starts to pan out. Above all I take on board that he is happy and at a very supportive school which I do appreciate is like gold dust.

I dream of being able to have a conversation that doesn't revolve around a request for food or TV, I would even be delighted with an argument