Autism diagnosis.

[Jadejade]

Hi all my little one is 2.5yrs and has just had an autism diagnosis. He isnt yet talking which is my main concern but is very vocal. I'm really worried about if he will talk at all as iv read that alot if children with autism can be non verbal. Does anyone have any advice on activities ect that I can do with him to help him along the way. Due to covid speak therapy is not an option at the moment. Any tips would be really appreciated.

I'm marking this for late as I'm in a similar position.

Hiya
Just read your post and thought I'd jump on!
My son has just turned 4, he has just been diagnosed with ASD, sensory issues and global development delay.
My son was classed as non verbal, however during lockdown has made such great progress! We have been lucky enough to have had had sessions of speech and language therapy both before and during lockdown down via zoom online. So they defiantly can help you depending on your area! It's certainly worth asking your gp again! In fact it was actually our nursery who were brilliant and got us a referral for our son and although we waited quite a bit, it was so worth it!
There are so many little techniques that we learnt that have really helped our son! I had literally tried what seemed like everything and was coming to terms with the fact that he may never talk. We were given tips like breaking words down to just one or two words in a sentence such as....coat on. Shoes on etc.....
Use things that your little one is interested in. Eg, my son loves his ball pit and so we would play and i would say...red ball and over time he began to say red....and then a few week later, ball and then one day out of the blue picked it up and said....red ball! Keep being persistent and make it as fun as possible and be excited and full of praise even for making sounds.
My speech and language lady also encouraged me to talk constantly around him so even if you think he isn't paying attention, lots of the time they are actually taking it all in. We currently still use the PEC communication system which uses pictures and so we would use these to get him to communicate his needs or wants with us. Again, this took time but with nursery and me doing this at home, he quickly began to use this instead of being very frustrated.
I think the main worry is that when a speech and language referral is sent before the age of 3, it usually rejected according to my speech and language lady. She said this is because the lack of speech can still very much be down to developmental issues and sometimes there are delays for other reasons such as being a younger sibling and so on. We did not receive sessions until we had explored most avenues and eventually when he turned 3, they started the progress.
I'm sure I have lots of paperwork somewhere and would be happy to help more if I can!
I'm no professional and can only go by what I have been told by others :)
Hope this helps in some ways! Sorry it's so long winded :)
X

My son has Autism and didn't speak until he was 4y6m. Now he doesn't shut up lol

Also I am a ptofe

Silly phone, it meant to say professional. I have an autistic child and work with SEN children and as such have many SEN and autism specific qualifications :)