Too early for assessment?

[Jones2019]

Hi,
I hope this post makes sense, as many of you know seeing the signs can be a very worrying and confusing time. I just want to do what’s best for my child.

I have a 38 month old son who is on the waiting list for speech and language therapy (seems like a language delay as there are lots of words) after his sogs test (carried out at 36 months) put him at 24 months for speech/language but 36 months for hearing and language.
He doesn’t have a back and forth conversation and repeats straplines from adverts and books (doesn’t recite whole passages). We are fortunate in that he can ask for what he wants but mostly uses 2-3 word sentences although regularly uses come on mummy let’s go.

he is still in parallel play at nursery and appears to be hyperlexic.

other than the above, he sings, dances, role plays, has good eye contact, answers to his name and looks up, has empathy for children and adults and knows all the emotions and demonstrates them.

Do you think we have enough to have him assessed or should I wait and see what the salt says?

thank you for reading

Assessment for what ASD, DLD, something else?

Sorry I thought I had put that in the title. I guess ASD I don’t have too much knowledge sorry

Has your HV been out to see him?

Have you spoken to the nursery and discussed your concerns?

Have a look at the M-Chat checklist.

Just so you know it is a myth autistic people can’t make eye contact and aren’t empathetic.

Yes Sogs test carried out at 36 months by the HV and referred for speech therapy due to language at 24 months. He has improved since then language wise

Yes nursery and I have been in discussions and they have a plan in place for him. They know everything I have done this far with the HV etc.
I have had a look at the m chat but is more appropriate for younger toddlers I understand? I just want to put the best support in place for him as soon as I can really but don’t want to make for unnecessary testing etc. I sound stupid don’t I!
I have an autistic friend so I understand where you are coming from in terms of the lack of eye contact and empathy but these are listed so I thought I’d mention. Thanks so much for taking the time to respond

It is aimed at slightly younger toddlers but will give you an indication.

Did your HV have any concerns?
I ask as when my son had his yearly review etc we were referred for SALT and peads at the same time as once they met him afew times they could see my concerns themselves.
I have to agree about the eye contact, my son is on the spectrum and his eye contact is amazing.
I would still do the m chat, give your HV a ring and tell her your concerned and ask for a visit to chat about it.

Your ds sounds very similar to mine (mine just turned 3). I've also done the mchat tests since he was 24 months old and he has always scored low risk. Again he has loads of words but I feel like the sentences he forms are learnt phrases rather than him putting it together. I was going to open a new thread to see if anyone has any experiences in this and the timeline on how speech and communication forms. My ds pointed at 17 months randomly which then turned into joint attention and pointing to request between 19 -22 months. The joint attention was always done by looking in my eyes before the pointing came along at 17 months. Hv and nursery says nothing to worry about.

Thanks for the replies and noted on eye contact. The signs are very woolly I guess because the spectrum is so broad. I’d say ds obvious signs are the development of his speech, echolalia, Hyperlexia and stuck in parallel play.
M-Chat scores low risk.
He doesn’t really seem to have any sensory/eating/sleeping signs although I know that’s not necessarily relevant?
The dancing throws me a bit. He likes watching other kids dancing and then copies.
We don’t really have any friends with little ones close to his age.
The only change since his visit from HV back in January is that as his language has developed, the issues there have become more evident.
She is due to come back to us in June. Maybe I will drop her a line.
Nursery raised his echoing questions and lack of play with other kids. He does seem to do everything they ask there and follows directions well. Only seems to join in when he’s really interested. He gives affection to carers there.

@aghhinlaws do you notice any echolalia/hyperlexia? Does he speak much at nursery? Does he have much functional speech?

Should mention he’s always danced and dances to music without copying too

Hi @Jones2019 my ds does have echolalia. The phrases he use feels like stock phrases he has but in terms with functional speech, in the last couple of weeks he is saying "it's mine" and " I can't" and "I want drink". The phrases and words he has used since turning 2, have always been in correct context though. When I drop ds off to nursery and pick him up, I notice the other kids who are older than ds still parallel play but the only difference is that they pass and show toys whereas my ds just snatches it off them. I'm just hoping this is because he has no siblings and no play dates as this wasn't formed during lockdown and it is something that can be learned (hopefully) as he recently joined nursery as well. He does speak in nursery but again using stock phrases. He is super active though and has almighty tantrums and I find it difficult trying to explain what we are doing next as he sometimes doesn't understand or just responds "ok" or "let's go" which is something I say all time so I can't tell whether it's the stepping stones before the back and forth conversations start or not. Also, he is saying no to everything which makes me think that this was supposed to happen at least a year ago where toddlers say no to everything?

Also I was a late speaker as well and apparently my mother had the same concerns I have now with ds. A lot of the things I mention apparently I did as well and have been looked at by professionals over 30 years ago. I was never diagnosed with anything and today I am 100% certain that I'm nt or had traits that I have either grown out of or still have a couple just like a huge number of the general population who are nt but have a trait. Btw, I'm no expert in this field and I apologise if I've made any ignorant comments as I'm here to learn from op's thread and wanted to share my own concern with ds.

Sounds familiar minus the tantrums. I only know what I have looked up on varying sites and if speech is your only concern and you haven’t spoken to your health visitor, I’d probably recommend that first.
I think our situation here is a little different in the sense that we have hyperlexia too. I think you can refer your own child for speech and language assessment. My HV said it was an option given that he had equivalent of a 2 year old (wouldn’t reference a past event) so I just jumped on it. Any help is great.

I think I just wanted to know if in anyones experience we should watch and wait or jump now based on his current signs