will my asd son ever start talking?

[jilly78]

my ds is 2y10m and is still completely non verbal. i know speech delay is very common in autism. will he always be non verbal or will he eventually start talking? if your dc had speech delay what age did they satrt to talk?

Just tieing some of these things together, and drawing in personal experience of others on here...

If a child has
A)learning difficulties,
B) food intolerances
C)sensory issues,

its not surprising i suppose that these children; learn at a slower rate still when food eaten causes tummy upsets, headaches and generally feeling unwell. This taking all resources just to grow (if only very slowly as does DS5) and survive each day. Having to cope with an overload of sensory input, exacerbated no doubt by the food intolerances again. Is there any wonder at this point that the child regresses and resorts to the calming themselves by stimming? No wonder the action of learning simply doesnt get a look-in!

so at this point speech looks impossble task, given that the child has to be able to concentrate firstly, then understand, THEN form the words... something an NT child would take a year or more to learn. Faced with these problems, its amazing that these children manage any communication at all, and no-one would blame them if they didnt!

I feel that after this lightbulb moment, i hope to find just one more ounce of patience half way thru another 2 hour meltdown! tho i say that in the calmness of the morning, when the day is just starting...

That's the theory behind Floortime..... - sensory issues (however they arise) meake back and forth interaction impossible and so the child doesn't learn.

There are other factors as well. Recent research has shown that severely autistic children have arousal levels all over the place. They can be sat still with arousal hitting the ceiling. correct levels of arousal are apparently important for learning (they tell what to pay attention to).

I would second the thinking that arousal levels can inhibit learning. My ds lives in a very sensory world, his O.T. has said that he uses his large muscles to engage in activities to self-calm - so lots of jumping, climbing and moving about. Plus there are his oral sensitivities too. It's as though the only time he can switch off from stimulation is by being asleep.

Going to research probiotics today, also had a lightbulb moment last night discussing the timing of the older two boys difficult behaviours during the day with DH. We realised that all the boys are calm and interact quite well in the morning (I don't tend to witness this as DH does the morning shift), behaviour deteriorates AFTER they have had their usual cereal and milk and they also tned to be hyperactive and aggressive in the evening after a cereal supper. As an experiment this morning they have had cucumber, brazil nuts and an omellette ! Good job they are not too fussy. Diet changes seem to be the theme round here ATM, DH is trying to lower his cholererol, I find restrictive diets difficult, partly because I was brought up by a mother with an eating disorder I think.
Relevant to earlier posts, my two are at the mild end of the spectrum and are verbal but DS2 regularly goes mute when overloaded.

JimJams, your post makes a great deal of sense. DS1 has ADHD and had an IQ of 126 at the age of 9. However, his SAT levels at that time were those of a 6y/o because he struggled with prioritising between the birds singing outside, the childs squeeky chair behind him, the teacher walking up the corridor, the grooves in the desk, the sun coming through the window... and oh yes, the teacher talking at the front of the classroom. Every day he came home more and more wound up ready up errupt, and often did. All that imput was simply too much. He was taken out of school, his behaviour improved, his mood and attitude improved... and guess what? he started learning too! Incidentally, hes taking his GCSE's 2yrs early! I doubt that would have happened if he had been left where he was.

I found the range of Baby Bumblebees vocabulary builders dvd's (got mine off ebay but think they have their own website) worked wonders for DS1's speech - his vocab went from 20 - 300 words in a matter of weeks. They are recommended for children with ASD or language delays - DS1 has pre dx HFA we believe and doesn't absorb language easily through hearing it, I've discovered he's a really visual learner but these dvd's seem to have stimulated his ability to absorb language more easily and i'm finding he's picking up language from me now, as well as from the screen.

Would highly recommend to all, only drawback is they are a bit American, DS1 looks to me when the "stroller" comes on screen, waiting for me to shout, "no, it's a push chair!"

we've got baby bumblebee and it's got the NT 22month old talking loads and my 3yo says nothing. I would like to believe that his receptive language is improving though.

He spooked me once last year when he suddenly stopped whinning and stimming at lunch, looked me straight in the eye and said 'come' in a commanding voice and nodded towards his spoon. I fed him and he repeated it three times and was so focussed and coherent. it hasn't happened since then and he has never looked or acted as competent. it's as though something switched on temporarily and switched off again after a couple of minutes.

this link got me thinking www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/114688.php

link

@sphil inknkw this was a very long
time ago but my little one is the same would love to know how yours has progressed over the years