What can I do to increase ds' language?

[nikos]

Ds has had a really bad day today and is using a lot of aggression. He is verbal and talks all the time, but in a very concrete way. His teacher is speculating that his lack of expressive language (for example, to tell us he doesnt feel well, needs some space, doesnt like the activity) is possibly what is causing the aggression.
I do the usual of reading stories,etc but wondered if any of you had any tips to help him generate more elaborate language. He has ASD for those of you who havent seen my posts before.
Feeling quite down tonight. He was getting on great at his setting, but he slapped his teacher in the face today

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Might some visual cues help? So he could have a sad face card say to show to the teacher when feels stressed? I wonder if it's more a case of him find it hard to express himself rather than needing to develop more elaborate language? Sorry to hear he had a bad day at school today.

good idea with the visual cues. i didn't think they would help with my ds because he too is VERY verbal (talks non-stop, just not much real communication going on), but they really have helped - in his case with transitioning between activities.

not sure if your ds will be too old for this but we use a toy as an intermediary and it has really helped ds too. he has a big teddy that we use when we are playing communication games and it just seems to take the pressure off communication for him.

i've just bought a big monkey glove puppet for his christmas for the same reason. may sound a bit daft, but ds was really resistant to communicating directly, and using the go-between really did seem to give him a bit more confidence. you can introduce a lot of ideas and vocabulary through role play this way. sorry if not appropriate for your ds for age reasons.

i know it sounds odd but my son with asd used to bite and pinch and pushed other children and he got better with osteopathy,www.foundationforosteopathy... he now sits and socai;lizes with peers and teachers and can wear hats nd put on xmas costumes and walk nicely. my son only speaks 4 words and we are doing a biomedical treatment plan to remove metal toxins [which they nearly all have] and leaky gut[yeast] which they all definately have through a dan docotor [a nutritionalist] you can view information on this in uk at www.treatingautism.com. when i read stories i use visual cues such as dolly'e toys musical instruments puppets drums,to read the book or even sing it sometimes which works well with lots of asd kids, my child is 6 now is improving each week. aggression and behavour issues can be cured by osteopathy, also by a sensory diet, i.e. deep pressure with a cushion on torso, brushing on skin away from heart, a nice place to have as a santuary such as a blanket under a duvet or a pop up tent also indoor swings such as ikea is great to release tension, maybe its hard for him to vocalise feeling expressions because of his asd, the o.t. at the school [if there is one] should give you a sensory diet] just for his needs if its not on his statement ask for an assessment as they have great ideas.
another great thing is a book on amazon called
The out of sync child, gives you load s of ideas to play with your child and increase vocalisation and more play skills...

Nikos, I usually find with DD that one of the most important things is just time. Keeping her calm and allowing her to find the words to express herself. She's also doing good exercises with her salt using faces and describing emotions, and they are starting to talk about "why" the faces are sad / happy, etc. She's starting saying that things are "nice" which is a totally new one for her. Does he have a quiet place at school to get away to?

TClanger - small thread hijack...what makes you think that M's problems could be leaky gut. I keep thinking this is something that I "ought" to be concerned about (I've posted queries on here before about biomedicals) because everyone else I know whose DC is like mine is on some kind of diet, but I can't tell what symptoms I ought to be seeing, IYSWIM. What is is about M that makes you think leaky gut could be a problem, if you don't mind my asking?

Thanks for all your input. The school is in a portacabin so, although ds has his own workstation it is very difficult to find quiet. He does have a sensory issue with noise.
How do I find an oestoepath who knows about autism? How does it work? Does it relieve tension? Just curious to know what the thinking is behind it.
I'm another one who needs to look at diet so would be interested to know what the symptoms are.
Ds is at mainstream so there is no OT at school but would be interested to know what a sensory diet is.

hi nikos, sorry you've had such a rotten day.
I took both ds1 and ds2 for cranial sacral osteopathy but although it was great for ds2, I don't feel it helped ds1 (possible ASD/lang disorder) that much although he did find it calming.
We're down SW, and the lady we used is amazing - I'd be happy to put anyone in touch.

Yes, the osteopathy can REALLY help with sleeping and tension - did it with DS when he was a baby. Actually, DD has always slept well. Also find myself thinking that the leaky gut thing can't really apply in her case. Never constipated as a baby. Occasionally now but never longer than 2 or 3 days and that's getting better now she's starting to figure out the potty thing (still a few accidents but like Unbelievable progress in last 2 weeks). Also she's NEVER sick. If there's a vomiting bug going round she never gets it or if she does it never lasts for longer than a day. Hasn't had diarrhoea since she was 8 mos old. However, do think the Sunderland test is a good idea. Am still kind of tempted if latest round of assessments don't throw more light on what's actually happening. Interesting what you say about brow presentation. Both of mine were but DD's birth was emergency section after my waters were flooded with meconium. At DS's birth staff were much more on the ball and were able to turn him before he got distressed and he came out the right way.
Apologies, even more waffly post than TC's and not relevant to the initial OP.
Sorry to hear you're having a tough time with your DS Niko. Sounds like school need to help you with his sensory issues a bit more.

We did the Sunderland test and it showed up leaky gut for us although ds has never had a problem with constipation or diarrhoea either so it did throw me a bit. I still need to trial the gluten free diet and must get on to it.
Our paediatrician was incredibly scathing about the Sunderland findings and sent me some research from the BMJ disputing it all. I am open minded and given the improvement in ds after I took aspartame (Robinsons sugar free squash!) out of his diet, can well believe the effects that the wrong diet can have on our dc's.

really good to hear about osteopahty success. we will try cranial osteopathy and see if whateffect. have got info booklet from univ of sunderland which is v v interesting reading

tclanger - when you went to sound learning centre , did M do just the listening part - or also the lightwave and the deuro dev programme?

thanks

Can I just ask is it cranial osteopathy that works or general osteopathy?

tclanger
was the neuro dev prog the exercises for crossing the midline - 2 arms drawing at same time, double doodle, cross crawl etc? osr something different? do you think htey helped?

kettlechip - whereabouts in south west - devon/somerset? also have you used any things based south west/ot/salt/other etc to give other support? (my friend's son 10yrs with aspergers - trying to find out all options)

thanks

hi improvingslowly, (that could be my nickname too!) we're a bit further down west and the lady I use operates from Cornwall although gets people coming to her from as far as Devon.
I've found our local area is surprisingly good for SALT and ASD provision, there is a separate SENCO for ASD, for example, ds has one to one support at his preschool and regular SALT which is also on a one to one basis.

there is one other thing i would like to add about biomedical treatment and leaky gut and metal toxins, this can be paid for by www.caudwellchildren.com for 2 years, they select a dan doctor for you if you have not already found one and they pay £6000.00 for two years....to the [nutritionalist] dan doctor
it is the best facility for autism so far, you can see videos of recovered children on you tuve and at www.autism.com

both cranial and osteopathy work,we are doing
ait in february and my friends child gor lots of language with it for her child..