Finally!!! ds2 'salt sessions are next week...but is it worth it?

[mysonben]

We got the letter for ds2( suspected ASD)'s second lot of SALT , they will be working in a small group as before. This time the work will focus on 'linking words' (it was single words and turn taking before), but they are asking the parents NOT to sit in during the sessions. A pparently we will be invited to sit in for 1 session only.
My main worry is that now ds2 does link words ,he can do it with 3 or 4 words, but it is quite restricted ,he will ask 'what's that mummy?' mainly when pointing at the things he obssesses about, or he will say'what's that noise?'when he hears the noises he obssesses about , and lately 'where's daddy gone?', but that's it, he will not say 'can i have a drink please?' although he does know all the words requiered ,instead he says 'i want drink' or even ''arennananrenan...drink!' that's his gibberish talk ..
He seems a bit stuck in his progress , also he still doesn't understand much of what is said to him.
He 's had his pre-school jabs this afternoon, and DH was trying to get him to show his arm where the doctor did the jab, but ds couldn't get it he just kept repeating 'yes doctor this way' whislt pointing outside .
It is simply impossible to have a simple conversation with ds2 , either he won't pay attention or he repeats what is just been said to him, or clearly hasn't got a clue as to what is been said.
It is disheartening sometimes and i wonder when is he going to be able to talk properly like the other kids we know. Maybe iam asking too much too quick...

.... well done lo! go for it regards to the salt...stop worrying, dc get to their own levels in there own time...just take all the salt you can get. Kids do get " stuck" at times... i like to think they are just absorbing at those times, rather than ignoring....How old is he? .my dd4 is nearly 4 (next month)and shes still saying one word at a time, mostly echolia.... but she'll there eventually!Try not to worry....

Ds is 3y7m. I know he has made real progress lately in terms of naming vocabulary , but i can't help comparing him to other kids and wish he made more sense with his talking and could understand what is said, he just doesn't get the meaning of our questions , he focuses on a particular word from the conversation and keeps repeating it.
We all have our work cut out it seems don't we?

ah the joys of echolia! .....Does DS have a dx yet?... im still waiting on a dx letter, (although ive had various "it could be x ,z , or y 's".

DS had a verbal dx of 'mild ASD" by the paed. We now have to wait until october for the next app to review the need for an autistic assesment.In the meantime ds has SALT and help from a SENCO at nursery from time to time. Better than nothing really.

TBH the help you get now is pretty much the same as if he had a written down ,stamped ,verified cast iron clad ,100% guarenteed dx..BUT i think you could have more salt , just stick to your guns there and insist DS gets more.... and dont give up...ever!

yes that's a bit odd they don't want you sitting in on group SALT, would be interested to see their justification.

Re:conversation/understanding - DS was DX'd with severe language delay at 3 - at 5 he is much improved - not IME normal (but supposedly within normal range....) but speaking quite fluently in sentences certainly you can have some conversation with him. It may be a case of months or a year or two (SALT as you will have seen is no quick fix, unfortunately)- but your boy will build on what he can already do and be able to speak and understand more.

Use loads of gestures, visuals, photos etc to help your boy understand too. Might even be worth doing a bit of signing to give a visual cue for new words, the sing and sign dvds are quite nice for adjectives etc.

It was lovely hearing your ds speak when we met at Manchester TotalChaos. It was apparent though that there are still issues, he still had some echolalia, he didn't express opinions on anything or ask "why" about things and he didn't seem to understand "why", ie when you asked him why he was frightened of dogs. Of course it's difficult to get an idea in a relatively short space of time, especially considering he doesn't know us well, but yes, I'd have said there's still language issues goign on. I hope that doesn't upset you and that I'm just repeating what you know. My ds1 loved meeting him, he kept telling us afterwards 'S say 'wheee'" .

bullet - no, not upsetting - if only SALT would be that honest with me . He isn't 100% on why/because, and tends to say "but" instead of because, so if you didn't know him like I do, you might think he didn't have it at all....He does ask the odd "why" question, but never had the typical "why" barrage iyswim.

Just realised I didn't reply to the OP. It's really a case of not comparing your child to other children, but at looking at the progress he makes individually. My ds1's language is not typical of other nearly six year olds. He still has echolalia, conversation is very difficult with him and when his language is typical, it's typical for a much younger child, if that makes sense. But the progress he has made in the last few years has been fantastic.

yes I agree with Bullet - that you keep yourself sane by trying to compare as little as possible - but by focussing on what your child is learning and their achievements etc. When my DS was 3, I had this vague hope of a magic "catch-up" by school starting age at the latest - and that hasn't 100% happened - but my DS has made good progress - and that means a lot to all our lives. My experience is that once expressive/receptive language age reaches 3 year old level, you can really get going with the little conversations.

If I can offer you any hope when Jack was diagnosed with moderate autism at 3.3 he had no useable speech, lots of echolalia and the ability to recognise numbers and read words (he could read the newspaper)
At his diagnosis it was felt that he would never speak properly but by the time Jack was eight he had normal speech.
To me it sounds like ds is doing really well. I think you might just have to be patient and try not to compare him with others.
In my experience it's far better for a child to have a small amount of functional speech rather than like my daughter who speaks like a BBC newsreader but doesn't understand much of what she says and even less of what is said to her.
Hope this helps, Donna