DD will soon be catching up DS with her understanding of language....sad.

[mysonben]

in another thread i spoke about the results of DS's SAL assesment at the language unit he goes to.
DS is now 4.3, his understanding of verbal language is that of a 2 years old !! We knew he was quite delayed but not this much. Salt said he has significant delay in that area. His speech sounds and syntax are also dealayed but less (1y to 18 m behind).
DD will be 2 in april, to think he barely understand speech only a little bit than her is so sad. It won't be long she catches up with him then.

It's hard for me to fully understand this, how is DS able to speak significantly more than understand what is said to him.
I mean to be able to talk, first you must have a grasp of the understanding of the words!?? No?? ...

Salt DS saw last year said DS has semantic/pragmatic difficulties, SALTs at the unit agree too. I've googled it up a few times to get an idea.
To put it simply could it be he knows the words but doesn't get the meaning of words in a long sentence it gets muddled up in his mind somewhere.

!!! Kissingfrogs , i would take this with a pinch of salt! 'I was told by EP that dd2 at 4.6 is far too young to be considered for something like SPD, that we'll have to wait until she is much older (8+) before that could be looked into'

EP are good at making quick comments of the sort to discourage parents from seeking dx, as of course once a formal dx has been made, parents have too be taken more seriously and dx are a useful tool in obtaining statments.

EP made contradicting comments about my DS. First she said 'his needs are not severe enough to warrant statmenting' then 'he is far too young to get an asd dx' (DS is 4.3 btw)
Second meeting and she had got the news that DS had been put forward for asd dx assessment she said 'children with severe communication disorders can appear very similar to asd'.

So she undirectly admitted that DS's needs were severe on the communication aspect (DS is generally non violent, so no dangerous unaceptable behaviours at nursery, when he has a bad tantrum it is all contained inside himself, his high anxiety is palpable, he has tears , screams but rarely lashes out)
So they won't care if he sits at a desk spinning his pencil all day, as long as he doesn't cause too many problems for them.

I feel we just cannot trust much of what is said to us.
And a dx we are seeking indeed.

Good luck.

Thanks mysonben. It's frustrating isn't it (and that's an understatement).
We know our dc's need help, but it seems that they have to well & truely fail & fall apart first before they are taken seriously. I'm not prepared to just wait and see if dd2 copes in school over the next few years. She shouldn't have to cope alone, children should not have to struggle like that.
I spend most nights trawling the net for information to educate myself on all things related to language disorders, ASD etc etc....because there is so little quality support or info from the LEA & professionals. Mumsnet is a godsend in that respect.
I'm moving this year so hoping the next LEA is more proactive.
Good luck to you too