RE: Kids w/ Classic Autism, PDD-NOS & Speech Delays

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I definitely encouraged my son to get into video games. I had the Super Mario Bros. cartoon mixed into the rotation of videos he watched as a baby and even went so far as to make hand made Mario themed wooden toys and decorated a set of shelves in his room with a Mario theme.

I think it would help with my son's joint attention but at this point he still doesn't understand that he's controlling the character on the screen.

The only game he seems to understand is Fruit Ninja.

I figure it's good for a lot of things, it'd be something we could enjoy together, a normal interest he could share with peers, something to teach him problem solving and persistence, hand eye coordination, incentive to read and comprehend, a nice way to escape from a rough day.

I'm so glad to have found this thread. I'm not a parent myself but I work with little guys with classic autism. I have 5 kiddos I work with primarily ages 8,7,6,5 and 5.

I am not there parent but I've been with the 8 year old since he was two and his brother (who is 5 now) since he was born so I feel like they are mine.

I'm happy to find the thread and hopefully we can all learn lots form each other!

I'm so glad to have found this thread. I'm not a parent myself but I work with little guys with classic autism. I have 5 kiddos I work with primarily ages 8,7,6,5 and 5.

I am not there parent but I've been with the 8 year old since he was two and his brother (who is 5 now) since he was born so I feel like they are mine.

I'm happy to find the thread and hopefully we can all learn lots form each other!

Same here, I have been browsing the site but I don't post much since most of the threads are related to "high functioning" kids. My little guy has classic Autism, is 6 years old and has very little speech outside of repeating what we say or very basic requests.

Somehow I missed this thread even though it is stickied!

Anyway, glad to find other parents here who can relate!

Your little guy sounds like some of the kiddos I work with. When did he start talking? Repeating is usually the first step to developing more language down the line!

Yes my daughter is the same. There's really not much options now, she's just hooked on ipad video games.

I'm really glad to hear you found this thread. Feel free to share.

My eight yr old daughter has classic autism and like your son tends to echolalia and only respond to simple requests. But she's always improving in many areas and we remain hopeful that she will be able to live independently one day.

This thread tends to cover areas such as speech therapy, comprehension and communication with others which tend not to be the focus of parents of Aspies.

He has been able to repeat words for some time and he is able to say certain words very clearly. I've seen some parents mention that sentences came later for their kids, between 8 and 10 years old, so we are really hopeful that it will lead into more language in the future.

Hi Klownest, does your son know how to read? I had something like his low level of language also when I was six, and I learned sentences and speaking from english as a second language classes and reading when I was eight. If it hadn't been for that explicit learning of language, I still wouldn't have developed much language, because it is too unnatural for me to use language, so I am not sure that something like late language development can happen with age, but might require the right type of intervention like my esl classes.

Hi btbnnyr, thanks for your reply!

He is not reading yet but he able to "sight read" words that he has memorized, so he in on his way to reading. ESL classes are an interesting idea, I had never thought of that to be honest, thank you for the idea. We have been using PECS for some time and it is limited but does help.

Right now we are struggling with anxiety and getting into the classroom each morning. We thought he was afraid of the school mascot (fierce looking tiger) but we changed entrances so it is not visible and it did not help. We've had to resort to a stroller some days to get from the car to the classroom, but he is OK once he is inside. The stroller is comforting for DS but he is outgrowing it and it feels like regression when we thought we were done with the stroller last year. Considering getting a more heavy duty stroller but at the same time we want him walking as much as possible obviously.

My wife told me she saw my son today tell a contractor "hi".

This would be the first time he has ever said a word to anyone aside from us, lol she said the guy didn't even notice him saying it(a little kid saying hi is probably nothing to him, but big for us)

That's great! I on the other hand wish my son would stop talking to strangers.

My son got "diagnosed" by some stranger in the post office. The guy turns to me and asks if my son is autistic, I said uhhhhhh yes, and then he said yea.

I don't know why that bugged me.(my son was not acting out or melting down, if anything he was well behaved and quiet)

I made the mistake of asking a lady in a doctor's clinic if her daughter was autistic as she was spinning around in circles staring at a ceiling fan and muttering to herself, The lady was outraged I could say such a thing. A bit like asking an overweight female if she is pregnant.