Language development

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Hello,

I am posting to ask for advise on the development of language in young children with autism.

My non-verbal 4 year old has limited receptive language and zero expressive language. We began to try to teach him to communicate via ASL or PECS, until I realized that at the core of his problems is poor receptive language. What is the best way to develop this ? We (parents & older NT sibling) have greatly simplified our language even more than usual (using no more than one word and waiting for an acknowledgement prior to proceeding with further words) and use gestures or pictures, to go with the words, to ensure that he understands them. But I don't see a lot of progress.

What can we do to help him understand that when we make these sounds, we are not just verbal stimming like he does, but trying to communicate with him ? I am especially asking people whose language developed late, as you may have insights that can help me help my son. What pre-requisite skills are required before an individual with autism can begin to comprehend language ? I am pretty sure my son thinks we are also just experimenting and stimming with sounds like he is, and don't know how to reach him. He is also cognitively delayed, and has poor play skills.

Thanks !



PS : Editing this post to say : PLEASE PLEASE don't share anecdotal evidences of other kids who suddenly started talking in their teens after being non-verbal all their lives. This does NOT help me, unless you include information on how you or their parents brought about language development in those kids. This is not a "seeking hope" thread or a "pity party" thread. I don't have a lot of time and would deeply appreciate PRACTICAL language development strategies only. If you feel that you know some techniques but those strategies only work for higher functioning kids, please don't bother to respond. Believe it or not, that is a subtle put down and equivalent to bluntly telling me that my kid is too stupid to learn (which, too, I have heard before and have no tolerance for).

Last edited by HisMom on 11 Jan 2014, 1:31 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Well I don't know what methods were used with me.
But what I will say is to hang in there.
I was nonverbal nonresponsive up to age four and only monosyllabic up to age 7.
Hopefully the older sibling will help with a breakthrough.
With me my slightly older cousin I was around all the time was the one who reached me best (i have no sibs).
I hope someone will be able to give you some good tips on this, and I figured an "I finally did it" sharing
might help. I still have some speech issues, but I am always making progress.

Yes, it helps. You gave me a lot of hope ! ! Thank you.

Could you tell me how your cousin helped ? My son does not acknowledge his sister (unless she has anything that he wants!) and can be rough with her. Did your cousin play with you ? Any feedback you can give me is much appreciated. Thank you !

For a lot of children, these skills might develop very slowly over time.

It sounds like you are taking a lot of the right kinds of steps, but patience, persistence and being attuned to your son's capabilities and capacity to make quick gains will be important.

Please be aware that it might take quite a while for these skills to develop. The biggest thing your son (all kids, really) need is your love and support.

Have you utilized a speech/language pathologist? I was quite verbal as a kid, but had difficulty enunciating and I used words in rather odd ways... If you haven't already, it might be something to consider.

Yes. He is absolutely loved for who he is, even if I do say so myself.

We used an SLP in the past, but it didnt work out as she was fairly young & new to the field and he can be a tough client (unless you know what you are doing with him). I am now looking for a new SLP, and interviewing a few. It is costly (the "interviews" aka assessments) but I want to be absolutely sure we pick the right therapist, from this point out.

Finding the right match is always the hardest part! Both personality-wise and skill-wise!

Your son is very lucky to have you looking out for him

That really means a lot. It might not show now, but it does.
The support and encouragement I got from my folks went a long ways with me.
I don't really remember being four. Just bits and pieces until I was around six or seven.
But I know there was a lot more going on in my head then I was able to express outwardly.



My cousin has always just able to interact with me pretending like i was a regular kid.
He does stuff no one else gets away with like tackling me and stuff I would freak out with anyone else.
I remember he used to translate for me like, "Ezra wants...".
Maybe it because we are both boys and only four months apart.
I will add tho that I have had meltdowns on him, not all sunshine and flowers

I agree with you, the match with the speech therapist is everything. And finding someone is hard.

I know this will be expensive if you are paying, but have you considered a pediatric occupational therapist? There are some great ones, and they can help so much with sensory problems that get in the way of developing positive connections to people, which helps communication immensely.

And presumably you know how to access public services and are, unless you don't want to? No pressure, just wondering because where I live a completely nonverbal 4 year old would be getting more professional attention. Which isn't perfect, just options for you.

The school district's idea of "helping" my son was to tell me that he is "mentally ret*d" and to place in a class for kids with "intellectual disabilities" so "he can learn to wash his hands and dress himself, you may as well get him as independent as possible, if he is going to live with you for the REST OF YOUR LIFE."

If it weren't for the fact that I would be charged for assault, I would have slapped the PSYCHO-LOGIST and the program "manager" repeatedly and hard until they passed out from an inability to breathe. Thanks, but no thanks to your "offer of help".

How were your play skills between the ages of 4 to 7 ? Do you remember being able to understand spoken language even if you couldn't talk ?

The world is full of stories of parents who did not believe the authorities and did believe in their child's potential, and find a way.

Your child is very different from mine, but since you feel your child is stimming a lot, maybe some of the OT strategies like swinging, heavy blanket or vest, etc. might be helpful. Stimming is often related to stress, if you can find ways to decrease the stress of dealing with the world, it frees your child to focus more on learning and communicating.

I hope you can find a capable speech therapist and occupational therapist to help. I can't even imagine how difficult it is without that support at such a young age!!

I hope I am reading your post incorrectly / misinterpreting your post. Were you trying to tell me that since your child is "different" than mine (no two kids are exactly identical anyway), that language development techniques that worked for him or her won't work for mine ? I have had this from some parens with high functioning kids and frankly that bugs me. Language development happens in a certain sequence, even in kids with severe disabilities, if it is at all to develop. So, any techniques that have proven effective in other kids are worth the time & effort to try on my own. Would they succeed ? Only time will tell, but I hope you will share the techniques nevertheless, rather than telling me if wont work because your own child is very high functioning (which is what most parents with high functioning kids mean when they point out that their own kids are "different" from mine).

Telling me to find a new SLP or to get him stimming under control doesn't really help, since these are obviously things I already know. I posted this thread specifically to ask for help on how to help my son gain language. I also know all about anecdotal evidences of kids who never supposedly never said a word until their teens but are now very successful. Thanks, anyway.

Last edited by HisMom on 11 Jan 2014, 1:25 pm, edited 3 times in total.

Hi, my youngest son (25! now) did not talk coherently until he was 4. We could always tell that he understood a lot, but he was making up gibberish as if he thought it was "fun to talk like we were" and that the sounds were all just made-up. He had started to use some regular words but still just made up speech. He was tested/screened and sent to a speech therapist. Luckily they were good and he seemed to enjoy it. But the most interesting thing was that he suddenly realized that he was speaking "wrong". He had no idea before. And, boy he worked hard to get it right. He was attending a pre-school and going to the special-ed speech therapy in the afternoon. Much to their surprise, later that year he started to teach himself to read. This involved non-stop questions, " How do you spell ____?" and "what does THAT say?"

He turned out to be talented at writing and a maniac history/sociology buff. There are challenges. He's not very coordinated, is "in-his-head" and maturity has come slowly in some ways and quickly in others. He loves socializing but is limited by sensory issues. He has just now finally decided to start college studying journalism and history. He has spent time working at blue-collar jobs to develop his practical abilities and balance himself some.

Could you please share what techniques helped in receptive language development ? Thank you.

My play skills were not very good. Mainly lots of stimming.
But I liked to arrange things so any play involving that worked.
I think understanding spoken language was limited to the single
words i used like eat, drink, cold, mine, no (lots of no). That's how vaguely
I remember it. But my mom said she thinks I absorbed more then it seemed.
Then somewhere around seven I started putting sentences together, so just really delayed
speech development. But I also have dyspraxia that causes me to have difficulty speaking.

Last edited by EzraS on 11 Jan 2014, 1:39 pm, edited 5 times in total.

I apologize for being confusing and for not making better sense, HisMom. I didn't mean to offend you and was trying my best to communicate effectively. I hope someone else is more helpful.