Adult with autism just starting to speak

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Hi all
My son is 25 and for the past year or so has begun to jabber like a toddler! In the past he has had some limited functional speech which has been taught but now it's as if he is trying to hold a conversation with you, even if most of it is gobbleygook!!
The intonation is there and even the odd appropriate word, but he jabbers so fast it's hard to keep up. He has been having regular speech therapy through his college which has helped enormously and I know what to do to keep the talk flowing but I just wondered if anyone out there has had a similar experience that we could share and perhaps swop ideas and help.
I feel he really wants to talk to people now but he just cannot unravel what is there in his head.
His receptive area is pretty good as he understands a lot of what is said as long as it is said clearly and slower than normal.

Although programs and services for ADULTS with Autism and Asperger's Syndrome are currently very limited in numbers, things are slowly beginning to change in many communities in the USA.

If a social group does not exist in your community, have you considered starting one for your son's needs? Many such programs and services get their "start" due to parents and families taking the initiative and not allowing any obstacles and challenges to deter them.

i hope your son will improve his speech.
i am an adult undiagonised aspie.i used not to talk.these days i am trying to.but it is a lot harder to converse with people than simply letting needs to be known by parents or caregiver.so i have not been able to improve much.
anyway what "gobbleygook" means?

Oh wow! I hope you'll keep us updated. Did anything in his life change before this started?

madasaflake,
am also similar-speech impaired and NV,need things said clearly,simply and process what is said very slowly.

is son able to type and understand word in a visible form? if he has at least basic understanding of words,am recommend installing and teaching JTalk: http://www.thiswayoflife.org/jtalk/index.html
it's a free text to speech/AT [assistive technology] program that is designed for communicating with,the user types what want to say and the computer speaks it,the person who made the program is also autistic.
Am have it setup on a laptop to communicate with when unable to communicate enough in any other way,and the good thing about laptops is they're mobile,there are handheld devices available to do this with but they dont have the same screen size for choices in TTS.

Also,
if have not thought of trying it before,an other alternative is ASL/BSL [american sign language or british sign language] these are full sign languages that cover everything but have a lot of steps involved in each sign so like self,he may find ASL or BSL too overloading to process.
but that would be a great alternative if he was able to learn it as it is a full language,like verbal language is,signing feels natural to some autists,and may come easier than other forms of communication.

It means nonsense or gibberish, not real words but just random sounds.

Thank you Rockdrummer for explaining to Lost in Paradise what I meant! I was just about to when I saw your post.
Lelia - I think he has just realised that he can actually get a lot further if he at least tries to communicate as he gets a much more positive response from people, which he enjoys.
Kingdom of Rats - i will look into your suggestions and appreciate your help.
Keep it coming!!

I hope things go well for him. Can he say some full sentences clearly? Or can he still understand when you speak to him, even though he may struggle to reply?

Hi Spongebob
He uses certain set expressions - usually ones I say on a regular basis - and quite often in the right context. Sometimes he surprises me and comes out with something unique - like the other day we were driving down this country type road we often use near a livery stable and he said 'Oh look, there's a horse'! ! I was really surprised!
He certainly understands a lot of what is said as long as I don't overload with him too much info.
He also sometimes starts a 'conversation' even if it makes no sense, as if he knows that is the right thing to do but he just can't articulate what he wants to say. Or maybe he knows exactly what he is saying, it is just my hearing process that can't understand!! !

Just curious... has he ever tried communication via text? Like a forum, instant messenger, email, etc? Sorry I don't have anything to contribute, but that was the first question that popped into my head after reading the original post.

Ballastexistenz, or Amanda Baggs (check out her blog and U tube In My Language) is someone who can speak but usually has her computer speak for her because speaking is exhausting and sometimes what she says is not what she means.
Feel free to correct me here, Amanda.
I think I would keep rewarding speech with attention, but I wouldn't want to push it. It's still cool, though.

Hey, good for him. He's trying to figure out spoken language, evidently, or at least playing with it. That's the same general way babies do it; they start out with babbling, and trying things out, and eventually start piecing things together. I don't know if you have one already or not, but if he wants to learn to use speech for communication, maybe you could get him a speech therapist? And there's lots of other options, too--sign, writing, symbols, pictures--if the speech doesn't work out. Speech therapists are trained in those, too. Just find yourself one who'll treat him with respect and keep you in the loop (you're probably his primary communication partner anyway) so you can work on it together. People often have this funny idea about autistic people--that once we're past early childhood, we don't learn much more than we've got--but we all know that's utterly stupid; of course adults can learn. Sometimes we're not even ready until we're pretty old... I wasn't ready to learn to drive until last year, and got my license at 25. Any younger and I would've been a road hazard. I think we're just on a really odd developmental schedule, with milestones stirred up and scattered around like a tornado in a baby book.

In autistic people there's often a stage of "functional echolalia"--using memorized phrases to communicate, like quoting from a book that's been read to you to communicate something that's similar to what the book was saying. You can get actually very creative with just memorized phrases; and they're easier than generating fresh sentences each time; so it's not surprising that a lot of people use that method to get ideas across. I wouldn't be surprised if some adults use this method still, and are considered fully verbal simply because they have such a large stock of memorized phrases and the ability to mix them up and use them effectively.

[quote=madasaflake He has been having regular speech therapy through his college which has helped enormously[/quote]

does he attend college?if he does then its a huge achievement for him.

The many, many individuals with AS/HFA who predominately manifest the recital of factual knowledge in a one-sided and verbose manner do this. This is just a form of echolalia in individuals with a normal verbal IQ.

Kalantir - he doesn't use mobile phones or the computer I'm afraid. I have tried to get him on to the PC but for some reason he associates it with learning and won't transfer the activity to home!
Calista - he has a speech therapist at college who has set up various programmes for him and we work together so he is very fortunate in that.
Lostinparadise - he attends a local 'normal' college which has lots of special needs courses. Unfortunately he will be finishing there this summer as he has done all the courses appropriate for him, but he has had seven years there so has done very well!