Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Will My 4 Year Old Autistic Son Ever Talk

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What Are The Symptoms Of Nonspeaking Autism

My Autistic Son Through the Years – First Signs of Autism and Speech Development

The primary symptom of nonspeaking autism is being unable to speak clearly or without interference.

Autistic people may have difficulty talking to or carrying on a conversation with another person, but those who are nonspeaking do not speak at all.

There are several reasons for this. It may be because they have , a disorder that affects certain brain pathways. It can interfere with a persons ability to say what they want correctly.

It may also be because they have not developed verbal communication skills. Some children may lose verbal skills as symptoms of the condition worsen and become more noticeable.

Some autistic kids may also have echolalia, which causes them to repeat words or phrases over and over. It can make communication difficult.

Symptoms of autism often improve with age. As children grow older, symptoms may become less severe and disruptive. Your child may also become verbal with intervention and therapy.

Researchers do not yet know what causes autism. However, they do have a better understanding of some factors that may play a role.

Vaccines do not cause autism.

In 1998, a controversial study proposed a link between autism and the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine. However, additional research debunked that report. In fact, the researchers behind the 1998 study retracted it in 2010.

Teach Your Autistic Grandchild To Do Things On Their Own

Give your grandchild the opportunity to develop self esteem by teaching them how to do things for themselves rather than doing it for them. It is so tempting to do things for our special needs children. We can easily feel that our babies must deal with so much already that it seems cruel to say, You can do it! But be aware that being overly nurturing can sabotage a childs opportunity to learn to do something and feel the sense of accomplishment and pride when they get it! No grandparent would want to chip away at a childs self esteem. When you guide your grandchildren through each small step and encourage their attempts you are building their internal sense of self and that is a gift of a lifetime. For some ideas on how to engage a child with autism in chores check out this blog here.

What Does The Future Look Like For Nonverbal Children

Nonverbal children with autism could have a comfortable and quality life. It is important that with the right help, they could equip themselves with the necessary skills to live their life normally.

Although nonverbal, children with autism use other methods to communicate. Certain strategies, which we will discuss here, could be used to leverage these methods and add on to them.

Not being able to speak to communicate should not be seen as a setback, but as a challenge that could be overcome. Although there is no magic cure to achieve speech, your child could go a long way with your support.

Once they understand and learn a way to express what they are feeling, be it verbal or nonverbal, they will have a more positive attitude towards communication.

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Find Other Parents Who Will Understand And Support You

“It always has been invaluable to have other parents who are going through the same thing as you are, to call them up and say I cant believe this is happening to me today. Because to the rest of the community, the things that happen to us, theyre really not the norm.” Ruth Singer Strunck, the mom of two young adults with autism

Are There Other Symptoms Of Nonverbal Autism

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Yes, non verbal autistic children may also be socially withdrawn. This is no surprise.

If a behaviour is difficult and not rewarding, we tend to do it less.

Autistic people often tend to be shy or withdrawn. Some may avoid eye contact, others may not respect personal space.

Short attention spans are very common with non verbal autistic children. They can tend to flit quickly between activities with nothing holding their attention for very long. Tools like weighted lap pads are vital in helping them focus and concentrate on one activity at a time.

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How Common Are Non Verbal Autistic Children

While many autistic children will have delayed speech, some autistic children;are unable to;speak at all.

In fact there is a significant number of non verbal autistic kids who;will;remain completely;nonverbal. Patten et al estimate that 25% to 50% of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder never develop spoken language beyond a few words or utterances.

Having a non verbal autistic child can be very difficult for parents to accept and can make life more difficult as the child becomes a teenager and an adult.

Autism develops at different rates and with different symptoms in each individual. Some children may show no signs of autism until the age of 2 or 3years old. Others may experience delayed development right from the start that may progress into adulthood.

Free Communication Boards For Autism

One of the hardest parts about autism is that it effects everyone differently, and there is no hard and fast;treatment plan. What works for one child may not work for another, and as a parent, it can be extremely frustrating and overwhelming trying to navigate the different options available. The only silver lining is that so many other parents have fought the fight before you, and there are HEAPS of new and innovative ideas floating around the internet.

The;collection of communication boards for autism below is an excellent example. With so many free downloads and printables to choose from, getting started with PECS is easier than its ever been, and if youre new to this system, this post by Kori at Home will help get your feet wet!

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So Youre Wondering If Your Child Might Be Autistic

So youre wondering if your child might be autistic. ;I know. ;Ive been where you are sitting right now. ;Searching the internet for signs of autism spectrum disorders. ;Going back up to the search bar to enter a different set of keywords, hoping to find some other site that will assure you that these strange behaviors your child has been evidencing are perfectly normal. ;Telling yourself he is just a little behind. ;Sharing your worries with a friend or family member, calming down for a day or two after being reassured by them that, no, it isnt autism. ;And now you are wondering if you are just being paranoid. ;Youre worried that you might be borrowing trouble that you dont need and possibly stigmatizing your child with a label that will follow him around for life. ;Yep, Ive been there and quite recently.

What does autism look like in a young child? ;Well, the important thing to remember is that, just like everyone else on the planet, every autistic child is a unique person. ;There are common behaviors that they share, but a child can still be autistic and not share every common autistic behavior. ;Remember that. ;Because getting hung up on that can make you fool yourself. ;Autism spectrum behaviors do not exist in isolation. ;Just one of them wont make a child autistic. ;But you put several of them together and youre possibly looking at an autism spectrum disorder of some kind.

Heres what you should do.

For you really are not;alone.

Develops Symptoms After Early Childhood

4 Year Old Talks About Autism

Your child developed and behaved like most children until they reached the age of 6 or older. Then symptoms that seem to point to autism sprang from nowhere.

In order to for be diagnosed with autism, your child must have first shown symptoms at an early age, even if those symptoms only caused problems in later years. A brand new symptom at age 12 or 14 may look a little like autism, but the likely cause is something else.

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Why Do Autistic Children Scream

This is an assumption that all autistic children scream. They dont. Lower functioning children on the;spectrum scream because they like the sound of their voices and arent using them to talk. Or they have;a health problem that they cant tell a parent or doctor about. Pain will make them scream too, and;since their pain thresholds are already low, they scream when they even so much as feel a pin prickle.

Parents have to recognize what the different screams mean. Just as a scream of terror in a horror movie;means one thing and a scream of surprised means something else in another, so the screams of autistic;children who do scream have their own meanings. Watching for other non-verbal body cues help;parents figure out why their child is screaming.

A particular form of autism spectrum disorder that only affects girls is called Cri Du Chat, which is French;for cry of the cat. Its an extremely rare disorder but has become part of the spectrum because it;attacks infant girls at the age of twenty-four months, the same time that autism begins to transform;children who have it. Their cries, or screams, sound very much like the piercing cry of a cat being;tortured, and will continue it for hours. Its very unnerving to hear and even more unnerving to be;around the whole time it continues. Supposedly over time it decreases as the little girl grows and;continues to regress in all of her abilities.

Early Intervention Could Help Autistic Children Learn To Speak

Follow-up study shows long-term language improvement for kids with autism after an intensive, targeted behavioral therapy program

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Autistic children struggle with many obstacles, including learning to speak. And, experts have noted, if these children learn verbal skills by age five, they tend to become happier and higher-functioning adults than do their nonverbal peers. Thirty years ago, psychiatrists expected only half of all autistic children would gain speaking abilities. Recent studies, however, indicate that as many as 80 percent of children with autism can learn to talk. One such study in 2006 showed that toddlers who received intensive therapy aimed at developing foundational oral language skills made significant gains in their ability to communicate verbally. Now researchers have followed up with a number of those kids and found that most of them continued to reap the benefits of that therapy years after it had ended.

In the initial study, Connie Kasari of the University of California, Los Angeles, and her colleagues evaluated 58 children between three and four years old in a randomized controlled study. The children played with trained graduate students for 30 minutes each day over a period of five to six weeks. The time-intensive interventions focused on either symbolic play or joint attention. A third group, serving as a control, participated in playtime but was not directed to complete tasks and goals.

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A Good Treatment Plan Will:

  • Build on your childs interests.
  • Offer a predictable schedule.
  • Teach tasks as a series of simple steps.
  • Actively engage your childs attention in highly structured activities.
  • Provide regular reinforcement of behavior.
  • Involve the parents.

Choosing autism treatments

There are many different options and approaches to ASD treatment, including behavior therapy, speech-language therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and nutritional therapy.

While you dont have to limit your child to just one treatment at a time, its unlikely youll be able to address everything at once. Instead, start by focusing on your childs most severe symptoms and pressing needs.

Comparison Between Diagnostic Groups: Autistic Disorder Vs Pdd

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To examine diagnostic group differences at the time of evaluation, the AD and PDD-NOS groups were compared. There were no differences in gender, 2 = .04, p = .84, ethnicity, 2 = .53, p = .97, age of initial diagnosis, t = .05, p = .96, or age at current evaluation, t = 1.24, p = .22. Data are presented in . There was no difference between diagnostic groups in age of first words, t = .63, p = .53 and the number of children who had not yet acquired their first words was equally distributed between the two groups, 2 = 2.46, p = .12 . Across all measures of cognitive and language ability, adaptive behavior, and ASD characteristics, the groups differed on only two measures: Vineland Motor Skills domain, with the PDD-NOS group scoring significantly higher than the AD group, t = 2.08, p = .04, d = .45 and CARS total score, with the AD group obtaining a higher score t = 2.22, p = 0.03, d =.43. Although the difference was statistically significant, the difference in CARS scores between the two groups differed by only 2.5 points suggesting little meaningful clinical difference between the samples.

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Screaming Loud Noises Verbal Stimming

These are the sounds we autism parents hear all too frequently in our;homes.

They never seem to stop.

They drive us to distraction.

They can destroy the peace and quiet of the family.;Sometimes they can destroy the family itself.

When my son was little, he did a lot of screaming and verbal stimming. I discovered that with the positive behavioral method known as TAGteach I was able to reduce these sounds, increase appropriate vocalizations and get some of that precious peace and quiet.

Trust Your Instincts Even With The Doctors Advice

What I wish I knew way back then is that its OK to get a second opinion when your gut tells you the doctor is wrong. We knew that Gavin had autism. Yet, we were told he had ADHD, that he had anxiety and depression. It took his first psychiatric hospitalization at age 8 for a psychiatrist to finally say he thought Gavin had Aspergers. We were always told, Why is a diagnosis so important to you anyway? Its just a label. Because the right diagnosis means the proper treatment. Now he has a job, hes involved in school activities. Hes going to college in the fall to become a chemistry teacher.

Shannon Smyth, Lake Ariel, Pennsylvania

Lacy Gunter, Greenwood, South Carolina

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Celebrate All Of Your Childs Achievements

I wish I had known that unlike other parents we cant take even the smallest achievement or milestone for granted. When our son started wearing his coat without a fight and expressed that he was cold, when he was able to participate in circle time during music class and when he got up on stage with the other kids at his school show we celebrated.

Steven Grossman, Los Angeles

Learn As Much As Possible About Autism

How my 4-year-old autistic son talks

There are many excellent resources on the market. The goal should be to increase understanding of the childs communication, social and behavioral presentation NOT to find a cure. Information on how children with autism see the world and how they learn will do wonders for helping you to connect with your grandchild. One of my parents favourites is Thinking in Pictures by Temple Grandin.

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Alternative Solutions For Nonverbal Children

There are different types of techniques and therapies that you can use to encourage your nonverbal autistic child to communicate. Here, it is important to remember that you need to evaluate each approach and its effects on your child, whether or not it works. Because not all therapies or techniques will work for every child. Be of high spirit and experiment to find the best suitable solution that works for your child.

  • Picture Exchange Communication System

Picture Exchange Communication System is a type of alternative and augmentative communication system developed in 1985. It is used to help people who do not have or have little communication abilities to communicate through using pictures. These people are taught to give another person a picture to get what they want. This system works very well both at home or in the classroom. It can be used by people with various cognitive and communication issues.

  • Sign Language

Sign language is used by both speaking- and hearing-impaired people. It is an effective and rich way of communication. Nonverbal children with autism can also learn and use sign language to communicate. One of the advantages of sign language is that the person can always utilize it to communicate as there is no equipment to carry around. However, it may be a little difficult for those with severe fine motor difficulties.

Ways You Can Help Your Autistic Child Talk Again

by Howard Goode | Nov 6, 2018 | Blog

There are many parents of autistic children who have been told that if their child isnt talking by 4 or 5 years old, they may as well give up hope that they ever will. But on a more hopeful note, some researchers take an opposing view. They point to children who developed language during grade-school or even adolescence.

A recent student involving over 500 children confirms this more optimistic view. Scientists at the Center for Autism and Related Disorders, in Baltimore, review data on 535 children, ranging in age from 8 to 17, plagued with severe language delays at age 4 and thus considered autistic.

These researchers discovered that most of these children eventually acquired language skills. Almost half were able to speak fluently, while over two-thirds gained the ability to express themselves in simple phrases.

But the researchers didnt stop there. They sought to identify those factors that could predict if an autistic child who was severely language-delayed child with autism would be able to speak eventually.

Contrary to popular belief, these researchers found that the childs level of repetitive behaviors and restricted interests was not significant in developing language. However, what they did notice is that those children with a higher IQ and lower impairment in the social realm was predictive of becoming verbal.

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