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29 months non verbal grandson

howmanyaliases

Hi

My Grandson who is 2 years 5 months is currently awaiting assessment but looking very much like classic autism and we are very worried for him.  He dosen't speak or understand any words at all.  He flaps his hands, gets up on his toes when watching tv, loves spinning toys and lately spins himself.  He hardly interacts at all, although lately his Mum has been able to get him to enjoy some nursery rhymes.

He a mild, happy child though and loves watching his videos or will play hapilly with toys if the TV is not on.  If he does spot the tv remote he will bring this to you to get you to put it on and this is one of his only forms of communication.   He dosen't have tantrums or any ritual behaviour. But plays with things in a repetative way.

We realise that this is a wait and see situation and nobody can tell us if he will ever develop an understanding of language but it would be reassuring to hear of anyone with a similar child who did go on to speak.

 

Parents

  • Hello

    Sorry to hear of your Grandson's speech delay.  I can imagine how upsetting this is for you and your family.  If he is having a diagnostic assessment for autism, given his speech delay, an evaluation by a Speech and Language Therapist should be part of the assessment.  If its not scheduled as a routine part of the assessment, I suggest that Mum specifically asks (in writing) for a SaLT evaluation as part of the diagnostic assessment.

    There is a really good article written by a Speech and Lang Therapist (she is from the US and they are Speech and Language Pathologists (SLPs) over there) called Marge Blanc. It was published in the 'Autism Aspergers Digest' magazine (a US publication) November/December 2004 - quite a while ago but the guidance is still current.  It talks about the need to consider motor development as well as communicative intent.  You may be able to get a copy from your local library - ours has a service where they can obtain copies of articles for a small charge.

    She points out that often children are communicating even though they're not speaking.  I would say your Grandson is communicating when he brings you the TV remote to put the TV on, so it would seem to me like he has some communicative intent, which is good :)

    Another thing to bear in mind is that joint attention is the biggest predictor of language development in children with autism and here is a link to the research by Peter Mundy that shows this:

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2324051

    He concludes that 'the measure of gestural nonverbal joint attention was a significant predictor of language development in the autistic sample.'

    A SaLT evaluation should be able to tell you where your Grandson is with joint attention, as should a diagnostic assessment for autism - certainly if the assessor is using the ADOS test (not all of them do).  Deficits in joint attention are one of the markers for autism on the ADOS test.

    Some autism interventions help children to develop joint attention.  One of these is Relationship Development Intervention (RDI), which you can read more about here: www.rdiconnect.com

    I also write a blog about using RDI with my son.  On the blog I discuss some of the non-verbal communication foundations (such as social referencing) that need to be in place before language can develop but I'm not sure if I can give you the link to that as I havent specifically written about speech delay and autism on my blog.  I will be guided by moderators as to whether that is appropriate.

    I hope that is helpful - good luck.

    Zoe

Reply

  • Hello

    Sorry to hear of your Grandson's speech delay.  I can imagine how upsetting this is for you and your family.  If he is having a diagnostic assessment for autism, given his speech delay, an evaluation by a Speech and Language Therapist should be part of the assessment.  If its not scheduled as a routine part of the assessment, I suggest that Mum specifically asks (in writing) for a SaLT evaluation as part of the diagnostic assessment.

    There is a really good article written by a Speech and Lang Therapist (she is from the US and they are Speech and Language Pathologists (SLPs) over there) called Marge Blanc. It was published in the 'Autism Aspergers Digest' magazine (a US publication) November/December 2004 - quite a while ago but the guidance is still current.  It talks about the need to consider motor development as well as communicative intent.  You may be able to get a copy from your local library - ours has a service where they can obtain copies of articles for a small charge.

    She points out that often children are communicating even though they're not speaking.  I would say your Grandson is communicating when he brings you the TV remote to put the TV on, so it would seem to me like he has some communicative intent, which is good :)

    Another thing to bear in mind is that joint attention is the biggest predictor of language development in children with autism and here is a link to the research by Peter Mundy that shows this:

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2324051

    He concludes that 'the measure of gestural nonverbal joint attention was a significant predictor of language development in the autistic sample.'

    A SaLT evaluation should be able to tell you where your Grandson is with joint attention, as should a diagnostic assessment for autism - certainly if the assessor is using the ADOS test (not all of them do).  Deficits in joint attention are one of the markers for autism on the ADOS test.

    Some autism interventions help children to develop joint attention.  One of these is Relationship Development Intervention (RDI), which you can read more about here: www.rdiconnect.com

    I also write a blog about using RDI with my son.  On the blog I discuss some of the non-verbal communication foundations (such as social referencing) that need to be in place before language can develop but I'm not sure if I can give you the link to that as I havent specifically written about speech delay and autism on my blog.  I will be guided by moderators as to whether that is appropriate.

    I hope that is helpful - good luck.

    Zoe

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