Published on 12, July, 2020
My seven year old Son has Autism but although he is challenged by it he isn’t. severley challenged by his Autism. He is verbal but has Speech and language delays interacts well with his cousin who is two but has advanced speech and language. We don’t know what level my Son is working at as he’s school doesn’t record their devrlopmental age but my Sister said he could be working at a two year old level but slowly catch up. Could this happen?
He is due to see his peadiatrician who is different to the one who assessed his developmental age originally and pre his autism diagnosis. He last had a face to face assement in 2019. He has had two telephone reviews since 2020. His school now I don’t think assess developmental age but his previous school did. He’s school now is Special needs and they say that learning wise he is making very good progress and could potentially make even more with more support in school. In Mainstream unless someone actuality worked with him and worked closely with him,ie his 1:1 who left unfortunately, they wouldn’t see he could make good progress.with the right support. they just say he is too far behind his peers and working way below his age.
There are many of us who had trouble with verbal language when young and found articulation as we got older (a logic class and theatre classes helped me, along with reading). We might advance in other more right brain ways than our peers. Does he play an instrument? What other things does he seem interested in?
The non-autistic brain tends to use language in a different way. So, technically, how these levels are calculated depends on factors autistics aren't really wired for. We might hear and make sense of vocal words but have difficulty accessing it internally to say what we'd want to - much like being able to recognise another language but not recreate it. So, quick on the receiving, but slow to transmit. There also might be a loss in translation when others aren't direct or specific, or using words more 'organically' and depending on social cues rather than being precise with what they mean verbally.
Many of us think in 3D images and construct a verbal sentence from what we can 'see' internally. I don't hear words in my head exactly unless I make an effort to, and it's a quiet space. The delay can also be syntax - how to formulate a sentence structure. It's quite complex. But often where there's a difficulty, there's a strength and that might be a better focus. Encyclopaedias can help. :)
This is not a helpful answer I'm afraid, but anything is possible. You can ask school for guidance on where he might be although they might not officially record developmental ages. Or do you see the paediatrician for meetings and might be able to ask them?