Child speech problems- autism spectrum ?

marleyboy

Our Son is 5 Yrs old and still has no speech. He has been statemented and diagnosed as severely autistic as well as deafness, as you could imagine audiology had huge problems in diagnosing his hearing levels.

I wanted to point out that he has just began to babble, we keep our fingers crossed that this is the first sign of him beginning to speak.

Feeding has always been an issue, he simply refuses to eat solid food, not even a chocolate, everything has to be purified and this has nothing whatsoever to do with mouth issues.

When it comes to autism, each child is unique and there is no one checklist that can diagnose such a condition (merely offering a rough percentage).

The common signs tend to be in behaviour, constantly twirling around or flapping with their fingers seems to be a common sign, I still liken it to beating a drum, I could give him a drum to bang or a stick to flap, but never would he comprehend a drum gets hit by a drumstick.

I am not sure specifically what advice you are seeking, but am more than happy to help, feel free to ask.

ManofLeisure_2

BucksLady wrote: »

I'm sorry you found my questions 'distracting'. I was trying to help the OP using the expertise of my OH ( a GP and qualified paeditrician) and FIL (a clinical psychologist). I also have a sister who has Asperger's Syndrome and didn't speak a word until 3 years of age, and then it was in complete sentences. Additionally, I work as a Music Therapist helping children with communication difficulties.

What would you know about it then lol

Indie_Kid

marleyboy wrote: »

Feeding has always been an issue, he simply refuses to eat solid food, not even a chocolate, everything has to be purified and this has nothing whatsoever to do with mouth issues.

Does your son have sensory issues? Some of us (myself included) don't like certain textures of food.

ManofLeisure_2

Marmaduke123 wrote: »

I have a professional qualification and worked for many years as a specialist in the NHS, working with children with autistic spectrum disorders and specific language impairments.

Believe me, structural reasons for failure to talk are vanishingly rare. Problems of motor control of the lips and tongue are possible, but would be accompanied by very messy eating and other signs.

My brother's grandson has verbal dyspraxia, and so difficulty coordinating the movement of the muscles used for speech. In my experience (father of 4 grown children), most children are messy eaters

marleyboy

Indie_Kid wrote: »

Does your son have sensory issues? Some of us (myself included) don't like certain textures of food.

Definately, an example could be Jelly, there is no point me trying to get him to eat it as he wont even touch it. Rice Pudding is too lumpy for him, he would lick the milk but spit out the rice, he wont eat candy floss or marshmallow but will wolf down a yoghurt no problem.

Sensually he is very observant, his musical toys he prefers to press against as the sound is enough to emit a vibration. he samples every new texture with his tongue, he will happily lick the leather sofa, but insists on using a cushion if he wants to rest his head on the sofa,

LutonGuy

marleyboy wrote: »

Our Son is 5 Yrs old and still has no speech. He has been statemented and diagnosed as severely autistic as well as deafness, as you could imagine audiology had huge problems in diagnosing his hearing levels.

I wanted to point out that he has just began to babble, we keep our fingers crossed that this is the first sign of him beginning to speak.

Feeding has always been an issue, he simply refuses to eat solid food, not even a chocolate, everything has to be purified and this has nothing whatsoever to do with mouth issues.

When it comes to autism, each child is unique and there is no one checklist that can diagnose such a condition (merely offering a rough percentage).

The common signs tend to be in behaviour, constantly twirling around or flapping with their fingers seems to be a common sign, I still liken it to beating a drum, I could give him a drum to bang or a stick to flap, but never would he comprehend a drum gets hit by a drumstick.

I am not sure specifically what advice you are seeking, but am more than happy to help, feel free to ask.

Well, I am not sure where to start from really. What is the best possible way to move forward? How can I help him and myself to identify the real underlying issue. What are the common signs that i should look at.


My question for those of you with autistic children is, when they were this age 24 - 30 months, what signs did you see that told you that your child was different?

Should i maintain a diary for his behavior to show to doctor on next visit so dr. can easily identify if it is autism or something else?

Should i go private or just wait and see. if go private where to start looking from.

anything else (even if very little) you think might be helpful

Indie_Kid

I was told if you go private, the NHS doesn't recognise the diagnosis and won't give you any help.

Other than the speech problems, does he have other issues? He'll need a lot more issues to be diagnosed with Autism.

LutonGuy

Indie_Kid wrote: »

I was told if you go private, the NHS doesn't recognise the diagnosis and won't give you any help.

Other than the speech problems, does he have other issues? He'll need a lot more issues to be diagnosed with Autism.

As far as i can tell he has no other issues. He has a bad habit of nail biting but besides that we can't see any other thing that is abnormal.

Indie_Kid

LutonGuy wrote: »

As far as i can tell he has no other issues. He has a bad habit of nail biting but besides that we can't see any other thing that is abnormal.

For it to be Autism, he'd have to have a lot more problems.

BucksLady

ManofLeisure wrote: »

My brother's grandson has verbal dyspraxia, and so difficulty coordinating the movement of the muscles used for speech. In my experience (father of 4 grown children), most children are messy eaters

Yes, this is why I asked whether his mouth had been examined. Hope your brother's grandson receives the help he deserves and makes good progress.:).