Child speech problems- autism spectrum ?

nlj1520

I have a 22 year old son with autism. Back in the day when he was little, autism was characterised by the 'triad of impairments'. These were
Delayed or absent speech
Lack of imaginative play
Difficulty with social interactions

Later a fourth was added (kind of) that was sensory issues (over or under sensitive to sensory inputs). So for example my son likes very strongly flavoured food, but noisy environments are painful for him, he has an incredible visual memory, but barely responds to pain at all.

His speech was severely delayed and he was considered an elective mute for a long time. So we use signing to help him communicate. Mainly a system called Makaton.

He has never displayed imaginative play (pushing toy cars along making engine sounds, building anything with bricks other than towers), using a toy sword, anything like that).

Although my son quite likes people, he will only talk about what interests him and in a repetitive and ritualistic way.

Other common features of autism are a strong need for predictability, routine and structure.

Now to put this I to context, my son also has learning difficulties so that may alter how he presented. He also has oral dyspraxia so finds speech and eating difficult because his motor control is poor.

I would strongly urge you to get help for your child as early as possible. Especially supporting communication by using signing or symbols (called PECS). These will not delay speech development, but support it and help your child learn he power of communication and reduce frustration and stress in him. Whether the cause of the delay is autism or something else or nothing.

I wish you the very, very best and be glad that knowledge about this condition has moved on so much in the last 20 odd years!

Indie_Kid

Speech delay and sensory issues aren't a requirement to be diagnosed with autism. I was never asked about my speech or sensory issues. My brother has neither - but still has an autism diagnosis.

fabforty

OP, did the doctor say why she suspected Autism? What behaviours or symptoms did she mention?

Crazy_Diamond

My son was diagnosed with ASD at age 2.5. Personally I think it was a bit early for a diagnosis but I pushed for it is the mistaken belief we would get more support. At this age the signs were

- language delay, he had only just started babbling and was not saying any words.
- lack of imitation skills - it is my belief that these a key in language development.
- lack of play skills - he likes movement so will push cars and trains but not play with them imaginary. He will complete puzzles very quickly
- sensory issues- he is sensory seeking and finds if hard to keep still and focus. He likes to chew on items including toys. He hand flaps if excited, likes to spin things for a few seconds and enjoys watching the washing ,machine
- however he is very socialable with adults, cheeky and loving. He likes lots of hugs, shows empathy if someone is upset and has a great sense of humour.

I would say to remember it is a spectrum and everyone is one there somewhere. A diagnosis is not the important thing at this stage but early intervention is. I would look at the following
- augmentative communication eg pecs where he gives you pictures for what he wants. Signing can be good too depending on the child.
- push for vocalisations - we put things he wanted out of reach but in sight so he had to request them. First we were just trying to get him to make any sound, then when he linked the sound with getting the item we pushing for the first syllable and so on.
- it is great he is imitating gross motor actions. Have you tired getting him to copy sounds/words. Supposedly gross motor imitation comes before verbal imitation, our son was not doing either last year but with lots of work is now doing both.

Good luck and try not to worry too much, I know it is hard not to.

LutonGuy

fabforty wrote: »

OP, did the doctor say why she suspected Autism? What behaviours or symptoms did she mention?

She mentioned different things

e.g. playing with wheels of cars, not engaging with kids of his age, aligning cars while playing. delay speech, enjoy watching spinning washing machine

but she said she is not 100% sure as he is doing eye contact, can easily go upstairs, walk and run.