indicators of speech
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indicators of speech
| Fri, 01-27-2006 - 9:48am |
Does anyone know what would be good indicators of future speech. Jacob has about 10 words (16months old), but he doesn't always use them. I have been working on signing with him. He is good at pointing/gesturing for what he wants. Anyhow, I know it is possible that he can always lose speech, but what are indicators that he wouldn't lose speech. Does that even make sense?? I spend most of my time with him pointing out things and saying the word for it. I am scared he will be nonverbal.
Sonya
One more thing, will there ever be a day when I wake up not feeling so anxious about him?

((Hugs))
You sound just like me about a year ago. I was convinced Jake would never walk or talk and now a year later he runs everywhere and you can't stop him talking sometimes. I was sure he'd lose all of his speech by 18 months because I had read so many times that children with autism regress about 18 months and lose alot of there skills including language,it never happened. There is no way to tell if a child will regress but your son sounds like he's doing a lot of great non verbal communication as well as verbal. Try not to worry, easier said than done I know but you still don't know yet if there is a problem and I have often said that I felt robbed of Jakes first 2 years because I had spent much of it worrying about him. Learn from my mistake because you never get back that time and in my case all the worrying didn't change the outcome.I still worry about Jake's future and it is a hard thing to deal with at times but I don't obsess on it like I used to. I guess that's because I know what I'm dealing with and being involved in all the therapy etc. makes me feel like we are doing something about it and you don't feel as helpless.I forget if you said your son was getting services from E.I?
Teresa
Sonya
Sonya,
I just wanted to let you know that Nathan wasn't speaking at 16mo, and he wouldn't even gesture either. So, just knowing that Jacob is already doing this ......is really great!
Nathan didn't lose his speech either, he just kept on gaining his skills. I worked with him at home. He didn't get speech therapy til he was 4yrs old. When Nathan was little he just seemed like he had a different personality. His autistic traits didn't surface really til about age 4 when he started preschool.
And as far as the worrying.....I always worry about him. Although, I don't obsess as much as I used too! In my case, worrying helps me to remember to stay focused on him and his needs. Does that make sense? So, I don't worry about "worrying"....it's my job!
michelle
Hi Sonya,
I know the hurt and fear.
My DS Jack is 4.5. He was always verbal and pretty typical, until age 2 and then his language regressed and stagnated (he is still considered "very verbal" but he doesn't talk much at all). I'm sure you don't want to hear this, but you have a ways to go before you can stop worrying about regression.... 10 words in Jacob's case is pretty good. I would be reassured if he continues to use them and perhaps adds some on... The good news is that you're working with him and have good tabs on all his progress. Way 2 go, Mommy!
As far as waking up not feeling anxious.... now that I'm almost 2 years into it I can tell you that it does get better... less painful...
HTH,
Cathy
Sonya,
The wondering and not knowing is quite draining. It changes you. I also had my NT child first and then my son (almost four and not yet diagnosed on the spectrum but I am still wondering about). He does have a diagnosis of apraxia. My son had one word at 18 months and no pointing. He was extremely frustrated. I was afraid we would never hear his voice. Much to my delight, he now speaks quite fluently. He does have some other issues.
For me, the worrying/stress/anxiety was the worst from about 18 mo.- 3. I still struggle with it, but it comes more in waves and I have good times (less worry, more joy) in between. I try hard to stay in the moment. Getting services helps the stress a lot. I would tell myself "Even if we don't know what we are dealing with exactly, we are still doing all can in terms of getting him every bit of help we can and we have gotten an early start."
I also try to offer myself the (small) consolation that I may be worried about ds's future and development, but he is (at least at this age) happy and carefree.
Does your son have a diagnosis? I very much know how you feel when you say that this steals some of the joy from parenting. I have often said that myself, and sadly enough it does.
Try to find some time to nurture yourself - rest, read a book, do whatever refuels you.
Take care.
Chrissy
I understand your fears so much. Eric was our first and probably only child and he was not really talking even at 18 mos., which was when we began the evaluation process. At that time I made copious notes for the ST who was to evaluate him. He didn't have any real words, just about 10 sounds that I recognized as words: ba for ball, ma for me, da for daddy, ca for cookie. Things like that. And he mostly took us by the hand and led us to whatever he wanted.
After we met with the ST and later a whole devo team, and started true speech therapy, I kept a little diary. Nothing fancy. I just wrote down new words Eric said and the date. He is now 3.5 and really pretty verbal, still pragmatics problems, but verbal. I hadn't looked at it until now. Your post made me pull the diarly out and has made me cry, laugh, and smile. Thank you for that. I think I needed this just now to realize how far DS has come
I started this when Eric was about 21 mos (that's how long it took between the eval to get services etc.) He was getting ST 2x a week then. He only had single words, but it looks like I was doing what you are, labeling everything. My lists are long, and all single words for several months. But I remember that writing this down gave me hope, a sense of progress. After about 3 mos. we have our first 2 word comb. Usually a descriptor, now "black dog, two balls." Then after about 3 more months I see a long list of verbs and nouns: hold spoon, eat peach, cookie broke, lick cookie. This breaks into 3 word combos about 4 mos. later, "take a bite" "grandma walk dog." Finally, after about a year, we get into pronouns: "I want juice. I like tubbies." By now Eric is approaching age 3. So this was a long, but gradual process.
Now for the scary part. Our beloved speech therapist moved and Eric did not bond with the new one. Regression back to "juice" instead of "I want juice." We switch to new therapist and things pick up again. We went through a phase of "Eric wants juice" and also "you want juice" (echolalia) before we got back to "I want juice." But we did get back there and now Eric can tell you what he thinks and feels. He's not as fluid as an NT his age, but it's so far from where he started.
I hope this will give you hope. Maybe keeping a diary would help you too? It's nice to see the progress and have a touchstone to use for troubleshooting too. Plus, as I discovered tonight, it's such a sweet keepsake to remember all he and I have done together!
As for worrying, well, that's the job of us moms, I guess. I can say I now do not worry that Eric can learn. He can. We just needed someone to guide us as to his style. I worry about totatlly different things now. I worry just as much now as I did about his learning to speak. I feel blessed that he was able to learn to talk. His life will be easier bc of that.
Still, as I think I have said here before, I do sometimes wish we could just go play catch and eat ice cream like other kids. There is a certain amount of joy we are missing, but I like to think we gain instead some other joys that NT moms don't have. Like the thrill when our kids DO speak in one, two, and three word combos. And when they can finally call us "mama" after not calling us anything.
Hang in there. I feel for you so much. The early time is really hard. I wouldn't say it gets easier, but your learning curve grows and you handle the new stuff. This from me, a "veteran" whose child is only 3.5!
Hugs, Hugs, Hugs!
Katherine