RE: Kids w/ Classic Autism, PDD-NOS & Speech Delays

Post Reply New Topic

Apparently it has to do with the current budget issues...they are trying to save $ by consolidating functions...really getting tired of it here. I still like Japan but I think in the future I will just save it for vacations, no real need to live here full time...

Another interesting thing my son did lately is that he's still making up his own sign language. He created a sign for "hungry." You make a horizontal V with your right hand, make a fist with your left, and move the fist into the open V "mouth."

All I can say regarding the Visa thing is that when dealing with the government, the person who complains often gets his concerns addressed first. Also, definitely ask to speak to supervisors and bring up your son's condition every time that you talk to someone. (I used to work for a state agency, and I know that this is the way that things work.)

I'm so glad that he is doing better!

Thanks...regarding the visa, the applications are done by mail, so no talking to anyone is involved...can be very frustrating.

Anyway another cool thing my son did is this. His Day Care had a field day over the weekend. He really couldn't to any of the events without help from me or his teachers, but I saw him clapping and cheering a lot more than most of the other kids, including ones that were a few years older. I am assuming this is a good thing.

I think so. It sounds like he is getting out of his head a little and able to notice things around himself instead of just repeating numbers.

My younger son has stopped repeating letters all together incidentally, and he is talking to other people a lot more.

I've been super busy working with him and his older brother on reading and speech and seeing big payoffs with both of them. (Very time consuming for me, though, since I'm custom-making materials.)

That's great!

I wanted to ask you something, what was your older son like when he started talking? Did he suddenly start using complete sentence out of the blue? Or just single words?

My son's day care told us that he is starting to be able to follow directions. And apparently he is speaking Japanese there, too (at about the same level as his English.) He never uses it at home (aside from numbers!)

My son just went up to Mommy, hugged her, and said "I love you" for the first time ever!

My older's son's speech acquisition was very slow and painful. Every waking moment for him that he was at home, he had on speech videos, preschool videos, was watching me read flashcards to him, watching me read picture dictionaries to him, or watching me read him picture books.

His first words came from the speech videos from babybumblebee.com (speech videos for autistic babies and children) or some Baby Einstein flashc ards with pictures and words on them, or maybe the alphabet. (He watched lots of alphabet and numbers videos). He started picking up words from the videos and flashcards and saying the alphabet at about the same time. Not all at once--very slowly.

I think that I heard him say, "Mama," once when he was about four months old and scared, but he did not say it again until he was 2.

I used flashcards with short sentences on them and pictures to get him to say his first sentences. ("I want a cookie." with a picture of a cookie on it.) We have many, many flashcards and homemade books.

My younger son was getting into a set of the "why question" flashcards yesterday, in fact. My younger son is having a little difficulty with "why" questions.

If my older son would say a sentence that I did not teach him, it was ususally echolalia--a phrase repeated from a video that he was hooked on.

My younger son's speech has always been more spontaneous and has come a lot easier. Some issues answering "why" questions, he has a lisp,, cannot say the /l/ sound--he pronounces it like a /w/,sometimes repeats a question rather than answering it,, and doesn't really tell stories yet--just answers questions and says what he wants.

I think that if my older son had not been worked with so much and had not gotten on meds, he would be non-verbal or at least not have much in the way of meaningful speech.

When my older son started to talk, it kind of reminded me of the scene in The Miracle Worker movie when Helen Keller finally learned how to sign the word "water" with her hand after everyone but her teacher had just about given up. I was pretty teary when he started to talk and knew for sure that whenever he was just sitting there not even looking at me he was listening to his lessons.

I think that with my younger son, though, just getting his anxiety and fixations under control with meds has made a huge difference. I think that my younger son may even turn out to be academically gifted. We'll see.

OMG, that is WONDERFUL. Yay! So happy for you!! !

Should have commented on this news! That is super!

That's wonderful! Last night my son scooped up his blankie and started giving it kisses and said "I love you Stinky-Winky"....

Thanks! Yeah he has suddenly gotten WAY more interactive. So I suppose the Orap is working. The first two week trial is up and he will be taking it for another month at least.

Another thing that's been working is this guy. We scoured Youtube looking for basic conversation videos and found him, he teaches ESL to kids. So he had lots of songs with basic phrases like "What's your name" etc. My son is starting to script the phrases and he also follows along with the dances.

http://www.dreamenglish.com/

My sons PECS is going pretty well, and I have to say this is the biggest quality of life improvement achievement we've had, and we have worked pretty hard and consistently on it. e.g. if he brings me a packet of potato chips instead of the PEC for chips, I will always redirect him to the PECS folder to get the appropriate symbol, and will always name it.

We recently added nappy (diaper). Now everytime we change his nappy we take him to the board and show him the nappy PEC then take it with us. Getting him toilet trained is going to be the next big quality of life thing (for us). I can get him to do simple tasks now like shut the car door, bring me a bowl, so hopefully toileting will be achievable, however hes a kid who is not bothered (yet) by running around with a poo in his pants so we'll see.

In fact today he took his nappy off, did a poo on the floor, accidentally stood in it then ran through the house making one foot poo-prints, we just laughed about it and used lots of wipes, but I think he's starting to make the connection.

Sounds good! We tried something like PECS with my kid once but he just labelled all the pictures...

My son is not toilet trained either, I guess the feeling does not bother him. My one-year-old, on the other hand, points to his diaper when it's soiled.

Sounds good! We tried something like PECS with my kid once but he just labelled all the pictures...

My son is not toilet trained either, I guess the feeling does not bother him. My one-year-old, on the other hand, points to his diaper when it's soiled.

Oh my, we've had a few close calls of that nature. Recently my son has figured out how to pull down his diaper when it's soiled (rather than tell us) and two or three times has done so with a poo in it but we caught him before it got too messy. Mine will sit on the kiddy potty now but doesn't go. Sometimes he'll ask for the potty but it's always just a ruse because he likes to run around half naked.

My four-year-old is still not trained either. He urinates in the potty when reminded, but he never poops in the potty. He lies and says that he does not have to poop and then does it in his training pants. He'll also do it after he has been taken to the potty and made to sit several times--still just holds it until no one is looking and then does it. (sigh)

On a positive note, my younger son's verbal skills have gotten a whole lot better over the past couple of months--I think it is a combination of getting on a therapeutic dose of Prozac to help control his anxiety and lots of one-on-one speech work lately. His older brother is back in school, and my four-year-old begs to go outside twice daily to swing--listens to about thirty picture books by Joy Berry that I've modified into speech materials (covered up her text and wrote a question in large colored print and an answer in large print in a different color beside each page in each book). He is fixated on the books and wants me to read them to him 1.5 hours a day and reads them himself, too.

I didn't initially notice a bunch of speech problems with my younger son, but during times that he became really anxious and obsessed with repeating the alphabet over and over, he didn't seem to make much developmental progress.

Glad to hear that others are making some progress, too!