Intonation -- is it likely to get better?

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Hi, I am asking about my young 4-year-old son.

He was recently diagnosed with autism.

I think his receptive language is like a young 3-year-old in a lot of ways. He does know a lot of words.

He talks a fair amount at home. He is able to say what he wants, and the likes to make jokes. His jokes are like -- right now, he says "me-ow" and then I (or his brother or sister) will say "me-ow" back or say "woof woof" back or look around and say "I think there is a cat in the house." It is really funny and he will laugh. We always have a couple of things like that going with him.

So, we are seeing a lot of good language things with him at home.

He does have an odd intonation, though. He always talks a little loud and forcefully, and either high-pitched or low-pitched.

So, I feel like, I am very content/satisfied that he is making improvement with his language.

But, his intonation is staying the same, and I am curious if this usually stays the same, or if it usually improves. I would like to know if I should take an attitude of not thinking that is important, or take an attitude of being dis-satisfied and expecting it to improve.

It will make a difference in how I present him, I think. I can present him as doing extremely well, or as not being where he could be.

I am leaning strongly toward thinking he is doing very well and his intonation is what it is, but I don't want to hold him back if he could be doing better with his intonation eventually.

If you're talking about dealing with his speech-language pathologists, why don't you ask them about it? If you're taking him to someone who specializes in autistic kids, they probably have a very good idea of a "typical" trajectory for a kid with his type of language skill level. If he's not with someone who specializes in his condition, I'd make sure to have him see a speech-language specialist who does.

I am no professional, and my child didn't have these issues in particular - but I would venture a guess that intonation is more of a fine-tuning, later thing and getting actual language and communication comes first.

Thanks.

We are still early days here. I am expecting his IEP meeting to be later this week and I need his IEP for insurance before we can do any private therapy.

I have met the SLP he will be with at pre-school and I have a good impression. I was with him for his evaluation for her, and she just asked me if he always talked that way or if he was just excited. I had never thought of it before -- it has just been how he talks. But now that it has been pointed out (this was about two weeks ago) I am curious about it.

I can ask her about it.

As a 17 year old Aspie, I can confidently say my mom often mistakes my normal voice for yelling.

My 3-year-old DD also has atypical intonation. To me, it sounds like a person learning a new language. The first few times they say a new word or phrase in a new language, it comes out of their mouth a bit weird (too high, too low, too fast, too slow). As they get used to the new language, the new words and phrases start sounding more natural. I think my DD is getting better with her intonation, but it's hard to tell day-to-day. I would have to go back and listen to a recording from a month ago to tell for sure.

You might try to throw into your language games some varying of intonation, to see if he can discern intonation differences. If he says "me-ow" in a high voice, try answering him in a really low voice, and see what he does. The more he can play with words and phrases, the more they can become his own.

I am not a professional by any means, just a scientist that likes to over-analyze everything

Thanks, I will try that.

Frustrating, Zodai. I don't want to get that way with my son.

my sons normal voice has a sing song quality, or a WHINE to it. We have been working on his shortening his sounds but it is very hard.

I think it is like so many traits of the autism spectrum. You cannot accurately predict how an individual will function at 30 by how he/she is functioning at 4. Maybe, he will "grow out of it" (I really hate that phrase btw) or maybe you will work on it and it will improve, or maybe you will work on it and he will always sound a little odd. In some professions, it is good to have that odd intonation. It often fits the image of the profession.

Personally, if it was my child, I would do as a previous poster said and work on it with games and such, and maybe even consult a speech pathologist. But I wouldn't make too big a deal out of it.

Are there specific problems you are imagininging it causing in the future?

Right now I think it makes him sound young but that is not a problem.

What are professions where it would be desirable?

I think if he might have it (to some degree) his whole life, I want to not allow other people to express that they hope it can be fixed, if it would be negative. Like, therapy, fine, if the therapy seemed like a good deal. I get some criticism about my oldest son (he is NT but he has dyslexia and he has "cluttered" speech he is in speech therapy for) that his speech is not perfect, and it is really not causing him any problem. It is mainly my MIL on that one.

I have seen some times where people get caught up in potential and need to be happy with what they have, that is what I am thinking about, I guess.

I think that you should take the attitude that he is doing verry merry berry well with language, and this intonation thing isn't a big deal.

Some of the children with pedantic language and limited intonation are referred to as "little professors." The way they talk sounds like a professor - or an intelligent person who is logical and precise. So any career where it is important to sound like you know what you are talking about, most IT careers, most professors, most science careers, most technical/skilled labor careers, most engineering careers, also anyone who ends up being a speaker to crowds. When we hear it from children, it sounds "odd" to us, but when an adult who is talking about their interests talks this way, they sound knowledgable and intelligent.

Believe it or not, there are a lot of comedians and voice-over actors who I am pretty sure are on the spectrum, and they've made themselves known by their odd voices. The one that comes to mind most is Brian Posehn; I have no idea whether or not he's on the spectrum, but he's made a living off of being smart, witty and having odd prosody.

Thanks, I had not thought of that.

I am going to take an attitude he is doing great, the intonation is not a big deal.

Have you tried giving him music lessons? No one understands volume, pitch, and intonation quite like a musician.