Expressive Language

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Hi everyone,

I have a question about expressive language. My son has a peculiar way of expressing himself sometimes, and the speech therapist said that he needs to do more work with expressive language.

Does this sort of thing 'improve' as kids gets older? My son is 7 and has AS. Sometimes he has trouble saying exactly what he means, or he says it in an unusual way.

(I don't express myself well all the time. Yesterday I was trying to ask a friend something about a computer, but she didn't know what I was talking about. I just laughed and asked her to translate what I was saying so it made sense ).

Cheers,
Temma

My son has normal "receptive" speech, but abnormal "expressive" speech. Until about two months ago, he was almost entirely non-verbal at age 26 months and we relied heavily on sign language (even before that). Turns out he has a speech disorder, not just delay. With great effort he has improved A LOT. I think even at your son's age, there is a lot of room for improvement.

People on the spectrum often do experience trouble with expressive speech. The trick is determining whether it is a functional problem or simply part of the autism. For me, it is my AS. For my son, he actually has a functional problem with his facial muscles.

From personal experience its like having the words, but no way to verbally convey them, which is very frustrating, especially if you are trying to talk and get interrupted. I find it way easier to talk in a forum then person to person, god help me if my typing develops a stutter.

I stumble over words so much when I talk. I'm educated, articulate, and little words trip me up all the time. It's annoying, frustrating, and embarrassing. I know what I want to say, I've got the images in my head of what I'm trying to describe, but there's a short-circuit between my brain and mouth. It's very bad when I'm tired or stressed. My daughter has the same problem as well.

From wht I understand, this is very common among people on the spectrum.

I don't know if it applies to your son, but I have a hard time shifting from a visual to a verbal mode. For example if I'm trying to visualize how to construct something and some one attempts to engage me in conversation, I can really be at a loss for words, until I relax, collect my thoughts and try to say something reasonably coherent.

ditto.... only I think of it as thinking mode to speaking mode.... (which just kinda reinforces my self-Dx when compared to your description, as aspergians are generally thought to think in pictures)

Also, if I am trying to do something (or heaven forbid write something down) don't ask me to talk at the same time. It just won't happen. I can work, or I can talk, not both at once.

Now, to the OP. I have problems with expressive language as well.... recent example.... I asked someone "Did you get studying done this weekend?" What I meant was "Have you done any studying this weekend?"

it took a couple of sentences of explaining to get one sentence to turn into the other. it can get annoying, especially if, when it happens you are already stressed (which is when mine appears the most)

Thanks for the replies - they've been really helpful, (more helpful than the speech therapist!), and I understand expressive language issues much better .

Temma