Did anyone learn to speak after four years old?

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And if so, can you remember why you didn't talk until you were older?
Just asking because my son is four and not talking. As he gets older there are less of the 'I didn't talk till I was X years old' examples that I can look at and think he's still got time to learn.

Ehhh. Actually I was learning how to read around that age...

That's not specifically characteristic of autism, though. About 10% of autistic children are hyperlexic, and many of those have delayed speech (or lose speech) even while learning to read at an earlier than typical age.

I have heard of autistic children who started speaking at 4 or so, but I don't remember and can't link to specifics right now. I come across too much information without really remembering where I saw it, I think.

Have you tried a speech therapist? Or is it a pathologist?
I couldn't read at four either. Or five.
I find it weird that I spoke at about two years old because I never spoke much after that. It took another five years to speak at the level of most children my age.

My son said a few words but did not start conversing until age 5. This was after he was diagnosed with AS and then treated for his debilitating anxiety and sensory issues. All along it was clear he had receptive language skills.

one kid in the family didn't speak at all till he was 4, then parents took him to this therapist and basically kid started regular school at 7 (this is standard since they live in Europe). he is 13 now, A student and well-functioning, independent child.
my kid goes to the same therapist now and the approach is a no-brainer, just work. the main difference between him and many other therapists is that he thinks and treats the child as a smart person and sets the bar high. unfortunately he works in europe.

good luck to you.

I couldn't put words together until age four. My mother said the Doctor at that time, early 60's, told her don't worry about it, he doesn't need to talk you give him everything he needs. I also had sensory issues particularly with touch; I often wondered why no one else around me had these issues, but I guess it was because I was mainstreamed and and not directly associated with others that had these issues. My grades were so good that the issues with speech did not seem to concern anyone, as far as needing help with this.

I didn't talk much when I was four. I was five when I started to talk in sentences but I was hard to understand. Then at age six I started talking correctly and then I was a chatterbox.

I had speech therapy and mom worked with me. I was also a late reader too. I didn't read at four or five. I wasn't reading for real until I was eight. I just picked up on it all of a sudden when mom started making me read and also being put in regular ed. Reading was everywhere and we had lot of reading to do. Before, I read by memorization. Give me a new book to read, I struggled. But I couldn't even comprehend what I was reading. I still struggle with it at times. Sometimes I have to read a post over and over to see what the person is saying. News articles I have a hard time.

When I say he doesn't talk, about once a month he might pop out one word. Before Christmas he said 'cake' once when he wanted some.

When he was 2.5 he had about a 40 word volcabulary, and would use words a fair bit and in response to prompts occasionally. Some of these words were heard only once ever. E.g. once when I was leaving a friends he said "See-ya, bye". I once heard him say "Drink please". Words were used in context and no echoalia that we noticed.

He makes sounds quit a lot, humming and clicking and all sorts.

sounds like a thoughtful guy. I know that therapists typically use a tease (cake in your case) until he says it properly i.e. the whole sentence. it can backfire IMO but it doesn't hurt to try.

lots of the strategies about starting and expanding the vocabulary is in the "TalkAbility: People Skills for Verbal Children on the Autism Spectrum - A Guide for Parents ".

Sorry no, I was hyperlexic myself.

But my NT brother refused to speak around anyone unless I was there with him. Interesting...

I've actually been thinking about this recently, trying to figure out how to put this to the team when I go for diagnosis - currently I'm undiagnosed but strong suspicion of asperger's both personally and from professionals.

I didn't really talk until I was 7 years old.
I did speak a little but it was VERY limited and only to my mother and father, I never spoke in school, to strangers, or to the wider family - I went to a speech therapist for a long time after I started talking because my speech was very poor. Even then I chose not to speak most of the time, my mother had to talk for me, if I needed anything I got it myself rather than ask...and everyone refused to babysit me as I never talked and it used to freak them out

I just didn't speak, it never occurred to me to speak because a. I don't think I fully grasped that other people were other people like me with thoughts and feelings, b. I didn't see a need to speak because I got by fine without talking, and c. I didn't understand why people interacted with each other like that as I was fine talking to myself - not sure if others ever did this, but I would have conversations with people in my head and that was enough to sustain me, I didn't actually need to talk to other people. I was a little shy, I didn't know how to speak to other people or how to make the words come out. I've also always been ridiculously stubborn so for some time I didn't talk because I didn't talk and didn't like people trying to force me or trick me into talking.

It's hard to say why I didn't talk as it was a long time ago, my memory is bad, and I really find it VERY hard to understand why I was that way, I was so much in my own head that other people and even things happening with my own body just didn't register.

My seven year old son learned to read his first words when he was two. He cracked the code when he was three years old. He currently reads several years above grade level only if the information is non-fiction. Nevertheless, he was not fully potty trained until six months before kindergarten. Even after he entered kindergarten, he would pee on the living room floor because it was more convenient than walking all the way to the bathroom.

His expressive language skills are in many ways lower than his four year old brother.

Your son might have numerous language skills that you have not detected.

I started speaking at 5 1/2 years old. But I discovered on my baby book, that I spoke the First Sentences at 4 1/2 years old, but received speech therapy.