What do they do in speech therapy?

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What do they do in speech therapy? Are they going to torture him the whole time? Because he HATES being asked to speak.

I've been trying to do some of the things the professionals recommend for children with Autism who aren't speaking, such as making them ask for what they want. I feel like it's torturing my son when I do this. Tonight he wanted his after dinner snack of graham crackers, and I made him ask for it. I said, "Do you want a cracker?" Say cracker and mommy will give you the cracker." He erupted into a meltdown like I've never seen before. I held my ground. He eventually said something two or three or so times that sounded like "bugaaa", which I figured had to be either his attempt to say "cracker" or some equivalent of "go to hell". I gave him the cracker in any event.

It's hard to watch this little boy, who you love with every fiber of your being, howling in frustration as he writhes on the floor, banging his head. At the same time, I'm doing him no favors if I don't stand firm on some things. He is capable of speech. He can say the following: jump, I did it, mama, dada, okay, thanks, nummy (means it tastes good), done, down/want down, eat/want eat and hi. Problem is, a child of his age should have a 50-word vocabulary and imitate words. He will not imitate a single word. Mama and nummy are brand new, which has me hopeful. His favorite word is okay, and he has begun adding a yes nod to it. The other day he may have said yes ("esss") but since it happened only once I don't know yet.

So many of the therapies seem...awful. I'm sure it seems worse than it is, but...it's my baby.

jaxon (turned 3 in july) sees a speech therapist. Beacause he desn't like the tiny rom we play in he has now learnt to say no...car.... meaning obviously he wants to leave in the car.
The s.therapist treats him like a baby and we have since had words....she now talks slightly more grwn up to him.
Basically she watches him play for 45min-1hr abnd then tells me what words she wants me to "focus on" with him. My prob is when i am disinterested how can i expect him 2 be? I know this isn't as possitive as u would prb. like it all i can say is atleast she gives me ideas every now and then even though she seems to think she knows my son better than myself. one clue is that i now say to jaxon that mummy is going to see the lady while he plays to take the emphasis of the whole "speech thing" because he was starting to really dislike going...
its worth a go if nothing else. Its just all about 1 on 1 time with him and constant talking..(apparently)
Good luck anyway

I was in speech therapy as a very, very young child (never connected to any condition in particular, just a quirk as far as they were concerned- I tended to talk with my teeth clenched shut, and often reversed sentences and words), and I greatly benefited from it. I still am very nonverbal, and do clam up, but it is still an improvement, and did help me communicate, if only slightly. I wish the sessions had not been terminated.

I don't remember much about it, since I was so young (six or seven), but I do remember reading out loud much of the time, practicing. I was exceptionally literate so this was the best approach. My mother could also help me at home, too, just by having me read to her- which I enjoyed, because it meant I got to pick books I fancied, and got to share something special to me with someone. I know I'm coming off as the "Anne Landers" of AS, but I suggest the same thing (you asking him to read out loud to you, since he will feel more at ease) if he is uncomfortable in speech therapy. I understand how awkward it is to read out loud in front of people not in my circle.

Under what conditions does your son talk? When he's excited about something? Comfortable? At home?

I think you're definitely right when you say "I'm doing him no favors if I don't stand firm on some things". I know this now, because my 11 year old has spent the last six months or so periodically talking about when he was in preschool and kindergarten, back when "I didn't like people" or "back when I didn't talk much." I'm amazed that he can now look back and comment on what he was like back then, and then say things like "I like everybody now" or "I'm fine with talking," etc. I think it's a hallmark of autism that we as parents spend a lot of time trying to figure out what things are important to work on, and what things do we leave alone.

The world we live in requires our children to talk and communicate. If they can't, they are at a disadvantage. Having said that, many kids are quiet or don't talk much at a young age, and then make the shift and become "talkers" later in life. My problem now is that we are trying to make sure our son doesn't ALWAYS say unusual stuff that other people don't "get."

I can safely say that we've transitioned from a child who didn't talk very much, to a child who talks quite a bit when he's in a comfortable setting (i.e., not too many people around). He's happy - and maybe part of that is due to feeling comfortable with communicating with others.

Kris

speech therapy is only as good as the therapist you're working with. the speech therapists that work at my school are wonderful !
they end up playing alot of games with the students~ works on speech, but also works on other goals such as turn-taking. sometimes they do actual reading lessons to work on articulation with older students.....they also do art with the students~ basically anything that can motivate them to talk.

Wish I could help... it's been probably 40yrs since I was in... we just played Chutes & Ladders, as best I can remember.

Wouldn't you be allowed to watch?
I know some places have two-way mirrors.
The lady who diagnosed my ADD/HD worked in a place that did.
But then... perhaps it would be too hard to watch?

omg, my son is still playing Chutes and Ladders in his speech therapy group. He's 7 and the youngest one.

My 6 year old autistic daughter started going to speeh thrapy about 14 months ago and I have to say it's helped her speech tremendously. She did't even talk at all until she was 4, and when she wanted something she'd just put out her hand and SCREAM "Akkkkkkkk,Akkkkkkk," until you touched everything in the general vincinity and she'd quit screaming when you touched it.
Now she walks up and says " I want pickle, peeese." (not a typo) She now asks for stuff and actually answered a question directed at her the other day. (Her first one) Have also started her in occupational therapy as she has vestibular input and sensory processing issues.
She can read now, and is working way above grade level according to her last IEP and is able to tell me what she wants now. It was tuff the first couple sessions cause she had a complete meltdown when she did't get her way, but after she went a couple times she now loves it and skips along saying "Go see Ty , Jackie" I have ALWAYS been in the same room with them all and can't imagine you not being asked to be present at all times. Maybe check into a different therapist. That first session was almost comical, Ty asked if she always acted like this and I said "Yeah, when she doesn't get her way, she'll mellow out if you just wait her out." And she did and she LOVES it now. It's one of the highlights of her week. They do play mostly games and she loves every minute of it.

we are just getting ready to start with this and this is great info for me as well. I hope our school's therapist is good and he/she can understand that my son (3.5) is highly verbal, but needs help with turn taking, conversations, etc....you just never know who you are going to get and you hear stories of really great therapists and really bad ones. Hopefully you will have a kind, knowledgeable therapist who understands your child's indiviadual needs--if that is working on learning words and getting comfortable with speech through games..... I am crossing my fingers for you. (and me!)

kate

I have a recollection of a single visit only to a speech therapist when I was about 3 or 4 (c1965). I would have benefited from more. My speech was a cause for teasing/bullying.

It was only when my own kids had speech therapy that I mastered some consonants. Both sons thought speech therapy sessions were fun and happy to go. #1 son also went to see a professor who was doing auditory processing research which helped improve his learning environment, but he got sick of testing and so we stopped because we thought it as it went on the benefits were marginal and it caused angst and was producing a feeling in #1 son there was something wrong him.

I took my son to speech therapy at age 4 - he liked it, they played games on the computer and when the bulldozer would push the object off the cliff, he had to say out loud the name of the object "R-ake!" So that was good, and we were dismissed after several months as being up to standard.

Then at six we started with another therapist... this was PROMPT therapy, and the therapist spent a lot of time putting her hands on his face and jaw in an effort to make his muscles, etc. move in the correct way. He loathed it, but I kept taking him because I thought we were making progress. From my point of view now, I would say that if your kid enjoys it or is okay with it, you should carry on... but it is probably counterproductive and a bad move for mental health to persist in taking him if he dreads it.

Can you tell I have some regrets?

Both of my boys are in speech therapy. They mostly play games, but the oldest one also does more articulation work and trying not to speak so hypernasal. His stuff is a little bit more complicated. They do things like hold a small piece of paper up to him and when he talks to see if the paper moves (which means he is speaking through his mouth as opposed to his nose). It makes better sense if you see and hear him talk. My youngest one they really work on getting him to say more than one or two words. He talks, and it is mostly clear, but his speech structure is broken up and he doesn't use many words. And they both work on social language and skills in ST. But they make it fun for them, last week they made bird feeders for example.