Non-Talkers

[AP]

Do you ever sit and think, and believe, it's never going to happen? That words wont ever come out?

Honestly deep in my heart I just can't ever imagine the day

 

[lindblum]

yes yes and yes!
I used to get a panicky feeling about it. I even considered getting her to learn sign language. Now I can't get her to keep quiet. I can't watch anything unless it has subtitles. When she is supposed to be sleeping at night, sometimes I can hear her making her toys talk to each other.

It will happen. They all learn at a different pace. Maybe not as fast as others, but she can and will get there x

 

[AP]

Fingers crossed. i just cant imagine it anymore. Her sign (own) language seems to be taking over, she just doesnt care for words.

 

[lindblum]

Well on the plus side at least she's trying to communicate. My daughter, Leilani, also was pointing at things she wanted in the beginning. Frustrated the hell out of me.

Is your child being seen by a specialist?

 

[AP]

Yes she is, thankfully, but we have no change since we started last year.

 

[Aunty E]

Imogen said a few words today and it's such a shock to the system every time she does it. I'm used to her babbling and saying hello mummy and her other stock phrases, but new words are amazing and so strange. To me she doesn't have a voice of her own yet, the things she does say are generally mimicking us after much prompting, so when she says something unprompted it's completely different to her normal voice. I can't imagine her ever talking, but I'm sure she will.

 

[sun]

Also I have to say your avatar made my heart melt!

 

[Marleysgirl]

AP. you know that we are in a similar situation. Occasionally we think we hear a "Hiya" or an "Eggy" (our nickname for Andrew) but I doubt we really are, I suspect we are projecting. He doesn't even point to things, we communicate by reading his body language. He doesn't seem to understand the idea of "communication".

Still, I'm going to get some picture cards and start trying those.

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

Does she babble?

My son didnt speak till he was almost 5 so I know you probably feel that day will never come! Hopefully it will.

My son can now communicate with words aswell as a 6yr old (hes 8) but his understanding of words is not so great xx

 

[Marleysgirl]

We don't even get babble! He produces vowel noises but no consonants (which is what I'd call babble)

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

My niece was silent till she was 3, its so hard she barley even cried! She is 4 now and getting on so well with speech therapy x

 

[Aunty E]

Imogen names a lot of things - she's quite impressed with herself when she knows what something is called, but she would still never think to ask for something she wanted.

 

[Peanut78]

Yes, I know how you feel. T just turned 3 and is still not speaking we have been in ST for just over a year. In the last few weeks he has started to say "yeah", but it still often sounds like "yak". He also uses sign. We went to see an alternative communication specialist just before the summer and were introduced to a whole range of potential tools that could be used/ introduced if his language still doesn't come on by the time he starts school. Although i know these things would be helping him, iit really scared me actually.

I had a long chat with his ST about it recently. She said that although there are obviously never any guarantees, most kids with severe speech delays even out speech wise in later primary. Fingers crossed...

 

[JASMAK]

I felt that way with my daughter...nonverbal until 4, and it did....baby steps hon. One f the best moments in my life was when M signed I Love You to me at 4.5 years old. It will come...keep working at it, and have faith and hope. Hugs x

 

[JASMAK]

Fingers crossed. i just cant imagine it anymore. Her sign (own) language seems to be taking over, she just doesnt care for words.

That is a BIG step!! That is communication! Now, she simply needs to transfer her skills. My daughter learned sign and pointing to cards and AFTER that is when she started coordinatin her speech with those signs, but I totally felt like you...that it wa never going to come. But it did, nd a million other things that I never could imagine her doing. Hang in there!

 

[Menelly]

Do you ever sit and think, and believe, it's never going to happen? That words wont ever come out?

Honestly deep in my heart I just can't ever imagine the day

Tyler was almost completely non-verbal till age 5. At 5, he got a few words, almost all of them useless.

By about age 7, he was using what I'd call "purposeful echolalia". He'd copy what we'd say (or what he'd heard in a movie) to make needs known. So instead of "I'd like milk, please" or something like that, he'd say "do you want some milk, buddy?" Which is what we'd ask HIM, but it still made it known he wanted milk.

Nowadays, he's still very echolalic. He repeats Disney movies, WWE wrestling, and Phineas and Ferb episodes constantly. However, he now can have an actual two way conversation on quite a few topics. If he gets frustrated or doesn't understand what's being asked he still says 'I don't know Mother!' but in general he does so much better.

If speech doesn't actually ever come, that's still not the end of all hope. You can look into facilitated or assisted communication. There are some very impressive people in the Autism rights movement that are completely non-verbal, and they use assisted communication and typing to make their thoughts known. Non verbal doesn't mean no voice, it just might take more effort to have that voice.

Here's a link by Amy Sequenzia, she's one of the non-verbal autistic adults I mentioned. She's an author and an advocate, and hopefully if you read her stuff you will see there's hope. https://ollibean.com/2012/07/12/amy-sequenzia-just-me/

Your child may be like mine, and just take years and years to find her voice, or she might be like Amy and need outside assistance to find her voice, but she'll find it someday.

 

[Shezza84uk]

I have felt this way and I have my "why me days" where I literally just wanna curl up and cry lol.. I have come a very long way with my daughter from first diagnosis I worked with her 1-2hrs daily just having little conversations while playing games or doing creative art which she loves doing I then used single words to describe things for example I would initially say drink, she would try to say drink and I knew that's what that word she used meant or that gesture. I would then wait until she got that word and add another so now she says can I have a drink please, yes please and no thank you.

She still babbles an awful lot and I am hoping by continuing with our routine she will improve with time it is such hard work to remain positive but eventually I guess we will all get there x

 

[lindblum]

shezza, i just noticed our girls are the same age, i guess your daughter is starting school this September? I had my daughter assessed by her nursery in March 2012 and they sent me a letter last week saying how the school would take over her 'speech therapy' (she hasn't actually had any yet). Just wanted to let you know the schools can assist, if you didn't already know x

 

[Shezza84uk]

shezza, i just noticed our girls are the same age, i guess your daughter is starting school this September? I had my daughter assessed by her nursery in March 2012 and they sent me a letter last week saying how the school would take over her 'speech therapy' (she hasn't actually had any yet). Just wanted to let you know the schools can assist, if you didn't already know x

Hiya hun she was diagnosed at 2.5 with speech and language impairment so had speech therapy in 6week blocks every 4 months.

She is in school this September I was very lucky to have been successful in getting her in a main stream school with a language unit I'm nervous and terrified about how she will cope hoping it goes well.

Is your daughter in a main stream school? They're so little it seems a huge step for them.. Sigh... I'm just so over emotional about it its unbelievable lol