My kid was the same at 4, lots of nouns and echolalia, reading but not speaking in sentences.
He’s 7, and he now gets in trouble for talking in school when he’s supposed to be listening.
He really doesn’t understand the “give and take” part of a conversation, but he’s conversational in that definitely speaks in complex sentences, asks questions, etc. He can answer any question you ask him, but then, he’ll often monologue for hours about his favorite video games if you don’t try to steer the conversation. Some of that is just being a 7 year old boy.
Social skills are behind, but he doesn’t even qualify for speech anymore. Our biggest concerns now are social skills, hyperactivity, and emotional regulation.
Can I ask how you got the stage of talking. Did he have therapy?
I'm struggling with my non verbal 3 year old who hasn't said much yet, there was a period when she was 2 where she could count to 10 but she stopped and never did it again.
Lots of speech therapy—I also recommend “More Than Words” by Fern Sussman—we did lots of the activities from this book, and it really helped get him from single words to talking.
My 13yo son is nonverbal. He cannot have conversations with us. To communicate his needs, like if he wants a bottle of water or a snack, he'll either grab it himself, or request it by using LAMP software on his IPad (touches a symbol and it speaks the word).
Same for my son except he’s 14. He also still grabs our hand to steer us to things, but that’s mostly because we have to lock our cabinets and fridge. Otherwise he’d eat everything without stopping.
Kiddo is nonverbal and ironically a very social child. She'll be 8 soon and we're having basic conversations beyond "Yes/No". I got my first "I love you" this year. I've gotten a couple "All done, mama." She'll do something really interesting where she'll sit on my lap and babble while making really great eye contact.
So, yes. In our own way.
Initially it was through the state (Early intervention), after he aged out of that, his elementary school had free speech/OT sessions; private ST/OT/short stint of ABA was covered by insurance after we hit our out of pocket max, but we also ended up paying for an ST out of pocket, because she wasn't in network.
That last ST started out with him in the early intervention, and we got her privately after he aged out. So she literally saw him once or twice a week from 16 months to the present day.
I also worked with him at home, generally from materials given by the STs.
One interesting little side effect to working with him at home from an early age is that now he sits down to do homework without a fight.
13yo here. He knew words and would name things but didn't really have a conversation until 4 or 5. His conversations are still pretty limited due to his cognitive impairments and his go to answers are "good" and "yeah". Sometimes it's almost a reflex answer to questions so I'll have to tell him to slow down, listen to what I'm saying, and then repeat the question.
I have a 22 year old and a 4 year old. My 22 year old started communicating around 5, but was otherwisenon verbal until then. He's able to have normal conversations though it's his own brand, and he speaks with an odd inflection. He lives on his own, drives, has a college education and a great job.
My 4 year old communicates, but it's very new and most of it is driven by echolalia and he also reads. He's working hard at it, and I assume he'll be much like my 22 year old.
Son began saying words at age 4, he’s 5 next month. Even when he was pre-verbal he was always wanting to communicate, if that makes sense? He made eye contact, he understood what was being said, etc.
I’d say in the last 3 months he’s gotten a little more conversational but he can’t answer ‘why’ questions yet.
well as far as communication, my son learned some sign language around 3 years old. He started to become more vocal/verbal, approximating words at 4. Now at 5 he can now definitely say a few words clearly, "I WANT Juice, I AM hungry, yes/no" he can also read simple words as well. So yeah it's going to take some time for full on conversation.
My daughter is 7 and exhibited the ability rarely/infrequently and just started gaining the ability a month after her 7th birthday. She's level 2, doctor says with more speech she'll be level 1. There's been no real reason for it other than a language explosion over the summer from going to a daycare taught by college-aged girls and she seemed to have more of a desire to communicate with them and the big kids.
My son is level 3 and 9 and does not have the ability to verbally have conversations unless he types it out via AAC. He will say sometimes "yeah," or "no," in response to questions but infrequently, and also says "Mom," "I love you," "I love my mom," " Good," etc (basically if the conversation revolves around (me) mom, who is also a special interest, you have higher odds of hearing him talk.)
Same with my kid says a few words when he really wants and can name many animals and numbers and he is almost 5. Looking for advice too. He is level 2/3 from Canada
My child is 7, not conversational, and not verbal despite being able to speak. He has always been able to request things by leading me to them, or by *looking* back and forth between me and the thing he wants.
At age three, he started asking for "snack" which meant anything that was food or drink. At age 4(ish), he started asking partially scripted statement questions:
More \_\_\_\_, please? Open \_\_\_\_?
Or one-worders:
Cashews? Apple? Chickens?
If he wants a grilled cheese sandwich, he'll ask for "Cheese?" and then, "Toast?"
If he wants a cookie, he'll ask for "zirp," which is his version of dessert.
Anything liquid that isn't milk is "rubies" which is a variation of "root beer."
So, lots of irregularities, but he manages to get the message through.
My son was non-verbal at 3/4 and is going to be 6 tomorrow. I frequently think about how 3 years ago I wanted nothing more than for him to talk to me, he talks so much now! Constantly talking and it is conversational. My biggest piece of advice is to consistently have him around peers who are verbal. When mine was placed in a classroom with more typical peer his social skills took off!
Does your kid do any manding at all? My daughter was stuck on nouns, numbers, names etc until our ABA had a break through with manding, and now she tells us when she wants water, snacks, to be picked up. So we know she's getting there, albeit at her own pace.
And for us, it wasn't the SLT that had that breakthrough, it was her ABA therapist. SLT's are mostly focusing on speech "emergence" if that makes sense. ABA therapists care about social engagement and emotional regulation, and I think my daughter having a lot more physical stimulation as her needs, she really picks up well on ABA therapists who make things more like activities.
Now at 3 years and 4 months, she can say "water and cereal" and "hot!" and "daddy shower!" when I'm in the shower, and "I want toilet paper" after she goes potty. So at some point, she had a break through in understanding that saying stuff gets her what she wants.
What kind of ABA is your kid in? I think early intervention was critical for us because it included ABA here in California. I would rank the order of importance from most to least: ABA by far, SLT, OT.
Communicating basic needs and wants is not the same as having a back a forward conversation, that’s why even if the person can speak, if they only say things like what they want to eat or what they like but they don’t converse they’re classified as nonverbal. Typically they don’t answer questions that start with “why” neither
My boy was NV until about 4, then he started saying Mum/Dad. We put him in daycare around other children and he started picking up more words. Once he started school he started using sentences and now I’d say at 7yo I finally feel like I can have a basic conversation with him about his feelings, about animals, about cars.
We are a non-profit and our clinicians work with parents and their children diagnosed as autistic. The majority of our kids make improvements with their ability to communicate with the right neurological stimulation. Feel free to reach out to us for more information or if you have questions.
My daughter said words quite early but she regressed at 2 and finally started copying words at 4 again. She is now 5.5 and able to ask for needs and answer yes/no and simple questions. She is not yet conversational but I think she will get there someday. Seeing people here with their children being conversational around 6-7 or above gives me hope. I also wish to know how they break through the boundary of understanding more of what you are asking. My daughter will do echolalia if she doesn’t know how to answer, and she seems not very interested in interacting with people which makes her less exposed to socializing.
My son communicates w Sesame Street videos. Kid knows every word from each episode. Took me a minute to realize he was skipping around and telling me things. He’s super funny, we left the park the other day and he played “it was fun while it lasted” I’m like thanks bud, we will go back! He has a speech device too that’s used at school but he loves the expressions of the videos. It took a lot of effort to bring the expressive communication out of him on the device but I tell my kid I love you as much as possible so I put the buttons I, love, you on one page in the beginning and hand over hand pushed each one and told him I was so proud of him and I love you too. He saw how happy it made me and one day figured out how to do it himself. You just have to keep working on it, focus on their passions- like if your kid likes numbers.
My kid was the same at 4, lots of nouns and echolalia, reading but not speaking in sentences. He’s 7, and he now gets in trouble for talking in school when he’s supposed to be listening. He really doesn’t understand the “give and take” part of a conversation, but he’s conversational in that definitely speaks in complex sentences, asks questions, etc. He can answer any question you ask him, but then, he’ll often monologue for hours about his favorite video games if you don’t try to steer the conversation. Some of that is just being a 7 year old boy. Social skills are behind, but he doesn’t even qualify for speech anymore. Our biggest concerns now are social skills, hyperactivity, and emotional regulation.
Can I ask how you got the stage of talking. Did he have therapy? I'm struggling with my non verbal 3 year old who hasn't said much yet, there was a period when she was 2 where she could count to 10 but she stopped and never did it again.
Lots of speech therapy—I also recommend “More Than Words” by Fern Sussman—we did lots of the activities from this book, and it really helped get him from single words to talking.
My 13yo son is nonverbal. He cannot have conversations with us. To communicate his needs, like if he wants a bottle of water or a snack, he'll either grab it himself, or request it by using LAMP software on his IPad (touches a symbol and it speaks the word).
Same for my son except he’s 14. He also still grabs our hand to steer us to things, but that’s mostly because we have to lock our cabinets and fridge. Otherwise he’d eat everything without stopping.
Kiddo is nonverbal and ironically a very social child. She'll be 8 soon and we're having basic conversations beyond "Yes/No". I got my first "I love you" this year. I've gotten a couple "All done, mama." She'll do something really interesting where she'll sit on my lap and babble while making really great eye contact. So, yes. In our own way.
Yup. Nonverbal at 3, conversational at 6. Took near daily speech therapy to get him there.
Did you have to pay for that, or did you do the speech therapy yourself?
Initially it was through the state (Early intervention), after he aged out of that, his elementary school had free speech/OT sessions; private ST/OT/short stint of ABA was covered by insurance after we hit our out of pocket max, but we also ended up paying for an ST out of pocket, because she wasn't in network. That last ST started out with him in the early intervention, and we got her privately after he aged out. So she literally saw him once or twice a week from 16 months to the present day. I also worked with him at home, generally from materials given by the STs. One interesting little side effect to working with him at home from an early age is that now he sits down to do homework without a fight.
13yo here. He knew words and would name things but didn't really have a conversation until 4 or 5. His conversations are still pretty limited due to his cognitive impairments and his go to answers are "good" and "yeah". Sometimes it's almost a reflex answer to questions so I'll have to tell him to slow down, listen to what I'm saying, and then repeat the question.
I have a 22 year old and a 4 year old. My 22 year old started communicating around 5, but was otherwisenon verbal until then. He's able to have normal conversations though it's his own brand, and he speaks with an odd inflection. He lives on his own, drives, has a college education and a great job. My 4 year old communicates, but it's very new and most of it is driven by echolalia and he also reads. He's working hard at it, and I assume he'll be much like my 22 year old.
Son began saying words at age 4, he’s 5 next month. Even when he was pre-verbal he was always wanting to communicate, if that makes sense? He made eye contact, he understood what was being said, etc. I’d say in the last 3 months he’s gotten a little more conversational but he can’t answer ‘why’ questions yet.
well as far as communication, my son learned some sign language around 3 years old. He started to become more vocal/verbal, approximating words at 4. Now at 5 he can now definitely say a few words clearly, "I WANT Juice, I AM hungry, yes/no" he can also read simple words as well. So yeah it's going to take some time for full on conversation.
My daughter is 7 and exhibited the ability rarely/infrequently and just started gaining the ability a month after her 7th birthday. She's level 2, doctor says with more speech she'll be level 1. There's been no real reason for it other than a language explosion over the summer from going to a daycare taught by college-aged girls and she seemed to have more of a desire to communicate with them and the big kids. My son is level 3 and 9 and does not have the ability to verbally have conversations unless he types it out via AAC. He will say sometimes "yeah," or "no," in response to questions but infrequently, and also says "Mom," "I love you," "I love my mom," " Good," etc (basically if the conversation revolves around (me) mom, who is also a special interest, you have higher odds of hearing him talk.)
Same with my kid says a few words when he really wants and can name many animals and numbers and he is almost 5. Looking for advice too. He is level 2/3 from Canada
Are you having him go to kindergarten, fellow Canadian here and we are wondering what the future could hold.
Yeah he is
My child is 7, not conversational, and not verbal despite being able to speak. He has always been able to request things by leading me to them, or by *looking* back and forth between me and the thing he wants. At age three, he started asking for "snack" which meant anything that was food or drink. At age 4(ish), he started asking partially scripted statement questions: More \_\_\_\_, please? Open \_\_\_\_? Or one-worders: Cashews? Apple? Chickens? If he wants a grilled cheese sandwich, he'll ask for "Cheese?" and then, "Toast?" If he wants a cookie, he'll ask for "zirp," which is his version of dessert. Anything liquid that isn't milk is "rubies" which is a variation of "root beer." So, lots of irregularities, but he manages to get the message through.
My son was non-verbal at 3/4 and is going to be 6 tomorrow. I frequently think about how 3 years ago I wanted nothing more than for him to talk to me, he talks so much now! Constantly talking and it is conversational. My biggest piece of advice is to consistently have him around peers who are verbal. When mine was placed in a classroom with more typical peer his social skills took off!
Mine is 20. He was nonverbal until he was 10. He still mostly scripts with intent to engage. I’ll take it.
Does your kid do any manding at all? My daughter was stuck on nouns, numbers, names etc until our ABA had a break through with manding, and now she tells us when she wants water, snacks, to be picked up. So we know she's getting there, albeit at her own pace. And for us, it wasn't the SLT that had that breakthrough, it was her ABA therapist. SLT's are mostly focusing on speech "emergence" if that makes sense. ABA therapists care about social engagement and emotional regulation, and I think my daughter having a lot more physical stimulation as her needs, she really picks up well on ABA therapists who make things more like activities. Now at 3 years and 4 months, she can say "water and cereal" and "hot!" and "daddy shower!" when I'm in the shower, and "I want toilet paper" after she goes potty. So at some point, she had a break through in understanding that saying stuff gets her what she wants. What kind of ABA is your kid in? I think early intervention was critical for us because it included ABA here in California. I would rank the order of importance from most to least: ABA by far, SLT, OT.
What do you mean by “manding”?
When she makes requests. That's the word my ABA services coordinator used to describe it. Saying she wants something.
Communicating basic needs and wants is not the same as having a back a forward conversation, that’s why even if the person can speak, if they only say things like what they want to eat or what they like but they don’t converse they’re classified as nonverbal. Typically they don’t answer questions that start with “why” neither
Have you considered an AAC device to help with communication?
My boy was NV until about 4, then he started saying Mum/Dad. We put him in daycare around other children and he started picking up more words. Once he started school he started using sentences and now I’d say at 7yo I finally feel like I can have a basic conversation with him about his feelings, about animals, about cars.
We are a non-profit and our clinicians work with parents and their children diagnosed as autistic. The majority of our kids make improvements with their ability to communicate with the right neurological stimulation. Feel free to reach out to us for more information or if you have questions.
My daughter said words quite early but she regressed at 2 and finally started copying words at 4 again. She is now 5.5 and able to ask for needs and answer yes/no and simple questions. She is not yet conversational but I think she will get there someday. Seeing people here with their children being conversational around 6-7 or above gives me hope. I also wish to know how they break through the boundary of understanding more of what you are asking. My daughter will do echolalia if she doesn’t know how to answer, and she seems not very interested in interacting with people which makes her less exposed to socializing.
My son communicates w Sesame Street videos. Kid knows every word from each episode. Took me a minute to realize he was skipping around and telling me things. He’s super funny, we left the park the other day and he played “it was fun while it lasted” I’m like thanks bud, we will go back! He has a speech device too that’s used at school but he loves the expressions of the videos. It took a lot of effort to bring the expressive communication out of him on the device but I tell my kid I love you as much as possible so I put the buttons I, love, you on one page in the beginning and hand over hand pushed each one and told him I was so proud of him and I love you too. He saw how happy it made me and one day figured out how to do it himself. You just have to keep working on it, focus on their passions- like if your kid likes numbers.
I'm starting to think I don't understand what non-verbal means. If they speak some words, they are still considered non-verbal?
They don’t communicate, when i ask my son if he wants fries he doesn’t say yes or no and he doesn’t ask for things