The Need to Communicate
I think one of the most frustrating aspects of dealing with autism is the poor communication or speech skills of children diagnosed with the condition.
Peter's speech is consistent with a child somewhere between one and two-years old. Nathan rarely speaks at all. Most days we do okay. Peter will come up and tell me something using just a word or short phrase and it is often enough for me to figure out what I need to ask him in order to get more information. But even this gets to be nearly an impossible task when he is tired or mad-- he has a harder time concentrating on the words which just serves to make him angry.
Nathan communicates primarily using sign language although he is starting to name objects more frequently than he has in the past. He is pointing at cars (real ones and toys) saying "car." Today, he dropped something and said "Oh, no!"-- something I think he gets from me. Nathan's hearing was recently tested because we are trying to rule out any hearing problems since when he does speak his voice sounds flat-- like those of friends I had in college who were deaf. It's difficult at this age however to determine if he has tonal or range deficiencies but he did pass all of the other hearing tests. We have to return in about six months to have him tested again because he wouldn't respond to the tests using tones.
I can't say that the communication issue is guaranteed to get easier but it usually does. When Peter was diagnosed, he was just starting to speak again after nearly nine months of silence-- and even then all of his "returning" speech was mimicked.
So if it takes a lot of give and take and sign language to figure out what both boys are trying to say, I'll take it over the mimicry and silence anyday.
Peter's speech is consistent with a child somewhere between one and two-years old. Nathan rarely speaks at all. Most days we do okay. Peter will come up and tell me something using just a word or short phrase and it is often enough for me to figure out what I need to ask him in order to get more information. But even this gets to be nearly an impossible task when he is tired or mad-- he has a harder time concentrating on the words which just serves to make him angry.
Nathan communicates primarily using sign language although he is starting to name objects more frequently than he has in the past. He is pointing at cars (real ones and toys) saying "car." Today, he dropped something and said "Oh, no!"-- something I think he gets from me. Nathan's hearing was recently tested because we are trying to rule out any hearing problems since when he does speak his voice sounds flat-- like those of friends I had in college who were deaf. It's difficult at this age however to determine if he has tonal or range deficiencies but he did pass all of the other hearing tests. We have to return in about six months to have him tested again because he wouldn't respond to the tests using tones.
I can't say that the communication issue is guaranteed to get easier but it usually does. When Peter was diagnosed, he was just starting to speak again after nearly nine months of silence-- and even then all of his "returning" speech was mimicked.
So if it takes a lot of give and take and sign language to figure out what both boys are trying to say, I'll take it over the mimicry and silence anyday.
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