Speech disorder

[lisa2701]

hi,

 

As some of you may be aware my 4 year old got diagnosed with autism about 4 weeks ago. During the assessment the speech and language therapist said that ds has a speech disorder, where he get his words mixed up, i.e. called a chair a bed etc. He knows that he had to go into the furniture catagory but then gets mixed up with what word he was supposed to use. Hope that makes sense. He's been getting intensive speech therapy for about a year now and i've always been told he had a delay not a disorder. The speech therapist that saw him at the assessment center didn't really say much other than he had a disorder and gave the example i just gave you. I was hoping to have the report from the doctor in by now, and was hoping it would explain things a bit better, but i have called and been told it'll be another few weeks before i can get it. So i was just wondering if anyone could shed light on the differences between a disorder and a delay? A disorder sounds like it would be perminant, and may even not improve, would i be right in this? His speech has definately improved since getting the intense speech therapy, and he can now put simple sentences together, understand 3 part instructions etc, so am was really hopefull for him, but a little worried now that i've been told he's got a disorder.

 

thanks Lisa xx

[NobbyNobbs]

interesting that you've posted that. one of our kids (NT but we suspect something is up, not ASD though) does this. today we pointed out some birds sitting on the roof of the house and she said 'there are farms on the roof' and didn't appear to notice she'd used the wrong word. at another point she tried to talk about the birds and it took over a minutes pause mid-sentence before she found the word birds to say.

she makes up names for things (she got some plastic panpipes with a magazine and despite being told what they were called multiple times could only call them tuna) and seems incapable of saying certain words correctly. she got very excited today because there was a flamingo on her arm bands... but she can only say 'mingo' no matter how many times we correct her. she also doesn't understand certain words at all. you can't use the word why cos she doesn't know what you're saying, she just says 'i did it' over and over if you ask her why did you do it, and can't ask 'can you come and do X' she can only say 'you can do X if you like'. think i'm going to ask for her to be referred to the speech therapist because writing it all out here it seems like an awful lot.

 

i was looking at a website speechdisorder.co.uk the other day and was sure i saw one listed as what you described, but when i went back to look i couldn't find it. it still has a lot of information on it that seems helpful

[lisa2701]

Hi,

 

I must say that i am very lucky and my ds has been getting speech therapy for about 18 months now. And the last 9-12 months he's got it twice a week with a very lovely speech and langauge therapist who he really likes. Perhaps looking back on things i must say that i now feel that there has been so much focus on his comprehension and getting him to understand the spoken language that the fact that he struggles to find his words has gone un noticed by myself (untill recently), that being said its only been the last 3-4 months that he has started trying to use sentences, rather than just use 1-2 words to get what he needed. Another thing that i have noticed he does is to mix his sentences up such as say things such as "what age are you at?! instead of "what age are you?". I must say that i find it extremely cute. Thank you for the website you gave, i haven't had the chance to have a look at it yet but i will definately have a look as soon as possible.

 

I hope you mamange to get speech therapy for your daughter, i have found it has helped a LOT. My ds definately seems much happier now that he can communicate his needs better. He used to have his own launguage that we thought was very cute, but now that i know what i do i think he must have been sooo frustrated repeating himself over and over and over again and not being understood. And he would repeat himself several times, the exact same thing, but it would never make any sense to us. hope that makes sense. its late and i may not be explaining that very well .

 

Anyway thank you for your reply and i hope all goes well for your daughter.

 

Lisa xxx

 

 

Thanks again

[trekster]

Hello

 

I had speech delay which was treated with 6 months intensive speech therapy at the time (early 1980s). After those 6 months apart from being recorded that "her behaviour is slightly formal and literal", I was discharged from the service with no further referral for ASD. Long story but i asked to see my medical notes and then got a shock!

 

I get things muddled up as well and have problems finding the right words for things. I said to a friend of mine "password" instead of "activation code" for example. I am nearly 30 years old.

 

I don't wish to upset or confuse you with this post, it's just got me wondering if my problem is "more than dyslexia"? Pronoun reversal is common in dyslexia.

 

According to Tony Atwoods "the complete guide to asperger syndrome" (im not presuming your son is Asperger) "the diagnostic boundaries between asperger syndrome and specific language disorder are not clear cut".

 

As for your suspicions that "delayed language" is being a late talker and not necessarily permanent, yes that is correct. However each child can vary and I went from age 2 (speaking occasional words) to age 2.5 (speaking in complete sentences) with speech therapy pre Asperger diagnosis.

 

Disorder can be permanent, it depends on the disorder and the child. i guess you are attempting to find out what disorder your kid has/had? have you tried asking your GP for further explanation?

 

Alexis (who now cant shut up lol)

[trekster]

interesting that you've posted that. one of our kids (NT but we suspect something is up, not ASD though) does this. today we pointed out some birds sitting on the roof of the house and she said 'there are farms on the roof' and didn't appear to notice she'd used the wrong word. at another point she tried to talk about the birds and it took over a minutes pause mid-sentence before she found the word birds to say.

 

Sounds like dyslexia to me, but even since this interesting topic has started (love a mystery) im not so sure.

she makes up names for things (she got some plastic panpipes with a magazine and despite being told what they were called multiple times could only call them tuna) and seems incapable of saying certain words correctly. she got very excited today because there was a flamingo on her arm bands... but she can only say 'mingo' no matter how many times we correct her. she also doesn't understand certain words at all. you can't use the word why cos she doesn't know what you're saying, she just says 'i did it' over and over if you ask her why did you do it, and can't ask 'can you come and do X' she can only say 'you can do X if you like'. think i'm going to ask for her to be referred to the speech therapist because writing it all out here it seems like an awful lot.

 

i was looking at a website speechdisorder.co.uk the other day and was sure i saw one listed as what you described, but when i went back to look i couldn't find it. it still has a lot of information on it that seems helpful

 

Good idea to ask about the speech and language therapist route. Hard to say what is autism and what is something else, which could be the possible reason why many other neurodiversities go unnoticed Ive got friends who cannot get autism diagnosed since "it doesn't come with ADHD or dyslexia or dyspraxia as well". Good news is that the diagnostic criterion for autism is being attempted a rewrite.

 

Alexis

[trekster]

On a related subject........

 

Can loosing the ability to occasionally get the words out (after being fluent for years) mean an autistic/asperger is developing

a speech disorder?

 

Alexis

[julie1]

My dd aged almost 12 has a speach disorder. This was picked up when she was 3 and she had therapy until she was 5 then it all stop as though she no longer had a disorder. when she was 10 through appeals ect we won her a place at an independent school where her language needs are met very well, she now has therapy every week and is starting to make progress. I think the key is not to wait for services to arrive the LA will never think your child requires extensive support you will have to fight for services to continue for your child. She still has difficulty with finding the right word to use, following coversation with more than 2 people talking. Many people found her speach endearing and honest when she was younger, now she appears to be rude. She hasent changed just peoples oppinions have changed. Thats a real shame as she was let down by the system that fails our children. Stil on a more happy note she is now very happy at school and the speach theripist feels she is starting to make progress.

[trekster]

i can distinctly remember that as i got older i felt punished, for being rude when i wasn't a few years ago, for having to wait longer for my meals (i had a circulation disorder that meant standing out in the cold excruciatingly painful). It just didnt make sense and i felt and sometimes do still feel as though the world has left me behind and im running to keep up!

 

Alexis