autism mom

[jen barr]

hello all!

 

[tree]

 

[Sarah S]

Hello and warm welkome to the Forum dear

 

[jen barr]

anyone have a child that uses a communication device? I'm very nervous about it! i font want it to take the place of talking.

 

[Sarah S]

I dont have children my self so

 

[Ginseng]

Welcome to the forum,

 

[BraidedPony]

What is a communication device? Can it be used along with some talking?

 

[Lysander]

Mom with autism or mom of child with autism? (I'm guessing the 2nd one)

If your child is able to speak but not skilled, I would first work on improving his speech. My opinion is that the more functional we are, the happier we will be, and the happier everyone can be.

Have you considered working with a speech pathologist? I've heard that speech therapy can work wonders with kids. I know someone with ASD who went to speech therapy as a kid (12 or 13 I think) and if he hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known.

 

[clg114]

Welcome to AutismForums!

 

[Sarah S]

Have you considered working with a speech pathologist? I've heard that speech therapy can work wonders with kids. I know someone with ASD who went to speech therapy as a kid (12 or 13 I think) and if he hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known.

I went to one of those as well as VERY little girl up to early teenager i think as i was also late developer in speech among MANY other things as well

As you say said youre child alredy am diagnosed ? I also try to have a little ice in youre belly dear it may come but perhaps later then ord kids . if youre truly concerned take it up with docs and ask what they think reg this.

 

[MeghanWithAnH]

anyone have a child that uses a communication device? I'm very nervous about it! i font want it to take the place of talking.

I'm in graduate school to become a speech language pathologist and I'm also on the autism spectrum. We learn a lot about communication devices and one thing we learn is that they do NOT stop children from learning to talk. They are actually very helpful for building communication skills that will be helpful when the child is ready to talk, and gives them a way to communicate in the meantime. People who don't have any way to communicate get very frustrated, which makes them unhappy and can cause all kinds of negative behaviors because they don't have any other way to get what they need. Having a way to communicate also provides more opportunities for learning, instead of waiting until the person starts talking. Even for people who never do learn to talk or who only talk a little, using a communication device as a child helps build a foundation for more complex communication later on. Some people never talk but can eventually learn to communicate very effectively through a device, and some even become very good at typing. Basically, whatever communication method your child ends up using, including talking, a communication device can only help them, not hurt them. It's understandable that you might worry, though, because many parents do worry when they don't have access to the research that shows the benefits of communication devices, but they really do help a lot and they never prevent speech from developing.

Does your child have a speech language pathologist? Does that person give you advice on how to promote better communication skills at home? If not, I can look for resources with good suggestions that apply to both communication devices and talking.

 

[Isadoorian]

Yes, I agree w/ MeghanWithAnH, please don't interfere with your childs learning to communicate. You may want your child to learn to talk naturally via Mouth like just about everyone else, but since he/she's requiring a Communication device, then it sounds like they have difficulty or the inability to do that. Even more severe Autistic children may need to use one and I went to school with a peer just like that in my Elementary School days and also had another peer w/ severe Cerebral-Palsy I believe it was that needed one throughout Middle School and High School.

In hindsight, in your situation, it'd be like taking someone who's Deaf (total hearing loss) that absolutely needs to communicate via ASL and expecting them to communicate through their mouths. Just something to think about.

 

[Isadoorian]

What is a communication device? Can it be used along with some talking?

A majority of the time it's like a Text to Speech type machine or one where there's pre-defined words or phrases and you just push on the button and it'll say it out loud; had a couple peers in my School life (Elementary and Middle/High School) that had to use them

 

[Nitro]

Hi Jen