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