HI I take care of a little guy that is 2 1/2 they are not sure if he has pdd or high function autism, but definitly a speech delay. there is a speech therapist that works with him once a week and developmental that is twice a week. I am just wondering what else I can do to help him out and get him to talk more. He loves singing and flash cards, which we do. Also any idea's in starting potty training. Thanks

Jennifer - posted on 01/25/2009

Hi my son will be 3 in feb and we have had a speech therapist comming since he was 2 and he has totally approved...I agree with pretty much that everyone else has said..Def label everything and make him point and choose ex;items for break,lunch,supper...make him repeat everything....I know a lot of people are againt children watching tv but I do allow my son to watch a few of his fav cartoons and alot of the words he learned from the cartoons...As far as potty training we just started talking about ut and telling him what a bigger boy he would be if he did it in the potty and I bought undies for him and pull ups and have been doing it for about 3 weeks and we also awarded him at the begining evertime he did do potty.....my son is still probally back a few months as far as the speech goes but other than that he is where he should be with all the other areas,.......

Amy - posted on 01/23/2009

Yeah, my son Ethan has PDDD. He was diagonsed with it, due to his severe prematurity. I agree with Stacy, puzzles are really good. Plus my son just loves music. Any Early Intervention is good too, for example like the speech therapist.

Jeanne - posted on 01/23/2009

Thank you all for the wonderfull advice. I have taken care of him since he was 5 weeks old so he is like my own, and I just want to do whatever I can to help him advance.Which he has since the therapist started working with him. Thanks again :)

Kerry - posted on 01/23/2009

Hi Jeanne, the most helpful thing i can think of for long term good is DONT anticipate what he wants and get him to repeat what he is asking for until his pronunciation is close to correct, accentuate the end of words.   My oldest son still mumbles at me at 21 because i always knew what he wanted before he wanted it, things were jsut easier that way.  He would scream and point and i would give him a drink, even if he said grink i would give him a drink. But when the other 2 autistics came along after i had learned, and now i have younger ones with correct speech.  I would make them point and tell me. I would use "tell me in a way i can uinderstand try again, until the word was clear.  I would pronounce words and ask them to repeat and yes singing was great too.  The wiggles are excellent for facial expressions and clear words. Maybe you could add the props when singing fruti salad yummy yummy and make it more fun to speak clearly and to make healthy food. (very common for autistic kids to have narrow thoughts and likes when eating so starting early with a range of fun singing games, may take some of the pain away later.

My youngest 2 autistics have a great range of vocabulary and often surprise me with what they remember.  we would often look up the thesarus or dicitonary as they got older, and make fun sentances with new words, I was determined to teach them enough words to use when their autism let them, and aroudn that time i had a brain injury so it was mummy learning the words also ( i had trouble recalling the names of common objects).  The kids thought it was great fun to trick mum LOL they didnt realize mum was also tricking them and they were learning.  its always fun when you can teach them something and they dont notice what you are doing

As to potty. either have set times of day to do a sit for a pee or poop. like they do in daycare centres, or let him go slowly.  For boys teaching them to pee outside on a tree is great, its fun and they realize they need to pee in plenty of time  No2 is harder. I sat mine on the potty in front of telly at around the time of day each day they pooped and when they had done it in potty they got an instant reward of sweets or dried fruit . Pushing them too hard on this one doesnt work, its hard for them to recognise what the bosy is telling them and or they are distracted by what ever it is they are doing.

good luck

Shelly - posted on 01/22/2009

Make him label puzzles peices before he puts them in. Play "What's That" - Put a bunch of items he likes in a grocery bag and make him point and say "What's That" for you to get them out. Have all of his everyday stuff incorporate language. Make him ask for EVERYTHING. Put his favorite toys in containers he cannot open so he has to ask for them. Label EVERYTHING before you give it to him and make him repeat it. Play I see.... I see a tree etc. Ask him questions and speak to him in short sentences. Like instead of Tommy go over there and pick up the block and put it away. It would be pick up block - put in. Use pictures for things that he cannot currently say so that he has a way to communicate and then use the picture he picks as an opportunity to make him say the work and pair I want with it.

Lauren - posted on 01/22/2009

Have you tried teaching him any simple signs (sign language)? My daughter is 3 and has been working with therapists from athe age of 21 months...she has a severe speech delay, I beleive it is dyspraxia. When her therapists repeated a word often with a sign to go with it, those were the words she first began to say. Praise any approximation of a word. When he is grabbing for something and you know what he wants, wait a moment and say what the object is, then give it to him. My daughter now understands it when I ask her to say a word for the item she wants (You want your cup? Can you say cup?) and will try to say it...I try to delay giving the item to her until she tries to say the word. Her progress is slow but steady. So just keep at it, all of these things will become routine for you.



HTH!



~Lauren

Stacy - posted on 01/22/2009

Sounds just like my son.  just play alot of puzzles with him, and work on labeling everything in the house.  Try to make him say " I want *item* " instead of just pulling you toward stuff that he wants or using one word utterances.   Music is also huge here, it helps my son tremendously, we sing and listen to music all day.