Auntie
skittles_123
member
Hey Auntie, I wanted your thoughts on something. How often do you reccomend a child get speech evaluations. It just seems like just in the past 6 months, my ds has really progressed a lot and I am just curious to see where exactly he is at.
He is using 6-7 word sentences appropriately and spontaneuosly. Pronouns are pretty accurate, but still struggles some with the I and me, but it is coming a long. He still struggles with responding to questions, but again he has made a lot of improvements since dx as well. But, the speech is there, so I think it has more to do with the general notion that ASD children have difficulty with conversation.
The thing is, with another evaluation, if no significant speech delays are found, it could mean loosing services. I am not for sure what to do. I may talk to his speech therapist and see what her thoughts are.
I have a feeling that ds will be re-classified as Aspergers in a few years, as his IQ is within the average range, and probably even higher now with his increased verbal skills and other skills he has acquired. And again, do I want him re-classified as Aspergers at risk of loosing services?
What are your thoughts?
Re: Auntie
I know this question isn't for me... but I just had this conversation with the SLP and here is what SHE said. DS struggles are around pragmatics. He is going to score WELL on a standardized test. So, we did a discussion based assessment and not a standardized. She never made me feel like we HAD to do a 'test' of some sort for our eval. She said all this was appropriate for insurance purposes.
I've been here - where I *think* you are saying you are. I did do my part to convince the SLP of all DS's revolving issues... but once she really started to understand, she fought just as hard to keep his services coming.
What he needs should matter more than what a 'test' says. Doesn't always work that way... but your SLP should be on board with that.
Thanks for the response Auntie.
DS actually is quite average in many of the areas you mentioned- he can greet people on his terms, just not always when someone else initiates. He does struggle a bit with being able to express his feelings. But, he can identify different feelings in people and can and has empathized with his crying sister or crying friend. He will go up and ask if they are okay or what's wrong. He even sometimes tells me, "mommy, go pick sissy up, make her feel better."
Vocab is typically appropriate, but does do the repeating over and over again of a phrase, but it is usually appropriate for the situation. Volume, expressions in language are normal, he isn't monotone.
He can have some basic simple conversation, such as What did you do today? Or Who did you see today? or What did you have for lunch today? And he can recall his events pretty accurately. But it is the more complex conversations that he has difficulty with.
I cannot remember off hand what evaluations he has had. The Vinland sounds familiar. I need to go back and review all of his evaluations, it has been a while now.