Special Needs
possible asd help
My son is 35 months old and speaks maybe 20 words...its seems he comprehends and he communicates non verbally thru pointing and pulling me. We took him for a general eval and we were told possible issues of joint attention. He did follow drs. Direction but did however engage her by saying hi and touching her arm with a long period of eye contact the pleasantly shocked her. Where she thought she diagnosed him she second guessed herself and said she could be wrong. After reading about joint attention I see some similar traits and others very far off. My son starts speech therapy this wek two to three days...can anyone tell me what I can expect? While his words are limited his intent is there. The dr told me she has seen cases like this that within a year the child makes a full turn around. Can anyone recommend how I can help him at home to work on joint attention. And also pull the words out....what worked best for you...thanks
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Re: possible asd help
It's great he has the comprehension and intent. My DS is about where your son is as far as words and has been in speech for about 8 months. When he started he couldn't even imitate sounds. With the right therapist and family support your little guy can make great improvements.
The way to build joint attention is to find out what's motivating to him. Start with simple games--my DD loves songs that involve motion, like row your boat or wheels on the bus (especially when I bounce her up and down on my lap). Tickle games, chase, and bubbles are all other great interactive games.
If your child will sit for puzzles (or any toy with numerous pieces) that's another great one. I will keep all the puzzle pieces away from her and let her have them one by one. I put a puzzle piece next to my eyes so she has to look at me to get me to hand her another piece. I reward her with praise when she makes eye contact.
In terms of speech, will he attempt to mimic sounds? If he's not there yet, make silly faces (like sticking out your tongue) in the mirror and try to get him to mimic facial expressions. After we moved past that, we started with simple sounds. We did this game where I'd put an inappropriate thing on my head as a hat (like a kid's shoe or something), do an overdramatic sneeze (Ah-ah-ah...CHOO!) and it would fall off. It was hilarious to the kids so it was motivating to get them to mimic the ah-choo sound. Make it fun.
When you start therapy, your therapist will likely recommend specific sounds/games to encourage those sounds to you to work on based on where he is at in terms of speech so don't go too crazy looking for recommendations on what to do with him. Your therapist should be a great asset to that and will custom tailor it to your child's abilities.
GL!