Re: What speech issues ARE normal? WAS: Am I on the right track?

[Guest guest]

Thank you so much for your message !! You're right, it is absolutely exhausting

sometimes, and there are times that I've questioned whether or not I've been

doing the right things all along. However, I can only do my best with the

information I have. I am NOT a quitter, and am also an avid researcher -- always

searching for answers. Nothing has EVER fit as much as AS does for my sweet boy.

I honestly look forward to a PROPER dx, so that we can start working on some

appropriate strategies, etc, that will really help him... I know some of the

stuff we've been doing all along has helped, but then other things have been a

complete waste of time (as they were focused on an ADHD diagnosis, which I

believe to be completely wrong, and will fight if I need to until someone sees

that, too!!)

in regards to speech stuff, I know " Aspie's " often struggle with pragmatic

language, but are there any other areas that it's " normal " for them to struggle

with (not ALL, but some kids with AS??). The reason I ask is that it was

mentioned to us, in grade 1, the first time he had a school assessment, that

" language seems to be an area requiring further investigation " . Of course, as I

said in an earlier post, we couldn't GET an assessment with a speech/language

therapist, as it wasn't hindering his academic grades. Silly school system rules

!!! Her " concerns " came from the WIAT-II Listening Comprehension Subtest, which

was " to provide a basic measure of 's receptive vocabulary developement. "

On this subtest, he received an age equivalent score of <5, which placed him in

the Extremely Low Range (1st percentile). Later on in her report, she commented

that " his verbal reasoning and receptive language skills were below average, and

this may be contributing to his sense of fru

stration in the classroom. "

Is this common amongst Aspie's??

Also, when he was just young, he started this sort of " stuttering " thing. To me,

it was always perceived as... his brain moved faster than his mouth could

process. Of course as time went on, I believed it to be the other way around. In

kindergarten, his teacher noticed this, and expressed to me that it was causing

problems in fluidity of speech for him, and prevented him from getting his point

across in an effective manner. She had their " early intervention " people come

in, and upon a brief classroom assessment, we were sent home a little sheet

saying that they weren't concerned with it at the time, and gave us a few

strategies for making sure we never told our child to " hurry up " when talking

(LIKE we would've done that anyway?!!?!).

In grade 1, his teacher told me that to her it almost seemed as though he didn't

quite know what to say, so he'd often repeat the same word, or the same sound,

while he figured out what to say. This always happened more often when he was

upset OR if he was excited. This has never really gone away. Could this, too, be

traced back to Asperger's??

Thanks in advance !! Seriously, this group is amazing !!

=)

Re: ( ) Re: Am I on the right track?

I know u said about his speech is fine, but there is something called

pragmatic language that u can get from a speech therpist that might help him

give a take of conversation, help read facial expressions, help with

socialzation

> skills.

[Guest guest]

>

> in regards to speech stuff, I know " Aspie's " often struggle with pragmatic

language, but are there any other areas that it's " normal " for them to struggle

with (not ALL, but some kids with AS??).

Many have executive dysfunction, coordination problems, sensory integration

dysfunction, anxiety. My AS son (14yo) has I guess what you'd call dual

diagnoses with all those.

> Later on in her report, she commented that " his verbal reasoning and receptive

language skills were below average, and this may be contributing to his sense of

fru

> stration in the classroom. "

>

> Is this common amongst Aspie's??

Actually, no. Aspies usually have high verbal skills in general. But that

doesn't mean your son couldn't be an aspie with a co-existing condition

affecting his verbal reasoning and receptive language.

>

> Also, when he was just young, he started this sort of " stuttering " thing. To

me, it was always perceived as... his brain moved faster than his mouth could

process. Of course as time went on, I believed it to be the other way around. In

kindergarten, his teacher noticed this, and expressed to me that it was causing

problems in fluidity of speech for him, and prevented him from getting his point

across in an effective manner.

Obviously, you should listen to the experts, but this sounds like typical HFA/AS

slow processing speed. I'm not all that familiar with the " little kid " IQ

tests, but somewhere I imagine they test this. In the IQ test they give to

older kids, processing speed is specifically tested, and aspies are typically on

the low side. It is also caused by working memory problems that aspies also

typically have. At least in my son's case, the only solution is for him to

learn how to give himself time, accept the fact that he may not be able to

recall some things on demand, and for those around him, ditto. Some of the ways

my son does this is as you describe your son doing--repeating things/sounds to

give himself time to think/dig back into his memory. That is good your son is

figuring this out so young and by himself! My son didn't know how to deal with

this for a few years and used to shut down and quickly tell people either he

didn't know or couldn't remember without trying. He finally got more

comfortable taking the extra time though. He still isn't comfortable telling

people that he really can't remember what he had for breakfast that morning,

etc. and just kind of pretends he's joking around. I don't know, since so many

people don't believe things like that are for real, maybe pretending like he's

joking is the best way to handle it!

Ruth

[Guest guest]

Are you getting a full educational evaluation now at your new school? Definitely include all areas of language and hearing. Your old school was wrong that it was not hindering his education, but that is a common excuse. Put all of your requests in writing and write follow up letters to everything. Request a full evaluation be done so you can get an idea of the "big picture" and what his needs are.

It sounds like he has some sort of language processing problem, possibly dyslexia? CAPD? Receptive language is, of course, language we hear coming in to us. This is different from "expressive" language, language output. So why is he struggling with receptive language? He could have CAPD, where he is not hearing everything effectively. For instance, my 20 yo ds has this and at the store the other day, his sister said, "I'm going to go look at some dresses" and off she went. My ds (not happy to be shopping and wanting to go home) grunted in disgust and said, "How is she going to find a brush over there?" These are the kinds of mistakes he makes because although he hears ok, what his brain does with what he hears is something else. So she says "dresses" and he hears "brushes".

I can totally relate to his "Stuttering" problem. I have a 9 yo who I am getting evaluated right now with the same kind of "stuttering" problem. I have realized that his problem is less stuttering and more to do with his brain not being able to find the right word. I am pretty sure he has a language processing problem (dyslexia). This year he is stuttering less but now he is saying "ahhh, uhmmm" between words at a distracting pace.

AS is a neurological disorder and you will find many "glitches" can be mixed in with "just AS." When things are wired differently, you will see the effects of that and it will present in a unique way to each person, depending on where things are miswired and what other skills your ds might have to compensate for any problems as well. Each person unique, of course. So if he is struggling with other learning problems, it would not be unusual or does not mean he doesn't have AS. He can have AS and any number of other specific learning issues. He could have ADHD as well. Again, there is often a mixed bag of issues for each kid. I have 2 kids with HFA. One has dyslexia, capd. The other has hyperlexia and is ADHD and gifted as well. I like to think of them as two sides of the same coin really. But that can give you an example of the "extras" that can show up.

RoxannaYou're UniqueJust like everyone else...

Re: ( ) Re: Am I on the right track?I know u said about his speech is fine, but there is something called pragmatic language that u can get from a speech therpist that might help him give a take of conversation, help read facial expressions, help with socialzation > skills.

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