I can’t diagnose autism, but as a Registered Nurse, and a Behavior Analyst with a strong background in autism spectrum, I do look for early warning signs of autism with a child. Once Lucas was diagnosed with autism, I made it my mission to learn the early warning signs and to train pediatricians around the state of Pennsylvania through an early detection grant from First Signs. But in my defense, it was the late 1990s before Google searches or Facebook and the rate of autism back then was 1 in 500, not 1 in 44 like it is today. I knew nothing about the early warning signs of autism. Initially, the SLP seemed optimistic that he would improve, and everything would be fine.Īs a first-time mom with a nursing background, I didn’t know much about typical milestones. He also went weekly to speech therapy when he was two. He went to a typical two-year-old preschool and didn’t cry or fuss much. Like many children with autism, my son got started with just a speech and language delay. I started looking into the early signs of autism because of Lucas. The Story of Lucas and His Journey with Speech Delay and Autism I go over all of these strategies and many more in my online autism courses as well as my book, Turn Autism Around: An Action Guide for Parents of Young Children with Early Signs of Autism. There are many strategies that you can use at home to help develop speech, including singing songs, reading books, and talking with your toddler. A speech delay can develop because of a lack of social interaction, though you may not notice the signs of a speech delay or autism if your child spends most of their time at home as well. You might be wondering if your child has a speech delay vs autism because of all the isolation they are experiencing due to Covid-19. The Modified Checklist of Autism in Toddlers is a list of 20 questions that can help you determine if your child is showing signs of autism. One way to assess whether a child is a late talker or has more than a speech delay is to look at their imitation skills, pointing, and whether they respond to their name. Social communication problems can also result from speech delay and autism spectrum in children. Children with autism spectrum disorder or autistic children often have language problems or developmental delay, and they can also have speech delay. A language delay may mean a child has some words, usually labels, but they don’t communicate their wants and needs to adults or use words functionally. What is the difference between Speech Delay and Autism?Ī language delay is different from a speech delay. They will look at what your child understands, what they can say, how clear the speech is, and their oral-motor status. A speech-language pathologist can help diagnose and treat a speech delay. This is different from a language delay, where he would have trouble understanding words and using them correctly in a sentence.Ī speech delay can be caused by hearing loss, neurological disorders, lack of stimulation, and even a physical problem with the mouth like a tongue-tie. A child may have trouble pronouncing words or forming the correct sounds. This increases to about 1,000 words by the time he turns three. According to Healthline, a typically developing two-year-old can say about 50 words. Looking at a typical child’s speech milestones will help determine if a child has a speech delay. Normal speech develops from cooing and babbling to using words in complete sentences. By looking at the whole picture, we can see much more clearly if a child has “just” a speech delay vs autism. Important behavioral signs like eye contact and body language can offer valuable insights. We want to assess things like pointing, whether a child responds to their name, their self-care skills and much more. This means looking at much more than the number of words a child says compared to typical milestones.
#Ispeech delay full#
When I assess a child for delays and autism spectrum disorder, I want to look at the child as a whole so I can get a full picture of what’s really going on.
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