ASD and nonverbal communication

[blondeviolin]

My 3yo is pretty delayed with his speech/language. He's met with a developmental pediatrician who played with him, listened to my concerns, and still feels his language delay explains almost everything. The DP gave me the option to have him run the ADOS, so we will know for sure if this is ASD or not soon.

 

But, in the course of his last appointment, the DP ran through the diagnostic criteria with me briefly. From section A, he must have deficits in social reciprocity, nonverbal communication, and in relationships. The reciprocity and relationships are difficult to assess because of his language impairment (both expressive and receptive). He does TRY, but it's definitely not a normal 3yo... But his DP feels like makes great eye contact, shares, takes turns (we have worked on this in speech and at home), uses descriptive gestures, points, has a social smile, understands facial expressions, and used intonation appropriately way before he could form more than just a few words properly.

 

Because I have little to no experience with kids on the spectrum, I'm not sure what deficits in this area would look like. Is it possible to miss these deficits?

 

This is the little guy that went to listen to a story from Santa in a group of kids and became so fascinated with the back of the piano and insisted that I inspect it too. I told the DP about this. He agreed that was strange/odd, but the striking thing is that he was INSISTENT about me participating with him. And when he talks, he is INSISTENT I heard him and will interact with him. I had thought that could be a red flag in itself (insistence that I attend to whatever he's interested in), but he doesn't seem to be stuck on us talking about any one thing and he doesn't seem to mind if I change what we're talking about (unless I'm telling him no :lol:).

 

ADOS next week, though! And I'm nervous... Is it possible for it to be administered by only one person? The DP said he'd do it. But my boy is slower to warm up. He's comfortable and happy with the DP, though.

[Mom28GreatKids]

In EXACTLY the same boat. I mean, we could each have an oar and row together, lol. My kiddo will be reevaluated in the Fall. DP thinks most/all of ds's issues stem from his communication issues. However, there is still enough suspect that he is being sent to an Autism clinic in October/November. I will be very interested in the results of your son's ADOS testing.

[Um_2_4]

My son (now 6) was tested last fall and is now in OT for SPD.

We went through the full work up testing for ASD. Both the speech and neuropsych kind of wondered why we were there, he tested off the charts in speech (this was my boy who did not utter a word till 3yo, runs in DH's family) and the neuropysch said he showed no signs for ASD, but she suggested that I make an appt with the behavioral dept (I still haven't done that, but I may this summer) to evaluate for OCD (mine has the fixations and he also has rigidity or inflexibility, like if I say we are going to do A,B then C, he melts down if we have to skip B for some reason, even if it was not something he wanted to do, does that make sense??? LOL And OCD runs in DHs family (1 sis, 1 bro and his mom).).

 

 

[happycc]

ASL ...use ASL. My 3.5 yrs son who was completely nonverbal like not even animal or car sound effects and did not seem to understand receptive speech either has completely blossomed since we became completely immersed in sign language. Contact your local Deaf community center and ask for someone to come work with you and your family and child with ASL. They need to know there is a community that needs ASL that is not deaf. You can continue with speech but I recommend you use SIM COM with your child. Speaking while using ASL signs. ASL does not slow down speech. It triggered it for him. My son diagnosed with autism and may have apraxia. He also has seizures and arrhythmia. 

Start with the one thing he requests the most and don't give it to him until he signs it. Use hand over hand to make as many opportunities for him to do it a day. 10-20 times. Put the object nearby and when he wants it, hold it back and then physically manipulate the hand to make the sign. Then give it to him. Keep doing it over and over and soon he will do without you needing to physically manipulate it. After he mastered that, add another word. Then do two words a week, three words etc 

My son can speak amazing now. 

 

[Crimson Wife]

 ASL does not slow down speech.

 

There is quite a bit of research out of mainstream universities that this claim is not true, at least for children who are deaf & hard-of-hearing. See: http://www.lsl.usu.edu/htm/learning-research.html

 

English-based Alternative and Augmentative Communication, either low-tech like the Picture Exchange Communication System, or high-tech like the iPad with the ProLoquo2Go actually DOES have research to support that it helps rather than hinders learning English. http://speechladies.pbworks.com/f/PECS.pdf

 

As a future SLP, go with AAC over ASL.

Edited June 14, 2016 by Crimson Wife

[happycc]

I have to disagree :)

 

My son was not able to access IPAD and did not understand pictures. He needed signs first.  

 

Here is the research and paper that ASL can speed up speech. 

 

http://mzrechel.webhost4life.com/ApraxiaSignWhitepaper.aspx

 

Plus its very cumbersome for kids to drag around an IPAD to communicate at the pool/bathtub and parks going down the slide. 

 

Another paper

 

http://www.gallaudet.edu/Images/Clerc/pdf/Full%20Document%20of%20ASDC%20Sign%20Language%20for%20All-English.pdf

 

 

The most important thing is not that the child has speech but that the child has LANGUAGE of some sort. 

 

I would rather my child have LANGUAGE than speech. Tons of kids have speech with special needs but its garbled, echolalia, nonsensical, nonfunctional MINION like speech. 

But I want him to have a language where he/she can converse in conversations that supports the strength of his/her brain.  

 

I just spoke to a school psychologist in a public school system who also worked as a teacher in special ed classrooms as well as an ABA therapist and she says that the schools DO push the ACC and Ipads and Prologuo2  but now its starting to come back full circle. Despite all the ACC push and exposure, the kids are still grunting, pointing and gesturing. "It's not natural for them" she says. In the end they revert right back to what is natural for them and that is the use of their bodies and hands. Some kids can access the ACC but many cannot. 

 

ACC is easy to provide. Computers are everywhere, phones are everywhere. They can learn to read and write and text.  But they can;t access this if they don't have language first. 

ASL teaches the language portion of the brain the patterns needed to learn language. Gallaudet just did a brain study on this portion of the brain. http://vl2.gallaudet.edu/

 

Edited June 14, 2016 by happycc

[PeterPan]

(quietly thinking to herself how much she wishes people had access to PROMPT so the discussion wouldn't be which alternative non-verbal communication is best)

 

[Crimson Wife]

I have to disagree :)

 

My son was not able to access IPAD and did not understand pictures. He needed signs first.  

 

Here is the research and paper that ASL can speed up speech. 

 

http://mzrechel.webhost4life.com/ApraxiaSignWhitepaper.aspx

 

Plus its very cumbersome for kids to drag around an IPAD to communicate at the pool/bathtub and parks going down the slide. 

 

Another paper

 

http://www.gallaudet.edu/Images/Clerc/pdf/Full%20Document%20of%20ASDC%20Sign%20Language%20for%20All-English.pdf

 

 

The most important thing is not that the child has speech but that the child has LANGUAGE of some sort. 

 

I would rather my child have LANGUAGE than speech. Tons of kids have speech with special needs but its garbled, echolalia, nonsensical, nonfunctional MINION like speech. 

But I want him to have a language where he/she can converse in conversations that supports the strength of his/her brain.  

 

I just spoke to a school psychologist in a public school system who also worked as a teacher in special ed classrooms as well as an ABA therapist and she says that the schools DO push the ACC and Ipads and Prologuo2  but now its starting to come back full circle. Despite all the ACC push and exposure, the kids are still grunting, pointing and gesturing. "It's not natural for them" she says. In the end they revert right back to what is natural for them and that is the use of their bodies and hands. Some kids can access the ACC but many cannot. 

 

ACC is easy to provide. Computers are everywhere, phones are everywhere. They can learn to read and write and text.  But they can;t access this if they don't have language first. 

ASL teaches the language portion of the brain the patterns needed to learn language. Gallaudet just did a brain study on this portion of the brain. http://vl2.gallaudet.edu/

 

Gallaudet has an agenda that biases their research. Frankly, it is the equivalent to BYU doing research on the benefits of Mormonism or Yeshiva doing research on the benefits of Judaism.

 

The research coming out of MAINSTREAM universities like UT-Dallas, UNC-Chapel Hill, Vanderbilt, Akron, etc. all find that trying to learn English and ASL simultaneously has worse outcomes than focusing on English first.

 

I care about my child being able to communicate with the 92% of the population who are fluent in English much more than the <1% who use ASL. I know a bunch of nonverbal kids with ASD who are very successful AAC users. Being able to use AAC is a significantly more functional communication skill than knowing how to sign.

 

ASL makes a great 2nd language for many kids, especially ones who have disabilities that makes learning a 2nd spoken language difficult. Nothing against the language per se, just that the research from MAINSTREAM universities is clear that it's better to hold off on learning it until after the child has mastered English (either spoken English or AAC-mediated English).

[Crimson Wife]

(quietly thinking to herself how much she wishes people had access to PROMPT so the discussion wouldn't be which alternative non-verbal communication is best)

 

PROMPT is great, but it's not a cure-all. Some kids will need AAC even if they've worked with a qualified PROMPT therapist.

[Dmmetler]

Here's my .02 that doesn't apply specifically to autism since I'm not autistic. Give that kid a way to communicate ASAP, and don't forget the social side of things. I have speech that didn't reach 85% comprehensibility until well into high school, and honestly probably isn't much more over that now, although I've learned a lot of tricks since then to improve intelligibility. I started being taught signed English (ASL signs, but with English syntax and simultaneous speech) in Kindergarten. And I wish it had started much, much earlier. Here's why-sometimes when the brain and mouth weren't on speaking terms, just being able to sign to myself made that connection, even if no one else in the room knew ASL. When I was mainstreamed, that was usually the case, but I could sign to myself, work out what I wanted to say and usually avoid the anxiety over speaking that made it harder to be understood. What's more, when I DID meet a kid who signed, it was like being part of this special, secret group. It made a speech disability less of a disability, and more a difference, and one other kids wanted to be involved in. They could join the club.

 

I imagine that learning ASL and English would slow down English, just like learning Spanish and English tends to slow down English. But psychologically, it makes a difference to be understood.

 

To me, as a teacher, the reliance on PECS and similar systems seemed to be more that they wanted it to be easy for every adult-that the adults didn't want to learn signing. But it didn't let the kids whisper amongst themselves. It allowed much less social speech. And from my experiences, having that social speech makes a big difference. I would imagine that would be even more the case for a kid who is on spectrum who has other social struggles as well.

[Lecka]

Yeah, I don't see that with AAC with verbal output. I have seen kids independently communicate with peers, not dependent on an adult.

 

But I think it is a valid point.

 

I also know about the pre-school special needs options in my town, and none of them are full of kids who are proficient in sign.

 

Plus some kids have a lot of difficulty shaping signs and so it is not automatically some easy, natural thing.

 

I think there are a lot of individualized situations and people have to see what their options are and pros and cons.

 

The criticisms here of AAC are things I have never seen, though, and my son is in a district-level autism program.

 

It is a little offensive to refer to more severe kids as "grunting," too, and pronounce they would do better with sign.

 

I totally agree with supplying a means for back-and-forth language that is accessible and practical for the child, whatever that may be.

Edited June 14, 2016 by Lecka

[Lecka]

Also in my community it seems like hearing impaired children whom I have met have gotten cochlear implants and are not learning sign.

 

So there is not a signing classroom. So there is not a group of kids who are all fluently signing for social opportinties, at least not in the options that are geared towards special needs.

 

That is just the situation in my town, there is not a peer group.

 

So locally -- it is the option with the least opportunity for peer interaction. But there are pros, too.

Edited June 14, 2016 by Lecka

[Lecka]

I definitely think it is a shame that it does not sound like PECS was being implemented well, dmettler. It is definitely something to keep in mind.

[geodob]

ASL is a type Language, which is different from a method of Communication?

 

With Language, it is not only used for Communication?

But also crucially for Thinking.

Where we use Language to think something through in our mind, and arrive at a conclusion.

So that when ASL is first introduced within the first 2 years, a child can develop the ability to fluently 'Think in Sign'.

 

A critical factor with 'delayed speech', is that it equally effects the use of words when thinking.

As thinking of a word, triggers a muscle response, as if we were saying the words out loud.

So that a speech delay, will have a parallel thinking delay?

 

But with a speech delay/ apraxia?  ASL provides an alternative method for processing language.

Where a child can become fluent and confident in this method of processing language, and how to use it for communication.

Which provides a young child with a different idea of their 'speech delay'?

When they start pre-school ?

Where they understand their speech delay, more as a 'second-language' delay.

As their maybe other children in the class, for whom English is a second language.

 

So that while they a difficulty with speech, they still feel confident about their Language abilities.

With ASL established as a foundation, this can then be used to develop Speech abilities.

Or perhaps to learn to use AAC or PECS.

 

But AAC and PECS, are just methods of communication.

Which can't be used mentally, as a thinking process.

As they aren't 'languages'.

[Lecka]

That just doesn't make sense.

 

You are saying you don't think that children who use AAC are *forming thoughts in English*?

 

And what is this false dichotomy between language and communication?

 

It really does not make sense.

 

My context is ----- my son did not learn language naturally. A lot of children using PECS are not learning language naturally. It is being taught to them and PECS is a way to help children make the connection between communication and the world around the room.

 

It is not the same as a child who is fully capable of normal language development except for a lack of speech.

 

Do you really think it is easier to shape a child's hand into a sign, and teach them how it associates with an item, if they are not picking that up naturally, compared to showing a child a picture of an item and asking them to match the picture with the item.

 

It makes no sense.

 

And then -- the picture and the item can both be paired with the spoken word.

 

But anyway ----- with this as a starting point, you think somehow this is not directly tied to speaking English?

 

If a child is at a developmental stage where he has not yet developed mental speech, but is able to use PECS or AAC, then that child is on the path leading to more and more communication skills, and leading to (hopefully) mental speech.

 

I think you are observing that someone has a lower developmental stage and is using PECS or AAC, and blaming the PECS or AAC for the develolmental stage.

 

But I do not think that the child would be more advanced if they were using sign language.

 

Why? Why would they be? How is it superior for language development?

 

I do not think it is.

 

I would honestly say AAC is the best, then sign, then PECS.

 

But if someone is trying to jump-start communication with a high expectation that it will lead to vocal language ----- I feel pretty good about PECS.

 

It is like -- if item: word is not connecting, then how about item: picture.

 

And is this not an early language skills? Don't we want to label items? And request items? Can't you use PECS to label and request?

 

You think kids are going to progress past this stage faster, if they even need this stage, if they use sign and not PECS?

 

Bc here is the thing, ime locally ----- if PECS is being used, probably kids are at this stage and need this stage in their language development!

 

But it is more special somehow if someone signs cookie and is given a cookie, than if someone hands over a picture of a cookie, bc...... Somehow one way is more special? It is the same function.

 

It is the same function as if the child said the word "cookie," too.

 

Same function. Different form.

 

Edit: for some context here, did you know some children start at a level where they have trouble matching items to pictures? And so they can use miniature items instead of pictures? So do you think everything will be perfect if you try to teach this child to associate something about his hand to an item, when it is difficult to do that with a picture?

 

It is this kind of thing where I am thinking ----- it does not make sense.

 

But can children start at this level, and the progress to mental speech? I think so.

 

My son did start able to match items to pictures, so I can't say, but he started pretty low and I bet he has mental speech now.

 

He also always has had vocal speech, but he started at a PECS kind of level, but with using words instead of pictures.

Edited June 15, 2016 by Lecka

[Janeway]

My 3yo is pretty delayed with his speech/language. He's met with a developmental pediatrician who played with him, listened to my concerns, and still feels his language delay explains almost everything. The DP gave me the option to have him run the ADOS, so we will know for sure if this is ASD or not soon.

 

But, in the course of his last appointment, the DP ran through the diagnostic criteria with me briefly. From section A, he must have deficits in social reciprocity, nonverbal communication, and in relationships. The reciprocity and relationships are difficult to assess because of his language impairment (both expressive and receptive). He does TRY, but it's definitely not a normal 3yo... But his DP feels like makes great eye contact, shares, takes turns (we have worked on this in speech and at home), uses descriptive gestures, points, has a social smile, understands facial expressions, and used intonation appropriately way before he could form more than just a few words properly.

 

Because I have little to no experience with kids on the spectrum, I'm not sure what deficits in this area would look like. Is it possible to miss these deficits?

 

This is the little guy that went to listen to a story from Santa in a group of kids and became so fascinated with the back of the piano and insisted that I inspect it too. I told the DP about this. He agreed that was strange/odd, but the striking thing is that he was INSISTENT about me participating with him. And when he talks, he is INSISTENT I heard him and will interact with him. I had thought that could be a red flag in itself (insistence that I attend to whatever he's interested in), but he doesn't seem to be stuck on us talking about any one thing and he doesn't seem to mind if I change what we're talking about (unless I'm telling him no :lol:).

 

ADOS next week, though! And I'm nervous... Is it possible for it to be administered by only one person? The DP said he'd do it. But my boy is slower to warm up. He's comfortable and happy with the DP, though.

My oldest was not DX'd until 6.5 yrs old. But he had been in speech since he was a toddler. So yeah, it can be missed. But not like there is a medication where an early DX means treatment early can cure it. You work on what is going on now and you cannot work on anything else anyway, with or without the label.

[Guest]

nm

Edited August 11, 2017 by Guest

[geodob]

Lecka, you wrote: "And what is this false dichotomy between language and communication?

It really does not make sense."

 

Where we really need to understand this word 'language'?

As referring to 'thinking'.

I recall Helen Keller writing, that while she greatly appreciated that Sign Language had provided her with a way to communicate.

What she appreciated much more, is that it had provided her with a 'way to think'!

 

Language is formed from many words that don't have a visual image? Other than as a printed word.

Can you picture: but, if, maybe, nearly, was, should, could, though,  ..?

 

These words are examples of 'variables' in our thinking process.

While I could select a picture of myself, and a shop. To explain that I'm going to a shop.

But how could I add the 'might' into this statement, as a qualifier?

 

Perhaps you could consider the word: 'if'  ?

While we understand it as a concept.

Their is no way to represent it as a visual image, other than as a printed word?

 

Where thinking requires ways to represent different concepts.

Maybe you could consider the simple concept of 'what if',  as part of your thinking process?

 

 Though for people that only use a visual method of thinking?  They are unable to introduce 'what if' as a visual element in their thinking process?

 

But this comes down to what we take for granted, as out 'thinking process'?

[Lecka]

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=pecs+wh+questions&view=detailv2&&id=58942616DC1FFA1A32441E298A0D13677ABE25AD&selectedIndex=0&ccid=ZAizUMH6&simid=608031735082781747&thid=OIP.M6408b350c1fa1c36e1130d0ba0302f95o0&ajaxhist=0

 

This is a visual presentation for who, what, when, and where, which are also abstract concepts.

 

I don't know about other words and whether or not they can be put into boardmaker icons.

 

To be honest, I have seen those kinds of words written out in English, along a sentence strip (not really a sentence strip, but I don't have a better word) when kids are learning those words. (Edit: what I am thinking of is actually a speech therapy program that uses some pictures or items, and some written words, b/c it is teaching how to pay attention to some words like "why, because, how" etc. and show what words go together, and what the relationship between the words are, and what those words mean.)

 

So maybe there is not a way, I don't know.

 

But if you hope that many kids will learn to read and type anyway, then I think it is also good.

 

The thing about PECS is that it is pretty specifically for autism. And then, many kids who start with PECS move on to vocal speech or to typing.

 

So it has a purpose and for that purpose, I think it is good.

 

I would agree it is not something that is ideal long-term, but for a lot of people who are potentially going to use PECS, it is not going to be long-term. It is going to be used to get to a certain point, and then they will be moving on (often to vocal speech).

 

I think something else to keep in mind is that, as far as we know, Helen Keller had no barriers to learning sign as far as her motor control or motor planning. But there are some kids who have a hard time with that and so it makes it harder to talk, and it also makes it harder to learn and to form signs.

 

My son also had extremely limited joint attention and his imitation (here it means like -- copying an action, like clapping your hands) was extremely poor, basically zero.

 

So I think when a child can't copy another person clapping their hands, also has limited joint attention, may also have sensory defensiveness (so may not like it if an adult helps them to form a sign)..... well, these are all factors that would make it hard to learn sign! And they make it hard to learn with other ways, too.

 

But for me, if I had a choice (and I didn't as my son did have vocal speech, so we just did speech) but anyway -- if I had a choice between showing him a picture and wanting him to associate a picture with an item (which is what I wanted to do with speech), or if I wanted to form his hand into a sign (since he couldn't imitate at that time ----- now he can) then I honestly might have gotten slapped or bitten b/c he didn't want to be touched. And oh, that is when he is supposed to be learning the word/picture icon/sign for cookie?

 

I just think of it in more of a practical way, and then also, I think PECS does have limitations -- but that many kids go on to more advanced AAC, or to typing English, or to talking.

 

So I overall think, that it is a tool that is very good for its intended purpose, and that sometimes there are things about other options that are problematic.

Edited June 17, 2016 by Lecka

[Kat w]

100% start sign language . yes, asl freed up some of my sons frustration so he could learn to start forming sounds. He was completely non verbal til 3, was like 3 yrs and a few months. We started signing with the SLP at 18 mo. But other issues for in the way of really learning aifn well until well into his 2's . oh my if for nothing else to take away the frustration.

It allowed him to focus on forming his mouth to make sounds. All he did was cry or ...it was like a loud grunt to her out of crib etc.

My experience , definitely learn sign. I bet he will start to be able to focus more on forming sounds.

It's hard for the little guys to speak and learn sounds. Imagine Bing so frustrated , how could u learn anything ?

Not an environment conducive to learning.

[Kat w]

Yea....pictures did absolutely nothing for. My son. Nothin. He did however respond very well to sign. Our whole family learned it.

Good thing too. It was his only firm of communication for about 2 years.

 

OhE. I found a PROMPT therapist here. We start next month. I have great hope in it.

OP might be something to check into. We haven't started yet but I hear great things about it.

[Kat w]

Geodob, very well said. I agree 100%. My little guy still goes back to the early days of his notebook of sign signals and will do them for fun.

He remembers that time dondly. It gave him the confidence and received the frustration to be able to communicate .

Dmmelter hit the nail on the head with the phsycoligist aspect of things. When you feel beat down...how can one tackle anything ? Esp. If it's hard like, learning sounds.

Lecka, I get what youre saying about refering to grunta, but...it is in fact the exact and only sound my son made except to cry. Was a straight up...grunt .

 

I haven't looked at the studies, I do know, the picture route was no for my son at all. I agree heartily about asl being a language.

 

Just a little side note: I love studies. I research and reach them...alot. But, just NC a study comes out of a mainstream university does not make it correct. The same mainstream colleges also came up with common core :) ( Columbia university )

 

My husband works for one of the largest companies in the world, He used to have a job there ( he's had many different positions ) but one he did the studies. And guess what? .....they "let him know" what the studies should prove or disprove. He didn't hold that job long. He bid on a different job and got it and away from "studies".

You can make a study say whatever the entity finding the study...wants it to say.

For every point you can find a half a dozen studies to back up differing aide if the fence so, at times, thwy really do need to be taken with a grain of salt . it is fallable people doing these studies .

[Kat w]

Sorry for typos. On a slow old phone and now it won't let me edit it :/ rrrr

[happycc]

AFTER a year of intense ASL(meaning we had a deaf babysitter, deaf housemates, deaf friends)  and with me and the rest of the family signing and voicing at the same time and ABA, my son is finally speaking and in sentences and phrases. We are able to have pretty decent conversations with no signs of scripting, echolalia or other issues. The signing has taught him appropriate facial expressions.  YEE HAH!!!

 

We did it without a whole year of speech therapy no thanks to Kaiser and the school district stalling and such. 

 

Prior to that we had ABA 20 hours week and speech therapy 3 hours a week and to no avail for 1.5 yrs. I opted to have no ACC and our local speech university clinic booted us because we were not following their protocol. We are now using speech just for some articulation issues and ABA for some of his rituals and other stims that keep arising here and there. He still has active seizures though but I swear after each seizure a new developmental level is reached. Strange but true. 

 

I started a signing class for the community and we have school psychologists, teachers and aids who work with older students with autism and other developmental issues in elementary, middle and high school and they are saying the ACC/communication boards are not working. The students still resort to gestures despite having pecs, communication boards, proloquo 2 etc. So now the schools are coming back around to signing again. It is not because these items are not available but perhaps just not natural for these kids. 

 

Humans are social creatures in general regardless of disabilities and still prefer human interaction. So I am guessing that is why students will resort back to gestures over these other types of communication. 

 

Want to add my son started out not being able to tell the difference between an object and pics. They made no sense to him except something to throw at someone. 

 

 

Now on to learning how to read. Luckily he has learned the ABC in sign language so he can recognize letters and such but it was done in uppercase and most written letters are in lower case. Sigh. Now reteach with lowercase and work on the sounds now. I want to use a hand signal with those like in Speech E-Z

 

 

Edited September 24, 2016 by happycc

[Daria]

ASL is a type Language, which is different from a method of Communication?

 

With Language, it is not only used for Communication?

But also crucially for Thinking.

Where we use Language to think something through in our mind, and arrive at a conclusion.

So that when ASL is first introduced within the first 2 years, a child can develop the ability to fluently 'Think in Sign'.

 

A critical factor with 'delayed speech', is that it equally effects the use of words when thinking.

As thinking of a word, triggers a muscle response, as if we were saying the words out loud.

So that a speech delay, will have a parallel thinking delay?

 

But with a speech delay/ apraxia?  ASL provides an alternative method for processing language.

Where a child can become fluent and confident in this method of processing language, and how to use it for communication.

Which provides a young child with a different idea of their 'speech delay'?

When they start pre-school ?

Where they understand their speech delay, more as a 'second-language' delay.

As their maybe other children in the class, for whom English is a second language.

 

So that while they a difficulty with speech, they still feel confident about their Language abilities.

With ASL established as a foundation, this can then be used to develop Speech abilities.

Or perhaps to learn to use AAC or PECS.

 

But AAC and PECS, are just methods of communication.

Which can't be used mentally, as a thinking process.

As they aren't 'languages'.

 

AAC isn't a language, in the same way that typing isn't a language.  It's a tool for expressing English (or another language). A hearing child who is communicating in English, via AAC, would presumably be thinking in English.  Kids who use systems with consistent motor planning (e.g. Unity, LAMP, SFY, the new Crescendo vocabularies on Proloquo2Go) can also trigger a muscle response when thinking. 

 

ASL, signed English, and AAC all have advantages and disadvantages.  One advantage of having a hearing child use an English language system is that he/she can take all of the language they are learning receptively, and apply it to their own expressive communication.   However there are other factors to consider, such as a child's motor skills, and their own preferences. Choosing the best method or methods for individual kids is key.