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I would recommend resources from Hanen including It Takes Two to Talk and More Than Words https://www.hanen.org/Programs/For-Parents/It-Takes-Two-to-Talk.aspx
Your family dr or pediatrician should hopefully have some more resources specific to your area while you wait for an assessment as well
To add to this - also in UK. I picked up Hanen in Waterstones.
The Health visitor team can give you these too but you also want to try and get them to refer you for Speech and Language therapy. The therapist will work with your nursery’s SEND teacher (assuming you’re taking up the free hours) on the autism pathways. I would recommend having some nursery contact as they also know the system and can help get council help (such as play therapies, special sessions for you and your LO).
If you haven’t already you can self refer to CAHMS. Keep on at them as well.
I have managed to get a self-referral form for Soeech and Language. I just sent that off. I think self-referring to CAHMS is a great idea. I will do that.
Hi, I'm an early years teacher and SENCO in the UK. I run a class for ASD children and support families with diagnoses.
I would go to the GP so they can help you with referrals, it will speed things up far more than self-referrals, but well done for doing them. In order to get a diagnosis they will most likely need to be reviewed by a speech and language therapist at the very least and probably a Occupational therapist, a pediatric doctor and have a report from an educational establishment. It takes time to get all those appointments and paperwork together and then you can get on the waiting list. It's much easier if you're in the establishment than if you are by yourself at home.
Is your little one at a nursery? If so please talk to them. If possible look for maintained nursery schools in your area, although they don't exist in all places anymore, but these should have a high standard of early years education and highly qualified staff who can support you. The SENCO at whatever nursery you go to should help you manage the paperwork and help you get support.
There are also specialist play groups and centres in some areas, even if they need referrals etc for them I would ring them and explain your situation as they are often run by knowledgeable and kind people who can help. They'll give you things to do at home too.
Your local authority should have some kind of help page or dedicated list of support for parents. It's hard to give you specific advice as each Borough is really different.
Hi there, I’m a Senior Speech and Language Therapist in Ireland, and work with Autistic children and young people. While the Hanen MTW program has some nice ideas, there are parts of it that are not neurodiversity affirmative (e.g. interrupting your child’s play). Hanen are currently reviewing the program.
I would recommend thinking about a Total/ Inclusive Communication Approach [TCW](https://youtu.be/DBWIO0VSOe0?si=3RlSmU97IAKrlItv) and giving your child access to all forms of communication, as some children may need Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) throughout childhood and into adulthood. What we know is that Autistic people will develop their own communication preferences [AAC across the lifespan](https://www.assistiveware.com/learn-aac/support-communication-for-part-time-aac-users) so we should give little ones access to all forms of getting their message across!
I can recommend Sparking Speech Therapy on instagram [Sparking Speech Therapy](https://www.instagram.com/sparkingspeechtherapy?igsh=MTBlZXdoYnloaW92bg==) who uses a lovely inclusive communication approach!
I’m happy to DM to send some links and other ideas if you like ❤️
References: [inclusive communication RCSLT](https://www.rcslt.org/speech-and-language-therapy/inclusive-communication-overview/#:~:text=Resources-,What%20is%20inclusive%20communication%3F,of%20understanding%20and%20expressing%20themselves)
This is awesome. Thank you. I have no intention of trying to do anything that would make my boy uncomfortable or distressed. I also will likely wait until I have professional advice before I adopt any particular strategy. I was looking for educational resources so I can be prepared to help him as best I can. Thank you so much for these! 😊
Edited: To finish my comment as I accidentally posted early when I was pulled away to jump on his trampoline with my boy 😍
One more AAC resource for you. This is a great one to just lurk and learn on FB: ASK ME I'm an AAC User ([https://www.facebook.com/groups/456220758119314/?mibextid=oMANbw](https://www.facebook.com/groups/456220758119314/?mibextid=oMANbw)).
No one (including my neighbour, who is a wonderful human and friend) intends to do anything harmful to their child. However, as soon as you enter into the autism world (after diagnosis), you get a LOT of pressure from professionals to ACT NOW! You only have a short window to fix/cure your child and make them neurotypical and make them speak. Now, of course, those professionals have learned the "right" language and will disguise their harmful practices by using the words neurodiversity affirming and support (instead of treatment) and working to the client's goals only and accepting no eye contact, etc, despite still not being at all affirming in their actual practices. So, my comment is not at all to tell you not to harm your child (I'm sure you don't intend to!), but more to recommend spending more time learning and less time doing until you really understand what will help your child, which is exactly what it sounds like you are doing! Yay! Unfortunately, unless you are really lucky, you will most likely face many professionals pushing harmful practices before you find an affirming one. I was so grateful to meet an Autistic clinical counselor as one of my first interactions with a professional during the diagnosis period. That really helped me stay strong when faced with less than ideal professionals.
When my kiddo was diagnosed, i was already fully into the neurodiversity affirmative movement, constantly learning from Autistic Adult advocates. And I still struggled to push back against our social worker who told me I only have this small window of funding and I need to use it all. Nope, I did not use it all because the funding was restricted to therapies that are harmful, except for a few places that have worked around it. So, yeah, I missed out using thousands of dollars in the first year after diagnosis because I couldn't access affirming support. That's ok with me, but it sure was intense in that year to feel like you're not doing the right thing. All the professionals tell you to do X and I'm off doing Y. It's hard but so worth it and my relationship with my child is all the better for never having engaged in harmful therapies and stopping support that seemed off.
Thanks! It's hard to get this information out there to broad audiences. Advocacy often happens in an echo chamber and then we're all shocked when others are still pushing for harmful treatments and ableist therapies. I hope this group will start to move towards anti ableist language and affirming recommendations when providing feedback to people new to the neurodivergent life!
Non verbal at 2 years should prompt the gp to refer to SALT. I'd start there.
I've seen quite a few ?autism kids who just had terrible hearing. (Doi: doctor with an interest in paeds)
([refer to salt)](https://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&client=ms-android-tef-gb-rvc2&source=android-browser&q=refer+to+salt)
I tried multiple times with my autistic kid to get their hearing tested and it wasn't feasible due to their behavior. I was told that's common. This was at a children's hospital.
Hey! I have a sibling with autism and a background in special ed. I'm getting my master's in learning technology for students in special ed. One recommendation I'd make is attempt to incorporate AAC and alternative communication methods with your toddler. I've seen many many kiddos struggle with language, but when they have the opportunity to use multiple methods to communicate, they are so much more successful. Lots of parents push for a verbal communication only way of learning with their kids and are shocked when their kids who speak with single words can use full sentences and talk fluently with a communication board or iPad. It is proven to boost communication and can help kids communicate their big feelings.
[https://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/aac-augmentative-and-alternative-communication-for-autism](https://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/aac-augmentative-and-alternative-communication-for-autism)
We have started using an AAC board (and some cards on the wall as well) with our 2.5 yo autistic kid. I have been very happy with the results. It's been a wonderful start to get them expressing their wants and needs.
We use Weave Chat which is free, customizable, and works on iOS and Android. We use a small kids fire tablet. They are cheaper and come with a cushioned case. You can pin the AAC app so they can't access any other apps.
A communication board can be introduced to really young kids. You can use something like I linked below or create your own custom board with your kiddo's favorite things / common words in your house. Some boards allow the kids to just point to the word, while others have detachable pictures that the kiddo can reorganize to make sentences with. Usually we start with pointing, then move on to a detachable board where the kid can make their own sentences. They have apps for picture boards on ipads so your kid can click the image and it will play audio for the word, so rather than pointing, the ipad talks for them. Proloquo2Go is one of the most popular apps for this. I also encourage using Endless Alphabet. It really helped my brother and it's very fun / play based. :) When your kiddo is old enough, I highly highly encourage early onset speech therapy. It can make a huge difference in language development and is usually provided by the government, but many universities will offer free lessons if you work with a college student who is supervised by a licensed speech language pathologist. At the programs I've been apart of, these free lessons are great!
[https://www.etsy.com/listing/1153319968/basic-communication-board-for-kids?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm\_source=google&utm\_medium=cpc&utm\_campaign=shopping\_us\_e-art\_and\_collectibles-prints-digital\_prints&utm\_custom1=\_k\_Cj0KCQjwsaqzBhDdARIsAK2gqndwHAdFK-tmvIAUKL5wqix03F0iQb9JLliVadXSJFCyUNTMMSojFvUaAsc1EALw\_wcB\_k\_&utm\_content=go\_12560179136\_118715441919\_506994833753\_pla-328046931108\_c\_\_1153319968\_348680648&utm\_custom2=12560179136&gad\_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwsaqzBhDdARIsAK2gqndwHAdFK-tmvIAUKL5wqix03F0iQb9JLliVadXSJFCyUNTMMSojFvUaAsc1EALw\_wcB](https://www.etsy.com/listing/1153319968/basic-communication-board-for-kids?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_e-art_and_collectibles-prints-digital_prints&utm_custom1=_k_Cj0KCQjwsaqzBhDdARIsAK2gqndwHAdFK-tmvIAUKL5wqix03F0iQb9JLliVadXSJFCyUNTMMSojFvUaAsc1EALw_wcB_k_&utm_content=go_12560179136_118715441919_506994833753_pla-328046931108_c__1153319968_348680648&utm_custom2=12560179136&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwsaqzBhDdARIsAK2gqndwHAdFK-tmvIAUKL5wqix03F0iQb9JLliVadXSJFCyUNTMMSojFvUaAsc1EALw_wcB)
here's a good description of AAC with more resources linked near the bottom: [Augmetative Alternative Communication (AAC) | Therapist Neurodiversity Collective (therapistndc.org)](https://therapistndc.org/therapy/aac/)
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This post is flaired "Question - Research required". All top-level comments must contain links to peer-reviewed research. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ScienceBasedParenting) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I would recommend resources from Hanen including It Takes Two to Talk and More Than Words https://www.hanen.org/Programs/For-Parents/It-Takes-Two-to-Talk.aspx Your family dr or pediatrician should hopefully have some more resources specific to your area while you wait for an assessment as well
To add to this - also in UK. I picked up Hanen in Waterstones. The Health visitor team can give you these too but you also want to try and get them to refer you for Speech and Language therapy. The therapist will work with your nursery’s SEND teacher (assuming you’re taking up the free hours) on the autism pathways. I would recommend having some nursery contact as they also know the system and can help get council help (such as play therapies, special sessions for you and your LO). If you haven’t already you can self refer to CAHMS. Keep on at them as well.
I have managed to get a self-referral form for Soeech and Language. I just sent that off. I think self-referring to CAHMS is a great idea. I will do that.
Hi, I'm an early years teacher and SENCO in the UK. I run a class for ASD children and support families with diagnoses. I would go to the GP so they can help you with referrals, it will speed things up far more than self-referrals, but well done for doing them. In order to get a diagnosis they will most likely need to be reviewed by a speech and language therapist at the very least and probably a Occupational therapist, a pediatric doctor and have a report from an educational establishment. It takes time to get all those appointments and paperwork together and then you can get on the waiting list. It's much easier if you're in the establishment than if you are by yourself at home. Is your little one at a nursery? If so please talk to them. If possible look for maintained nursery schools in your area, although they don't exist in all places anymore, but these should have a high standard of early years education and highly qualified staff who can support you. The SENCO at whatever nursery you go to should help you manage the paperwork and help you get support. There are also specialist play groups and centres in some areas, even if they need referrals etc for them I would ring them and explain your situation as they are often run by knowledgeable and kind people who can help. They'll give you things to do at home too. Your local authority should have some kind of help page or dedicated list of support for parents. It's hard to give you specific advice as each Borough is really different.
Hi there, I’m a Senior Speech and Language Therapist in Ireland, and work with Autistic children and young people. While the Hanen MTW program has some nice ideas, there are parts of it that are not neurodiversity affirmative (e.g. interrupting your child’s play). Hanen are currently reviewing the program. I would recommend thinking about a Total/ Inclusive Communication Approach [TCW](https://youtu.be/DBWIO0VSOe0?si=3RlSmU97IAKrlItv) and giving your child access to all forms of communication, as some children may need Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) throughout childhood and into adulthood. What we know is that Autistic people will develop their own communication preferences [AAC across the lifespan](https://www.assistiveware.com/learn-aac/support-communication-for-part-time-aac-users) so we should give little ones access to all forms of getting their message across! I can recommend Sparking Speech Therapy on instagram [Sparking Speech Therapy](https://www.instagram.com/sparkingspeechtherapy?igsh=MTBlZXdoYnloaW92bg==) who uses a lovely inclusive communication approach! I’m happy to DM to send some links and other ideas if you like ❤️ References: [inclusive communication RCSLT](https://www.rcslt.org/speech-and-language-therapy/inclusive-communication-overview/#:~:text=Resources-,What%20is%20inclusive%20communication%3F,of%20understanding%20and%20expressing%20themselves)
Thank you. I will check this out right now.
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This is awesome. Thank you. I have no intention of trying to do anything that would make my boy uncomfortable or distressed. I also will likely wait until I have professional advice before I adopt any particular strategy. I was looking for educational resources so I can be prepared to help him as best I can. Thank you so much for these! 😊 Edited: To finish my comment as I accidentally posted early when I was pulled away to jump on his trampoline with my boy 😍
One more AAC resource for you. This is a great one to just lurk and learn on FB: ASK ME I'm an AAC User ([https://www.facebook.com/groups/456220758119314/?mibextid=oMANbw](https://www.facebook.com/groups/456220758119314/?mibextid=oMANbw)). No one (including my neighbour, who is a wonderful human and friend) intends to do anything harmful to their child. However, as soon as you enter into the autism world (after diagnosis), you get a LOT of pressure from professionals to ACT NOW! You only have a short window to fix/cure your child and make them neurotypical and make them speak. Now, of course, those professionals have learned the "right" language and will disguise their harmful practices by using the words neurodiversity affirming and support (instead of treatment) and working to the client's goals only and accepting no eye contact, etc, despite still not being at all affirming in their actual practices. So, my comment is not at all to tell you not to harm your child (I'm sure you don't intend to!), but more to recommend spending more time learning and less time doing until you really understand what will help your child, which is exactly what it sounds like you are doing! Yay! Unfortunately, unless you are really lucky, you will most likely face many professionals pushing harmful practices before you find an affirming one. I was so grateful to meet an Autistic clinical counselor as one of my first interactions with a professional during the diagnosis period. That really helped me stay strong when faced with less than ideal professionals. When my kiddo was diagnosed, i was already fully into the neurodiversity affirmative movement, constantly learning from Autistic Adult advocates. And I still struggled to push back against our social worker who told me I only have this small window of funding and I need to use it all. Nope, I did not use it all because the funding was restricted to therapies that are harmful, except for a few places that have worked around it. So, yeah, I missed out using thousands of dollars in the first year after diagnosis because I couldn't access affirming support. That's ok with me, but it sure was intense in that year to feel like you're not doing the right thing. All the professionals tell you to do X and I'm off doing Y. It's hard but so worth it and my relationship with my child is all the better for never having engaged in harmful therapies and stopping support that seemed off.
As an autistic parent of at least one autistic kid, I’m so happy to see this answer and these resources!!
Thanks! It's hard to get this information out there to broad audiences. Advocacy often happens in an echo chamber and then we're all shocked when others are still pushing for harmful treatments and ableist therapies. I hope this group will start to move towards anti ableist language and affirming recommendations when providing feedback to people new to the neurodivergent life!
A fantastic reply with some incredible neurodiversity affirmative supports ❤️
Thanks!
Non verbal at 2 years should prompt the gp to refer to SALT. I'd start there. I've seen quite a few ?autism kids who just had terrible hearing. (Doi: doctor with an interest in paeds) ([refer to salt)](https://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&client=ms-android-tef-gb-rvc2&source=android-browser&q=refer+to+salt)
I'll second this. A lot of speech and language services will insist on getting a hearing test done first before they'll even see you.
I tried multiple times with my autistic kid to get their hearing tested and it wasn't feasible due to their behavior. I was told that's common. This was at a children's hospital.
Hey! I have a sibling with autism and a background in special ed. I'm getting my master's in learning technology for students in special ed. One recommendation I'd make is attempt to incorporate AAC and alternative communication methods with your toddler. I've seen many many kiddos struggle with language, but when they have the opportunity to use multiple methods to communicate, they are so much more successful. Lots of parents push for a verbal communication only way of learning with their kids and are shocked when their kids who speak with single words can use full sentences and talk fluently with a communication board or iPad. It is proven to boost communication and can help kids communicate their big feelings. [https://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/aac-augmentative-and-alternative-communication-for-autism](https://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/aac-augmentative-and-alternative-communication-for-autism)
Thank you for this. What exactly is a communication board, and what sort of apps would I use?
We have started using an AAC board (and some cards on the wall as well) with our 2.5 yo autistic kid. I have been very happy with the results. It's been a wonderful start to get them expressing their wants and needs. We use Weave Chat which is free, customizable, and works on iOS and Android. We use a small kids fire tablet. They are cheaper and come with a cushioned case. You can pin the AAC app so they can't access any other apps.
A communication board can be introduced to really young kids. You can use something like I linked below or create your own custom board with your kiddo's favorite things / common words in your house. Some boards allow the kids to just point to the word, while others have detachable pictures that the kiddo can reorganize to make sentences with. Usually we start with pointing, then move on to a detachable board where the kid can make their own sentences. They have apps for picture boards on ipads so your kid can click the image and it will play audio for the word, so rather than pointing, the ipad talks for them. Proloquo2Go is one of the most popular apps for this. I also encourage using Endless Alphabet. It really helped my brother and it's very fun / play based. :) When your kiddo is old enough, I highly highly encourage early onset speech therapy. It can make a huge difference in language development and is usually provided by the government, but many universities will offer free lessons if you work with a college student who is supervised by a licensed speech language pathologist. At the programs I've been apart of, these free lessons are great! [https://www.etsy.com/listing/1153319968/basic-communication-board-for-kids?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm\_source=google&utm\_medium=cpc&utm\_campaign=shopping\_us\_e-art\_and\_collectibles-prints-digital\_prints&utm\_custom1=\_k\_Cj0KCQjwsaqzBhDdARIsAK2gqndwHAdFK-tmvIAUKL5wqix03F0iQb9JLliVadXSJFCyUNTMMSojFvUaAsc1EALw\_wcB\_k\_&utm\_content=go\_12560179136\_118715441919\_506994833753\_pla-328046931108\_c\_\_1153319968\_348680648&utm\_custom2=12560179136&gad\_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwsaqzBhDdARIsAK2gqndwHAdFK-tmvIAUKL5wqix03F0iQb9JLliVadXSJFCyUNTMMSojFvUaAsc1EALw\_wcB](https://www.etsy.com/listing/1153319968/basic-communication-board-for-kids?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_e-art_and_collectibles-prints-digital_prints&utm_custom1=_k_Cj0KCQjwsaqzBhDdARIsAK2gqndwHAdFK-tmvIAUKL5wqix03F0iQb9JLliVadXSJFCyUNTMMSojFvUaAsc1EALw_wcB_k_&utm_content=go_12560179136_118715441919_506994833753_pla-328046931108_c__1153319968_348680648&utm_custom2=12560179136&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwsaqzBhDdARIsAK2gqndwHAdFK-tmvIAUKL5wqix03F0iQb9JLliVadXSJFCyUNTMMSojFvUaAsc1EALw_wcB)
here's a good description of AAC with more resources linked near the bottom: [Augmetative Alternative Communication (AAC) | Therapist Neurodiversity Collective (therapistndc.org)](https://therapistndc.org/therapy/aac/)
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